Columban Mission

The Magazine of the Missionary Society of St. Columban

October 2010

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Volume 93 - Number 6 - October 2010

o n t e n t s

Columban Mission

The Issue Theme: Radical Discipleship—Mission in the Post-Modern World

Published By The Columban Fathers

Columban Mission (Issn 0095-4438) is published eight times a year. A minimum donation of $10 a year is required to receive a subscription.

Send address and other contact information changes by calling our toll-free number, by sending the information to our mailing address or by e-mailing us at missionoffice@columban.org.

A Parish Football Team

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Reaching Out in a Creative Way

Mailing Address: Columban Mission PO Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056-0010 Toll-Free Phone: 877/299-1920 Website: WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG Copyright © 2010, The Columban Fathers (Legal Title) Publisher

Going Home

Celebrating Hope

8 Of Swords and Scholars

Working Toward Acceptance

6 Lost and Found in Lima

Finding My Way

9 Tea and Conversation

Evenings at the Plaza

10 The Ayacucho Mental Health Clinic

Healing the Sick

14 Expressions of Love

Serving Others; Helping Ourselves

15 Japan—Mission in an Affluent World

Mission Changes with the Times

17 Thank You, “Kuya” Jesus

Going Home, Giving Back

19 Mission in a Humbled World

A Return to Healthy Relationships

Departments 3 In So Many Words 23 From the Director

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Fr. Arturo Aguilar, SSC directorusa@columban.org

Editor Sr. Jeanne Janssen, CSJ jjanssen@columban.org

Managing Editor Kate Kenny kkenny@columban.org

Editorial Assistant Connie Wacha cwacha@columban.org

Editorial Board Fr. Arturo Aguilar, SSC Jesus Manuel Vargas Gamboa Sr. Jeanne Janssen, CSJ Kate Kenny Jeff Norton Fr. Richard Steinhilber, SSC Connie Wacha

The Missionary Society of St. Columban was founded in 1918 to proclaim and witness to the Good News of Jesus Christ.

The Society seeks to establish the Catholic Church where the Gospel has not been preached, help local churches evangelize their laity, promote dialogue with other faiths, and foster among all baptized people an awareness of their missionary responsibility.

Cover and Graphic Design by Kristin Ashley Cover photo: Columban Associate Fr. Michael Hwang Joo-Won in Peru 9/9/10 6:58 PM

Radical Discipleship

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n no uncertain terms, Jesus’ life defies and deconstructs the norms of His day. If I am to follow Him, my life is meant to be just as revolutionary. Jesus says, “Come and follow me.” He doesn’t say, “Come, follow me for a while until you get tired then go home when you’re ready.” It is this same wholly giving up of myself that can be frightening. It is generally easier to follow the Gospel at my discretion or when it suits me.

Jesus did not challenge the cultural norms, political structures, and religious practices of His time for the sake of being defiant. He did so in order to show a new way of being in relationship with one another and the wider world. These relationships were rooted in love, compassion, justice and peace.

The early followers of Jesus saw this new way of being; they saw Jesus changing existing views, habits, conditions and institutions and saw that it was good. This does not mean that they did not struggle to follow His example.

More than once they misunderstood what Jesus was telling them. Repeatedly they stumbled and fell into the old ways of being. At times Jesus reprimanded them, but always He loved them.

In today’s post-modern world, a time of unprecedented mobility, temporary commitments In So Many Words and virtual relationships, what does radical

By Amy Woolam Echeverria discipleship mean? What is it that needs to be deconstructed not for the singular purpose of taking apart, but rather so that something new and better can take its place? Is it our relationship to the vulnerable? Is it our relationship to Creation? Is it our relationship to the Church and other sources of power? Maybe it is closer to home like a family or work situation. Whatever the answer, there is work to be done.

I don’t think the work of today’s radical disciples is much different from that of Jesus’ time. At the core, we are called to be both deconstructionists and builders at the same time. We must only look around our homes, communities, nations and global family to see that there is much brokenness in the world.

Let us have the courage and strength to take apart at the root all that hurts us and to build anew the Kingdom of God. May we have faith and trust in God that in His immense love for us He will lift us up when we fall.

May we have faith

and trust in God that in His immense love for us He will lift us up when we fall.

Amy Woolam Echeverria is the director of the Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach in Washington, D.C. www.columban.org

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October 2010

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A Parish Football Team Reaching Out in a Creative Way

By Fr. Colin McLean

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o, not soccer – football!

While the U.S. calls the game soccer, 180 million Brazilians and the rest of the world call it football. As a Columban missionary priest in Brazil, I know first-hand how much Brazilians love football. The Brazil national football team is the most successful national football team in the history of the World Cup with five championships and is the only national team to have played in every World Cup. In addition, Brazil will act as the host country for the World Cup in 2014.

One Saturday night in August 2009, Marcelo Batista, one of the married deacons from our parish, and I were present at the first training session we organized with the aim of forming a parish football team, which would participate in a tournament with seven other parishes in our deanery. I had long wondered how we could reach out to the over 90% of our parish population who do not have regular contact with the Church, despite being baptized Catholics. A parish football team seemed like a good idea.

At a deanery meeting, I suggested that a football competition would be a good a way for us to engage more personally with parish youth, especially men, who do not come to Mass. We invited some good footballers we had seen in local games as well as other interested youths to try out for the new team which would then represent the parish. Eighteen young men came to the initial session, nearly all of whom are not regular churchgoers.

