Our beloved Sr Thresiamma Philip FMM has left us for her heavenly abode. She developed intestinal obstruction abdominal pain on 29th and got admitted in the hospital. She underwent laparotomy on the 30th and was on ventilator support; she went back to her Father by 8 PM on 31st.
As I write this I feel so heavy and tired, having lost two holy people who were so close to my heart in the last 4 days! Sr Thresiamma served the movement is several offices including that of animator of the National Council of India, animator of Nurses ministry, and also was the animator for the Fulltimers in India and International trainings for several years. Every year, when we came back from Thailand after a month long training, Sister would tell us that she was getting old and this would be her last trip to Thailand. Again the following year, we would somehow persuade her to come with us since we couldn’t find anyone to replace her. Even when the superiors raised concerns about her health, she used to convince them saying that she was in safe hands when she was with us. Sister was such a blessing – her motherly love and care for all of us; her wisdom and knowledge; her beautiful charism of accompanying people – from teenagers to adults; her special gift of helping people when they went through difficult times in their life… Sister was such a precious gift to our movement! There were occasions where we sent young girls to Bangalore from Kerala just to stay with Sister and seek her guidance. I don’t think any other Sister would have contributed to the growth of Jesus Youth Movement like Sr Thresiamma did!
At present Sister was part of two International teams – The team for the formation of Clergy and seminarians (we lost two of them in 4 days’ time!) and the Safeguarding Team. Since we were in the process of reworking the Safeguarding Policy document for almost one year now, we used to have 2-3 meetings every month. Unlike other people of her age, Sister updated her technical knowledge with the help of other sisters and actively attended all the meetings without fail. We had our previous meeting last Monday and the next meeting was scheduled for today. Her absence will create such a void among us!
Personally, my family had a special relationship with sister. Several years back, my eldest son picked her up from the railway station and brought her home – from that day onwards, she had a special love for him. Every time we talked, her first question would be ’Nammude mon enthu parayunnu?’ (How is our son?). My son also had a special love towards sister. It is true – she had so many sons and daughters around the world! She had that special grace of connecing and relating with all generations including teenagers and young people.
Dear Sister, we are going to badly miss your presence among us. As someone shared, except for Cheriachan’s extraordinary creativity, both of you shared similar traits. Most times, you travelled with Cheriachan to and from Bangkok. Now Cheriachan has gone 4 days ahead of you to prepare the way for you. We know that you are joining our Cheriachan in heaven to bless us and intercede for us to the Father. We now rely upon both of your prayers…
Manoj Sunny