Sr. Bridget Foo

BridgetFrom a young age, I was brought up in the Taoist Belief:  respect for elders and ancestors, living in harmony with nature and hence with the cosmos and the universe, inner tranquillity and transformation. My grandmother and my mother desired that I live the “Three Virtues of Taoism” which were

  1. Compassion, kindness, love
  2. Moderation, simplicity, frugality
  3. Humility, modesty.

My grandmother and mother both encouraged me to live the above Taoist beliefs through the example of their own lives.

Even though I was not a Catholic, I was educated at St. Anthony’s Primary and Secondary School run by the Canossian Sisters in Singapore.

During my Secondary School years, I used to attend the Novena Session of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour with a couple of my classmates at the Novena Church. I was very attracted to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour who reminds me of Guan Yin, the goddess of mercy in the Taoist belief.

At the age of 14 I was the first member of my family to break away from the Taoist Religion. With my Dad’s permission I was baptised into the Catholic faith. I believe that it was Our Lady who brought me to Christ. From then onwards I had a great thirst to know more about Christ. I was blessed to have Sr. Sadorine, a Canossian Sister and my Form teacher who brought me to a deeper knowledge and love of Christ through a Bible Study that I attended. However the thing that I learnt most about Christ was through the example of her life. I was attracted to the simplicity and humility and the great zeal and love of Sr. Sadorine for the poor and the little ones.

So at the age of 18, I asked my Dad’s permission to become a Canossian Sister but this time my Dad refused to give me his permission. Against my Dad’s will, I left home to enter the Canossian Noviciate in Australia. It was a heart-breaking moment, and the most difficult decision of my life. I had never left home before nor disobeyed my Dad, but I knew deep within me that this is what God wanted for me.

After joining Religious life, I taught in Canossian schools in Singapore for thirteen years. In 1984, I left Singapore and was sent to Australia. Since coming to Australia I have been involved in many different ministries. My first mission was in the Kimberley, Western Australia. I worked among the Jaru tribe of the Great Sandy Desert, in Halls Creek for about eight years. After that I continued to work among the Indigenous people in Adelaide. In 1999, I was sent to Darwin to work as a Pastoral Associate in St. Paul’s Parish, Rapid Creek. In 2006, I came to Brisbane and worked in the Parish of St. Maximillian Kolbe in Marsden. Following this I was transferred to Coorparoo and involved in visiting young mothers of St. Thomas Parish and also did pastoral care among the patients in Canossa Private Hospital for a year. Now I am back in Marsden parish serving the people there.

I am truly blessed that the Lord gave me the courage to leave my homeland and country to serve him in his beloved poor.

I always believe that if you give yourself freely to God and follow Him wherever He leads, God never lets you down and He always bestows abundant blessing on you and your family. Now nearly all the members of my family are Catholics, even my grandparents, Dad and Mum.

Sr. Bridget

Sr. Bridget with Sr Lucy and some indigenous people at Halls Creek.