Since that first meeting, more footballers have approached us wanting to participate.

During our preparations for the tournament, I occasionally sent out a small leaflet to our parish team footballers. The leaflet included quotations from the New Testament (the Gospel parable of the talents, St. Paul’s letter about athletes training to win the prize, for example), and explanations of what is a parish and deanery. We came in third place in the first deanery tournament, which was played on an inside court with fewer players than occupy a normal football field. Unfortunately, we are not having too much success in a local tournament with teams from

Four of the Lima Rocha brothers with their mother

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The parish football team

nearby communities. Our team has plenty of stars, but what we want to achieve is for them to pull together to form a star team! However, our long term aim of reaching out to young men who have little contact with the Church is starting to bear some fruit. A couple young men now participate in our Sunday Eucharist; a couple more have indicated they would like Marcelo or me to baptize their children.

And another young man introduced me to his fiancée and said that soon they would approach me to officiate at their wedding.

Three of our players, Andre, Fernando and Anderson Lima Rocha, are siblings who come from a family of six brothers. Anderson served as an acolyte at Mass. I say served because the family has since moved to another area, but the brothers are happy to keep playing on our parish team. One day when I was passing by Anderson’s house, he asked if I would like to go in and meet his parents. I stopped the car and went into the house. I www.columban.org

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will never forget his father’s words when we were introduced: “This is the first time a priest has come into my house!” There and then I told him I would return for longer chats on occasions. Unfortunately, I never saw him again. He was ailing at the time and shortly afterwards was taken to the hospital where he died. I decided to keep my promise by visiting the houses (mostly rented rooms) of each of his sons.

The brothers all lived very close to one another which made my job a lot easier. Getting to know them all, I became very impressed to see them constantly in each other’s presence. The social life of one was, more often than not, the social life of all six, and they were very happy in each other’s company – playing football together, going on outings and sharing a beer together. Never before had I seen a family that close and united. As I discovered, they also have plenty of differences and arguments among themselves, but this in no way destroys their sibling friendship.

More and more, I am convinced that we have to be creative in our attempts to bring about the reign of God on earth. And we have to find the right language. Jesus didn’t get to know His fisherman companions by waiting for them around the synagogue, and He didn’t meet any of them at the temple during prayers or worship. He got to know them and their language by walking along the beach to where they tended their nets, fishing with them, crossing the lake with them (even in storms!) and cooked their fish with them on the beach. Jesus entered into their world, learned their fishing language and then He called them to be fishers of men and women. I believe we have to do the same. CM Fr. Colin McLean lives and works in Brazil.

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Lost and Found in Lima Finding My Way

By Meri Diamond

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ecently after eating lunch at the Columban Central House, I hopped on what appeared to be a familiar bus after confirming with the conductor that the route would go to Vipol (where my husband and I live). He said “Yes.” When it was time to pay him, I asked again, “Is this bus going to Vipol for sure?” Once again he said, “Yes, Senorita,” as he was taking my payment (33 cents).

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A few miles down, we were stopped by the police because another bus from the same company wasn’t working, and they moved all the passengers to our bus. About 20 minutes later I realized that I didn’t recognize my surroundings. I asked the passenger next to me if we had passed Vipol, thinking that they were taking a different route to accommodate the passengers from the defective bus.

The man next to me yelled to the conductor about the fact that he should have specified that we were not going through Vipol. The conductor proceeded to explain that he had told me that I needed to get off at the Panamericana Avenue and transfer to go to Vipol.

I reminded him of the two times he had told me the route was going to Vipol. He would not even make eye contact with me as a group of passengers started to protest on my behalf. I have heard that this type of scam happens often, but I never thought it would happen to me and for a measly 33 cents. I yelled at the driver baja inmediatamente (which means, “I am getting off right now”). Even though there wasn’t a bus stop, the driver stopped right away, probably fearing a dramatic scene with the passengers that were defending me.

Two police officers were at the corner. I told them what happened, and they apologized while indicating that there was a white bus going my way on the other side of the street. The white bus didn’t go my way. At this point I found myself in the middle of nowhere, not recognizing any of the names on the routes going back to anywhere familiar and crying out of frustration. It was time for Plan B. I had to take a cab. The first driver wanted to charge six dollars which is actually a lot of money for a ride. Although I did not know my exact location, I knew that I wasn’t $6 away from home.

I let that cab go and soon after a nicely kept taxicab pulled near me. I approached him, and he must have seen my anguish because he offered me a ride for $2.65. The other cab was giving me what foreigners call “gringo pricing.” It happens occasionally and is just something of which we need to be aware. Originally from Colombia, I can pass as a Peruvian if I don’t www.columban.org

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…the apple pie did more than sate physical hunger; it reminded me that Dan and I are not at all alone on this journey. open my mouth. Dan, on the other hand, sticks out like only a Minnesota man can in Peru!

I got in the taxi and proceeded to cry quietly for the next five minutes. Then the driver asked me, “Are you Colombian?” I responded with, “Is my crying accent so obvious?” He laughed and said “No Senorita, when we negotiated the price of the ride, I picked up your accent because I have a friend from Colombia that lives in Lima.”

From that point on, I felt at ease.

