In Deo bro. Henk van Lieshout, FIC by bro. Wim Swuste, FIC.

17.03.2022 18:35:49 5840x read.
INMEMORIAM

In Deo bro. Henk van Lieshout, FIC by bro. Wim Swuste, FIC.

Henk van Lieshout

Henri Antonius Huberta

By Wim Swüste

Henk was born on 17 December 1933 in Helmond,

the Netherlands. On 15 August 1955,

he made his first vows in FIC. He left us unexpectedly

on 6 February 2022 at Care Home De

Beyart in Maastricht.

“Lord, my heart is not proud,

Nor my eyes raised too high.

Neither do I concern myself with great matters,

Nor with things too profound for me.

All my life is aimed at this:

That joy and peace may be my share.“

These fragments from the Book of Psalms we

heard just now fits in very well with the life of

your relative, our fellow Brother, Henk van Lieshout,

who we are here to see off for the last time.

In him, we lose a sympathetic and sober-living

man. Henk was not the kind to boast about his

efforts for other people or about anything he did.

When a teacher of the law came to Jesus and

asked, what is the greatest commandment, Jesus

answers him that a person must not only

love God, but also his neighbour. “These two

commandments are the most important.”

Henk was a man who quietly sought God and

sought to stay on God’s path. But at the same

time he served his neighbours in all humility and

gladly:

--The pupils in primary school,

--The students at the teacher training college,

--Caring for his fellow Brothers,

--As a member of local community councils,

--As chairman of the board of the foundation of

our Monastic Care Home De Beyart, looking to

come to a kind policy,

--As a member of the executive committee of De

Beyart, giving attentive care,

--But also as a faithful worker in the copy office

at De Beyart,

--And faithfully and elegantly serving in the

prayer services in our Chapel.

His efforts and work were like a silent force, always

there, never complaining about pains or

ill health. And for all of us, relatives and Brothers,

his going is a great loss. Especially since

his death came as a surprise, in the dark of the

night.

Henk grew up in Helmond. And when he went

to primary school with the Brothers, the Second

World War was just beginning. In sixth form, the

Brother who taught him thought him a good candidate

for the FIC: a very good student, a good

boy from a decent family. Our Brothers had been

working in Helmond from 1880, in the monastery

where our co-founder Bro. Bernardus Hoecken

died that same year while on a visit there.

After discussions between his parents and the

then superior of the house, it was arranged that

he could start at the Juvenate. So in August

1946, Henk went to Zevenaar and after three

years, he moved on to the teacher training college

in Maastricht. He was a good student. After

gaining his papers as a teacher, he was sent to

study Dutch language and literature. He completed

that study in 1970.

In those days it was quite usual for Brothers

to study and go on working at the same time.

Usually, they’d be given a lower form, with less

preparation and correction work required. Henk

was a dedicated and valued teacher, and very

good with the students. In 1995, he applied for

early retirement after 40 years as a teacher.

During the holidays, Henk and fellow Brother

Anton van der Geest would take a fortnight for

holidays. And they’d stick to the vow of poverty,

making day trips on their motorbikes. Bro.

Cichus Damen would make sure the bikes were

well prepared for such trips. And Henk and Anton

would make sure they had a good holiday

without spending much. They’d take dinner in

the kitchen of the Tongerseweg monastery in

Maastricht every evening when they came home.

After his retirement, Henk started on a new

phase in his life. Quite soon, he was asked to be

chairman of the Monastery Care Home Foundation

De Beyart. He chaired the meetings in the

evenings with a firm hand. Issues, once discussed,

would be summarized for the notes. In

this apostolate, Henk would work hard to obtain

the best care for his fellow Brothers and Sisters.

He also arranged for the attics of De Beyart to

be renovated into big apartments and hobby

rooms. There were a clocks workshop and painting

workshops.

For four years he chaired the committee. Every

Friday morning there were meetings, with Wim

Swüste, Leny Maas, Thomas Bänziger and

Henk. Good care and attention for the inhabitants

of the Care Home, and for the staff, were

his first priority. The four members of the committee

shared one habit: they were all smokers!

After the meeting, the door was opened and the

stairwell filled with white smoke. A bit like the

Vatican announcing a new Pope…

For 25 years and more, Henk was always available

at the copy shop in one of the cellars of De

Beyart. He was always helpful to the aging Sisters

and Brothers coming there for copy work.

He also saw to the printing of prayer service

texts, announcements, lesson materials for the

Icons workshop and so on. In a rather clumsy

manner he was recently told he had to vacate

the copy room, for the creation of a so-called

‘Beyart Café’. That was the one time in his life

when Henk, always moderate, showed indignation:

he got truly angry.

For the Liturgy Group at De Beyart, Henk was

indispensable. Faithful until death, he was an

acolyte in the Mass, read Gospels and prayers

very clearly, and with great care dispensed the

communion wafers to the people in Chapel. He

always did this work in an elegant manner, quiet

and modest.

“Praying is tentatively seeking God in love”, it

says in the Constitutions. Henk has sought God

all his life in this way. He was not a man to show

his piety, but in the silence of his room and in

our chapel he would search his own motives, to

always give better shape to his life as a Brother

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