I confirmed the destination of the ride since he was charging me so much less than the other cab. He said, “I saw your sadness and gave you a good price.”

During the ride, the driver shared with me a little bit of his story. He was starting his life over in Peru, after losing his Chilean www.columban.org

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girlfriend of eight years to a brain aneurysm. At that very moment, God helped me put things into perspective. I stopped feeling sorry for myself and listened to a man who was recovering from a real life nightmare. We all have our crosses to bear, and they are all significant in the eyes of God. However, it was apparent to me that the man losing the love of his life had a heavier cross than my getting lost in Lima.

Once I returned home, I became aware of the mixed feelings I had about everything that went on that day. Around 8 p.m. someone knocked at my door. It was Nelly, the woman who works with my landlord. Since Nelly knows that I have a sweet tooth, she wanted to share a piece of Peruvian apple pie with me. No strings attached. Zero expectations. She did not even

know what had happened a few hours before.

It was that piece of apple pie from my landlord that illustrated for me that the majority of people in Lima are not out to cheat people.

They are hard-working, honest people who have opened their homes, chapels and parishes to us with unconditional friendliness and acceptance. While delicious, the pie did more than sate physical hunger; it reminded me that Dan and I are not at all alone on this journey. CM Meri Diamond and her husband Dan are Columban lay missionaries living and working in Peru.

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Going Home Celebrating Hope

By Fr. Diego Cabrera Rojas

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t was the week before Holy Week when I received a phone call from Rosario Vargas, a volunteer worker at Puericultorio Pérez Aranibar, an orphanage for poor children in Peru. She was calling to inquire if I were free to celebrate Mass in the chapel of the orphanage for nearly three hundred children on the coming Sunday. At first I was surprised by the call, but after talking with Rosario for a few minutes, I agreed to celebrate the Mass.

On Saturday, while arranging things for the Mass, I experienced some rather mixed emotions. I had not celebrated Mass for children very often, and the next day I would be celebrating Mass for 300 children aged 5 to 18 years. Another thought that weighed heavily on my mind was the fact that I had spent

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my childhood and adolescence at this orphanage, and I would return as a missionary priest 35 years later.

On Sunday I went to celebrate the Mass at the orphanage. At the main gate, a woman named Charito was waiting for me with a big smile.

She explained to me the way they do the Mass. I was a bit nervous as we walked to the sacristry, as many memories came back to me. Even the smell of the place was familiar.

I went into the sacristy.

Fortunately, the children looked at me with hospitable smiles, and I smiled back at them. I put on the vestments for Mass and went to the altar. The Mass was very moving and filled with emotion. At the end, I greeted Charito and the other volunteers and the Brothers of the Institute of Sacred Heart in charge of the children’s home. When the Mass was finished, I went back home.

Later in the day, Charito convinced me to help them with

the celebrations of Holy Week, and I agreed again. That was the beginning of a long-lasting friendship with Charito and her family and also with Br. Juan José Zabalza, a Spanish Brother of the Institute of Sacred Heart who has been working at Puericultorio for twenty-five years.

It has been four years since I said that first Mass at the orphanage. I have happily been going back “home” every Sunday and on feast days to celebrate hope and life with the orphaned and poor children of Peru. I’m happy to give something back to the institution where I spent my childhood. CM Fr. Diego Cabrera Rojas lives and works in Peru.

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Tea and Conversation Evenings at the Plaza

We hope that through talking to another person who shows them respect and love, they’re able to regain a little of their humanity and to remember that they aren’t alone.

By Anna Draper

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t can seem like the day-to-day stuff that David and I do as lay missionaries often gets lost in the busyness of our lives.

On Saturday nights, a little before 9 p.m., David boils two large pots full of the sweetest tea you’ve ever tasted. A southerner knows sweet tea, and this tea goes beyond any down-home barbecue version ever created. It’s like liquid rock candy. David also makes around thirty bologna with margarine sandwiches. Personally, I find the sandwiches a pretty gross creation, but the Chilean kids love it. Every Friday and Saturday night, after he’s made the tea and sandwiches, he goes out into the plaza, sits on a bench and waits. Kids arrive first, asking if they can have some tea. They approvingly smile at the first taste and exclaim, “bien dulce!” (really sweet). They then invite their older brothers, mothers and friends to come have a sandwich with them. As they share their meal, they sit with David and talk about their lives and ask how to say their names in English. They laugh when he says Juan is John and Maria is Mary.

As the night goes on, more adults stop by and ask for a cup of tea. They’re more silent, but eventually share that this is the first thing they’ve had to eat all day. They’re the drug addicts that roam the streets all night, scraping together what they can in order to www.columban.org

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buy cheap hits of pasta base – the junk left over after making cocaine.

They’re bone-thin and often have a vacant look in their eyes. They tell David about what it’s like to live as an addict, how they’ve lost their families and that they can’t hold down a job. They go days without eating and spend terribly cold nights roaming the streets.

David does what he does best: he listens. If they show interest in getting help, David knows where to direct them. He has connections to rehabilitation programs and has taken special courses to work in prevention and accompaniment of people with addiction problems.

Two people have gotten into rehab thanks to these nighttime outings.

Of course, most don’t end up getting help. But, we hope that through talking to another person

who shows them respect and love, they’re able to regain a little of their humanity and to remember that they aren’t alone. We hope that the words of encouragement remind them that there is hope for their own lives, that things can change for the better. With God’s help, we’ve seen hope restored, lives turned around and families reunited.

Tea, sandwiches and conversation can sometimes change lives for the better. The act of listening, validating the experience of the person talking, serving as a witness to their lives with how we live our own is part of our mission work in Chile. It is a good life. CM Columban lay missionary Anna Draper lives and works in Chile with her husband David and son Joshua.

October 2010

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The Ayacucho Mental Health Clinic Healing the Sick

By Sr. Anne Carbon

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olumban Sr. Anne Carbon reports on the new Mental Health Clinic in Ayacucho, Peru, and thanks all those who generously helped to fund it.

The year 2010 marks my tenth year as a missionary in Peru. As I look back on those years, I feel overwhelmed by the way things have unfolded. My faith and my chosen way of life have been tried and tested in accompanying the Peruvian people in their struggle for dignity and in the hardship of their day-to-day living. We live in a world that is in many ways hostile and individualistic. As I try to

make a difference in the lives of the people, being a cross-cultural missionary is a continual challenge for me.

Over the past seven years my ministry very much was focused on the mental health of the people in this Andean part of Peru. Ayacucho is a remote Andean city of about 80,000 people, with very limited psychiatric services. Other regions do not have much more but, unlike other regions, this city was at the center of the Shining Path guerilla activity between 1980 and 2000.

An estimated 10,500 Ayacuchanos, mostly male breadwinners, were killed over that period and the whole population suffered great

Sr. Anne Carbon (R) at the clinic

Columban Sisters in Peru

Living the Challenge

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trauma as a result of this violence.

As a consequence, the people suffer a higher than average level of mental illness.

Beginnings

In 2003, along with a few volunteers, we started a makeshift clinic in a rented property. Last year we were able to purchase our own property. We began the project even though we did not have even the most basic furniture. The local people made a concerted effort at fundraising and, with generous donations from our benefactors abroad, we were able to fulfill our dream of having a Mental Health Clinic in the Andean Region. It

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Clinic blessing by Archbishop Luis Sebastiani, SM

serves the Department of Ayacucho and its outlying villages.

We might never have succeeded had we waited to have everything in place before beginning. We learned that people respond to a need, especially when they can see that there is already something happening on the ground. The experience that we gained from our small beginnings has served us well in running a project that has grown and grown in ways that we could never have imagined.

Affirmation

September 29, 2009, was a memorable and happy day for us as our newly constructed Mental Health Clinic was blessed by Archbishop Luis Sebastiani, SM, of Ayacucho. There was a wonderful spirit of joy among all present. A special thank you was expressed on behalf of the patients. They appreciate so much the contribution that the clinic is making to those most in need in Ayacucho and the nearby villages.

A friend paid me a beautiful compliment when she said, “You have done so much more than you can imagine. You have had a huge impact, not just on this whole community, but on everyone whose life you have touched. The beauty of your soul and your vocation www.columban.org

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overflows, and I thank God for the difference your life has made to the lives of others.” Many of the patients and their families that I had attended since the beginning came to share their stories and their gratitude. For me they were and they are an inspiration; I am constantly reminded of the exhortation of Jesus in St. John’s Gospel “Love one another as I have loved you.”

Testimonies

Let me share with you two testimonies of patients who openly expressed their gratitude for the difference the clinic has made in their lives. When I visited Reynaldo I observed how nimbly his fingers skipped over the weft of a large loom and how a magical pattern of colorful Inca figures emerged from the threads. “I learned to do this from a neighbor a long time ago, when I was well,” he said. That was before Reynaldo, 22, shut himself up in his family’s house, fearing that everyone was watching him.

“For a whole year I didn’t leave my room. I felt the walls had eyes,” he said. I happened to be the first person who managed to break through his shell. I visited at his mother’s invitation, and he agreed to talk with me in the dark. With encouragement he finally agreed to

go with his mother to the Mental Health Clinic. I can still remember that on the day he first arrived he was wearing a baseball cap pulled down to cover his eyes. He was still not convinced that fears were due to an illness that could be controlled.

Now after six years of treatment for schizophrenia, Reynaldo is in charge of the weaving workshop as part of the rehabilitation program.

Another case is that of Rosa, a 42-year-old married woman with three children. She came here first in 2008 complaining of feelings of emptiness, despair and permanent exhaustion that led to constant fights with her husband and irritability towards her children. She met with a psychiatrist, had individual therapy with a psychologist and was diagnosed with major depression.

After a year and a half of intensive treatment and therapy, Rosa is now able to function normally and her relationships with her husband and children have improved. She said, “I am more motivated to do things and my relationships have improved. I thank the professionals of this center who have been very compassionate in their dealings with me. There is no place, even in hospitals, that treats people as well as you do here.”

So, on behalf of the Board of the Commission on Mental Health, the families, patients and people of Ayacucho, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to all the generous people who have supported us during these years. You have helped us to make a significant difference in the lives of the mental health patients in this area. CM Sr. Anne Carbon, a Columban Sister from the Philippines, has spent the past ten years on mission in Peru.

October 2010

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Of Swords and Scholars Working Toward Acceptance

By Fr. John Burger

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n the middle of a prominent intersection in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, is a large modern sculpture known as “the three swords.” The founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, spoke of the three “swords” of faith, unity and discipline. Certainly faith, unity and discipline are positive values. However, swords, as we know, are two edged. Can the sword of faith, when wielded by the state, still maintain a safe place for those of minority faiths or no faith? Can unity avoid being uniformity? And can it still make space for diversity? Can discipline be enforced by the state, without becoming mere coercion? Or does not true discipline really come from within a person?

The use and abuse of religion in politics would appear to be the cause of many ills in Pakistan and

Students of the midwifery school

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generates misunderstanding and discrimination against religious minorities, including the country’s Christian minority. It probably will not be resolved until the Pakistani government can make real progress towards reform of the Constitution and legal system, including addressing the delicate question of the presence of religion in politics. What can be done in the meantime?

For several years, the Commission for Justice and Peace at the Pakistani Conference of Bishops has been leading a campaign against the political use of religion, exemplified by measures such as the blasphemy law and the electoral law, which divided voters according to their religious affiliation.

Archbishop Saldanha, speaking on behalf of his fellow bishops, has

said that “growing extremism in the country is one of the key issues in the abuse of religion in politics.

Religion, in fact, is the main excuse in the hands of ‘religious parties,’ who have played a key role in leading the country to this threshold.”

Indeed, the Archbishop notes, “a political system influenced by religion discriminates against minorities and their rights,” while the Constitution may not be a “document that serves as guardian of a faith,” as in the foundational Charter of Pakistan.

The Constitution, which in Article 2 already proclaims Islam a “religion of state,” was amended in 1985 by “undemocratic forces” with the addition of the so-called “Objectivity Resolution,” an attachment that tilts more strongly in favor of the Islamic religion.

In this campaign for the independence of politics and religion, the Catholic Church seeks the consent of the other minority religious communities and civil society, as well as the majority Muslim community. The aim is to revive these arguments in the public forum, asking the government for constitutional reform and the abolition of all those laws that lead to religious

Fr. Robert McCulloch in front of the midwifery school at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital www.columban.org

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Students and staff of the School of Excellence

discrimination among Pakistani citizens. Subtle discrimination has a way of chipping away, often unconsciously, at one’s sense of self worth.

What else is being done for the victims of religious discrimination? In Hyderabad, Fr. Robert McCulloch brought me over to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, home of a school of midwifery. The Columbans and their benefactors and friends as well as the Irish government and Australian Overseas Aid have helped secure various pieces of equipment for the hospital over the years.

Mr. Francis, the hospital administrator, Sr. Miriam, head of the school of midwifery, and her fellow Holy Family Sr. Victorine, toured me around and answered my questions about the educational program at the hospital for midwives and the healthcare problems the people face. The population has extremely high rates of hepatitis B and C, as well as diabetes.

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and their communities. Sr. Miriam, a Sri Lankan missionary who herself trained in England, is proud not only of the high percentage of her students who pass, but also of how well the graduates do on the government’s licensing test.

Is there a similar path out of poverty and discrimination for young Catholic boys who also tend to be from low caste backgrounds?

To answer that question, Fr. McCulloch brought me around to the “School of Excellence” that he has set up with help from Columban benefactors. The regular school day at most schools ends about 1:30 p.m., but the boys who have been admitted to this program come to a center, the “School of Excellence,” where they are given intensive help in English, Urdu, and mathematics, as well as classes in religion and art. According to the boys and their parents, the result has been nothing short of amazing. Not only have the boys’ grades improved, but they have become a positive presence in their homes. Senior high schools are now anxious to get these students; the hope is that many of them will secure university scholarships and be on their way toward an entirely

different life. The school also has basic literacy classes for boys who have dropped out of school and are already working as street sweepers.

Perhaps excelling at their studies or in their professional lives is the only way that these bright young people will be able to gain acceptance by the larger society.

It is a way of proving themselves.

If they cannot be accepted by the mainstream Muslim culture of Pakistan because of discriminatory attitudes, they can still show their worthiness by being the best students, excelling in their studies, becoming professors, scientists or other professionals that are held in high regard by the community. But it still is a bitter pill to swallow that they have to work so much harder to simply be treated equally. Maybe this “model minority” phase is one that they will have to go through, but the basic problems of prejudice and unequal treatment remain.

With the Talibanization of the country, and the eruption of violence that has happened around the country in recent months, do the bishops have a reasonable expectation that their hopes will be achieved? Maybe the answer can come from another quotation from Muhammad Ali Jinnah, “With faith, discipline and selfless devotion to duty, there is nothing worthwhile that you cannot achieve.” CM Fr. John Burger serves on the Society’s general council and lives in Hong Kong.

For information about the aftermath of the devastating August 2010 floods in Pakistan, please visit our website at www.columban.org.

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Expressions of Love

Serving Others; Helping Ourselves

by Sr. redempta Twomey

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n a memorable passage in St. Luke’s Gospel, Jesus paints a picture of the reward that awaits those who are faithful to Him. “Be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will put on an apron, sit them down at table and wait on them.” (Lk. 12:36-37) The joy of the master overflows on to his servants and he, delighting in their ready vigilance, now becomes their servant. It is an image of an aproned God upturning the master/servant relationship as He joyfully attends to their needs.

“Happy those servants if he finds them ready,” Luke says: Yes, but happy too is the master.

Service is the hallmark of one who truly loves. Service done willingly, without grumbling, done with a good heart, a cheerful attitude. God looks for readiness like that of those who waited for their master to return from the wedding feast. Again and again Jesus emphasized this way of humble and glad service. His own life was one of service, not lording it over anyone but reaching out to help them. “He emptied himself,” Paul wrote, “taking the form of a slave….He humbled Himself.” (Phil.

1:7) This must be our attitude, Paul urges, if we are to be disciples of Christ. “Humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interest, but everyone for those of others.” We should do whatever has to be done, he says, without complaining or arguing. www.columban.org

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A tall order, especially in a time when, far from wanting to serve others, we feel it is our right to be served. How we bristle and feel affronted when we are ignored or brushed off by others. Notice how subtly we manipulate people, using them to bolster the fragile “I” that dominates my life. It may be a so-called helpful comment we make which lets the other know that our grasp of the issue or task is far better than theirs. Or notice how sour we can become when our helpfulness goes unappreciated.

Can it be that we are more intent on building up our ego, fashioning an ideal of a good neighbor than in helping someone? How easy it is to deceive ourselves, to do the right thing for the wrong reason!

True service calls for sacrifice.

All parents know this as they meet the demands of raising a family.

As we give of our time and talents to others, the walls of selfishness

begin to fall, and we are truly enriched. It is in giving that we receive; the less we look for in our giving the greater the recompense.

This is especially true in the realm of spiritual things. Many good people think to build up a bank

The joy of the master overflows on to his servants and he, delighting in their ready vigilance, now becomes their servant. account in heaven by the number of their prayers and sacrifices.

The danger is that we focus on our works, like someone hoarding treasure, and in so doing we miss the essential, that poverty of spirit so necessary in any true spirituality.

In St. John’s Gospel we are given no story of Jesus offering bread and wine at the Last Supper. Instead, in an act of profound, humble service, Jesus washes the feet of the disciples. At this most solemn moment, the last meal He would have with them, He wanted to impress on those gathered around the table that this is what it means to be a true disciple. “I have set you an example: you are to do what I have done for you.” (Jn. 13:15) It is the final great teaching He imparts before this journey to Calvary. It is a teaching all too often forgotten

by His followers down through the ages.

Lord, help us to learn from You and follow You today in love and service of others. CM

Columban Sr. Redempta Twomey is the assistant editor of the Society’s The Far East magazine in Navan, Ireland.

Japan— Mission in an Affluent World Mission Changes with the Times

By Fr. Barry Cairns

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I

am a Columban missionary living in Japan, a first world country where things material take first place. God is well down the list! What does the radical discipleship which Jesus demands mean in such an environment?

Of one thing I am sure— it is dangerous to deny one’s roots or present circumstances. In God’s Providence I am what I am and also where I am. Of course I must take caution against complacency, but to deny my roots is counterproductive as a missionary. It can lead to using the poor to further a personal agenda or fulfill a personal goal. It can lead to a

sneaking condescension and not to real fellow suffering with the poor and downtrodden. Working as a missionary, I need genuine compassion based on truth.

I came to a desperately poor Japan 54 years ago. The country districts where Columbans worked were still lacking the essentials of daily living – food, clean water, appropriate housing and much more. As a young assistant priest in the fishing town of Choshi in Chiba Prefecture, I was in charge of distributing food and clothing sent to us by U.S. Catholic Relief Services. One case especially is still vivid. A young mother with a tiny October 2010

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baby in her arms came for help. Her baby had a shriveled body covered in sores, a big head in proportion to the body with not even the energy to whimper. I gave the baby’s mother rice and milk powder telling her that the milk was for her, not for the baby. Two weeks later the mother returned, really radiant.

Her mother’s milk was flowing again and her baby was decidedly healthier. The extra food and milk for the mother worked to provide additional food for the baby!

Now, 50 years later, I live in a very different Japan. While there are pockets of homeless and jobless people in every town, on the whole, Japanese people are well off financially. What do I now do as a missionary? I acknowledge that like many other developed countries, Japan suffers from a spiritual poverty, but I cannot use this as an excuse for not facing the crippling physical poverty and oppression 16

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in the world. The starving people of Darfur and Gaza and the street children of Rio and Johannesburg are my brothers and sisters. The violence in El Paso/Juarez concerns me.

As a pastor, I ask people to watch the world news on television with a Christ-like heart. Frequent exposure to suffering can often blunt our compassion. Do we suffer with them? Do we feel with them?

Do we do something for them?

These are the challenges Jesus gives us.

We have 1,000 parishioners on the books, but I am also a missionary pastor to 205,000 people living in Hodogaya Ward of Yokohama City. One way we aim to contact these non-Christians with Christ’s message is through our parish home page for the myriad computer surfers out there! The home page is a parish team effort aiming to show that the Church is

alive. My Sunday homily in both Japanese and English is posted.

The Japanese Nobel Laureate, Kenzaburo Oe, had an influence on me when he said Japan is in a state of crisis; it is a nation without hope.

I aim to give witness to the hope that Jesus offers. Japan is also an island country with limited world vision. I, as an overseas foreign missionary, feel that after 50 years in Japan I can help to broaden horizons. We average 60 hits a day on the website. For me this is an important aspect of modern mission in an affluent and postmodern Japan. CM

Fr. Barry Cairns continues his ministry in Japan.

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Thank You, “Kuya� Jesus Going Home, Giving Back

By Ariel Presbitero

R

ecently I returned to the Philippines on a vacation after many years away.

Currently I live in Los Angeles, California, where I am the Columban west coast mission outreach coordinator. Previously, I was a Columban lay missionary.

I had not been home to the Philippines in five long years, and I was anxious to see my family and to do some mission work at the same time. With input from my family and friends in the local parish community, we decided to host a program for the children in the community. We would provide meals and drinks, organize music,

games and visits from clowns, and distribute school supplies and prizes to the children who attended the event.

Pasasalamat kay Brother Jesus (Thanks to Brother Jesus) was the theme of this event, which was held in a small barrio in Mambalon, Binangonan, Rizal, a parish started by the Columbans some 40 years ago. The local chapel leaders were welcoming and allowed us to use the chapel, Our Lady of Manog, after we received the blessing of our parish pastor at Santa Ursula.

The only concern expressed there was the relatively small size of the chapel versus the number of

children we expected to come. But I trusted the wisdom of the local people saying that it would work.

And so it did. The celebration was a most enjoyable gathering of children in that community. Since the program coincided with the

last weekend of the local summer vacation, we were thrilled when 200 children turned out for the event.

Children were all seated in a circle as we started the program with an opening prayer by my seven- year-old nephew, Jose.

The chapel was indeed packed; everybody was seated and excitedly waiting to see what the show would be like. Jose read the beautiful prayer which was prepared by my sister Adina who also coached Jose during the reading. I gave a short speech to explain why my family was doing this for the community, and I shared one popular quotation that many of the kids already knew, 17

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Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makararating sa paroroonan. (One who does not look back from where he started will not get to where he is going).

My trip home allowed me the opportunity to look back and at the same time give something back in the form of the feeding project to the community in which I had been raised and where my family still resides. I hope that one day these children will do the same when they grow up and remember the people and place from where they come.

The sweltering heat and humidity didn’t bother the kids too much primarily due to the fact that they are used to it being 92 degrees all year round. I’m sure the heat and humidity didn’t bother me when I was growing up in that area. The kids’ excitement, especially at the presentation of the clowns, raffle prizes, games, food and our gift of school supplies was very much in evidence. It was very noisy at times but everybody collaborated with much enthusiasm and interest.

After a while, the heat didn’t even bother me when I saw everybody happy and having fun. The smiles and laughter of these children made for a very meaningful day. I was mesmerized when all of them spontaneously sang a Tagalog song Hawak Kamay, (Hold Hands) led by my nephews, playing the www.columban.org

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electric guitar and singing. It was a song meant to invite everybody to gather and hold hands. Every child who received a raffle prize or game’s award said, “Thank You, Kuya Ariel.” Kuya refers to an older brother. The thank yous were not only for me but also for those who helped prepare and make this event possible.

If one were to ask me what lesson I learned feeding 200 children when I went home to the Philippines, I would say that I learned a lot about gratitude. I felt so blessed for the opportunity to be on mission, to see a reality different from my own yet familiar, to learn from a culture that gives new meaning to living in solidarity with those who are on the fringes of society due to poverty and lack of opportunity.

My dream is to see our children grow with the same sense of solidarity among people who are less fortunate, to see them forerunners of something new to change the world for the better, to look back where they came from and return to give back something for the good of the community.

It was good to be home with the sense of mission, giving back to the community and service to the children. A lot of children, parents and community leaders were pleased with the program.

The needs of the economically poor are great, and what we shared may be tiny, but the moments of joy and laughter were remarkable and hopefully made a lasting impression in their hearts.

It was the unconditional support of my family­—my mother, all my brothers and sisters, my sister-inlaw, brother-in-law, my nephews and nieces, friends and people in the parish community­­­—who believed that together we can do something good and meaningful that made the project a reality.

Without them, this project would have only been an idea.

Everything became possible as we worked together in the spirit of solidarity.

My hope for the future is that every time I visit home I can do something for the good of the community. It is one way of showing the children that they are loved and that God’s generosity is fully alive on earth even before we enter heaven. “Thanks to Kuya Jesus, indeed!” CM Ariel Presbitero is the Regional Lay Missionary Coordinator and West Coast Mission Outreach Coordinator

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Mission in a Humbled World A Return to Healthy Relationships

By Fr. Bob Mosher

The Post-Modern World

The expression “post-modern” refers to a sense that the human family in much of the world has moved beyond the “modern” sense and view of reality. “Post-modern” means a generalized movement away from the paradigm of progress as understood since the Enlightenment. Scientific progress has signified not only many positive things in the lives of people, but also the dark side of recent history including the environmental destruction symbolized and present in the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The certainties of the past regarding the fruits of technology and the superiority of empirical, experiment-based sciences are no longer beyond debate. With greater humility and less ethnocentricity, the human race is beginning to open itself up to both older and neglected sources of wisdom, art and spirituality that will allow a healing to take place and a greater wholeness to enter our lives.

Mission in such a humbled world, a world that sincerely desires to return to a healthy relationship with the planet while building on the scientific achievements of the modern era, can no longer be considered in terms of civilizing other peoples or lifting up traditional societies.

We both return to the roots of the Christian mission and pay more attention to the persistence of more emotion-based and WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG

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tradition-laden manifestations of Church life, applying scientific methods only insofar as they help us accompany people more closely in the countries to which we arrive.

It is in this way that we dialogue in a mutually enriching manner—the basis for the kind of relationship that allows for the Good News of Our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed to and shared with both guest and host.

The Missionary Congress of the Americas

Respect for Local Culture

People in Western societies regarded non-Western cultures with both fascination and disdain for centuries, alternatively cataloging the unusual rituals, customs and artifacts according to Western labels (superstitions, magical beliefs, primitive tools) and comparing them, often unfavorably, to their own societies’ achievements and ways of life.

Western missions to non-Western peoples also suffered from this perception, although missionaries accomplished much to benefit these same peoples, building hospitals and schools in areas largely neglected by colonial powers.

The Mapuches are the original inhabitants of the large, southern part of today’s Chile, and preserve much of their culture and philosophy. Like original peoples throughout the Americas, their wisdom and spirituality is preserved in dance, ritual and song, and

Pastora Juana Albornoz, left

A Mapuche woman talks to an Ecuadorean priest at the Missionary Congress of the Americas.

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Sofia Painiqueo

A Tibetan Buddhist monk visits Fr. Mosher’s interreligious dialogue class.

Gloria Rojas (L), Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Americas in Chile, and Juana Albornoz (R)

guarded by the machis, women, and also men, who practice traditional medicine and act as intermediaries between the invisible world of spirits and the visible world of the human race within nature.

When I taught courses on interreligious dialogue at some of Chile’s universities, I would invite spokespersons for the different spiritual traditions found in the country to come and speak to the young men and women of my classes. Sofia Painiqueo presented 20

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talks on Mapuche spirituality and always arrived dressed in the attire of her people. She was a formally educated Mapuche woman who spoke simply and eloquently about the cosmic perspectives and values of her people, including some challenging commentary on the political tensions surrounding Mapuche conflicts with Chilean authorities over land ownership and justice.

Ms. Painiqueo’s presentations showed evidence of a deep, integral belief system that gave identity and meaning to the life of her people.

While Western societies tended to separate Church and State, religion from government and spirituality from science, Mapuches integrated these aspects into a unified whole, and often arrived at conclusions that seemed to enrich our Western understanding of ecological problems and ethical conflicts.

For instance, Mapuches traditionally take no more from nature than they need, and regard animals, plants and minerals with the respect reserved for the members of a very large, varied family. As in the case of other original peoples, traditions of formulating petitions to the animal spirits for sufficient game exist, and also of rendering thanks for the provisions once an animal is hunted down and killed. Obviously, this stands in stark contrast to the attitude of exploitation without limits of the planet’s resources, without regard for any supposed dignity of the elements and creatures to be packaged and consumed, and even less for their natural systems of replenishment.

Ecumenical Cooperation

The negative effect of divisions among Christians was for a long time nowhere more evident than in the mission field.

Different Churches and Christian communities, often imbued with an intense disregard for and competitiveness with one another, undermined the Gospel message of a definitive reconciliation with God and with all humanity by discrediting and criticizing each other. Both Vatican Council II and the establishment of the World Council of Churches officially opened the doors towards establishing an essential condition for the mission of Christians: unity among them. Our post-modern era similarly promotes a holistic view of respect for the diversity of all cultures and spiritual traditions, each contributing to the richness of the whole. The particular riches and experience of each tradition within the Christian family contribute to the overall unity we all have in Christ, as baptized members of a single Body with diverse members and diverse contributions to the one mission of Christ.

Juana Albornoz embodies the spirit of Christian unity in Chile.

A Pentecostal pastora (literally, “shepherdess,” but equivalent to the feminine form of minister), Rev. Albornoz helped found the Ecumenical Fraternity of Chile in 1973, and continues to guide and inspire the ecumenical movement in Chile today, which includes communities and Churches from all three historical branches of Christianity—Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant.

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In words that come straight from the heart, she expresses a prophetic vision of a society attentive to the needs of workingclass families and inspired by the Christian communities of the Andean nation acting as one. In so doing, she gives a stirring example of the unity the Chilean people need to see after the fratricidal violence of the dictatorship.

Pentecostal Churches appeared in Chile at the same time that they began in a few other countries—the U.S., Norway, and among the Methodist missions in India, all between 1900 and 1910.

Although separated into thousands of individual communities, Pentecostal Christianity presently accounts for over 10% of Chile’s population—more than a million Chileans.

Pastora Juana actively supported the human rights work of the Vicariate of Solidarity, a large organization supported by many different national and international groups and faith communities but officially placed under the protection of the Catholic Church in Chile. Although most Pentecostal ministers decided to support the dictatorial regime of Augusto Pinochet, many joined Juana in providing experts and financial support for the work of the Vicariate, which aided the victims of torture, exile, and other violations of human dignity.

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yet strong sermons at ecumenical events. “In the beginning, we were so few,” she would say. “I give thanks to God for the numbers of young people that God has inspired to continue this work.” Contacts among the seminarians, novices and ministerial students of the various Catholic, Baptist and Protestant schools in several Chilean cities are a normal part of the curriculum these days.

Columban missionaries live and work in the poorer sectors of Santiago, Valparaiso, Iquique and into the mountain villages of the Osorno diocese. Trust and cooperation between Pentecostal Christians and Catholics isn’t easy to establish in these areas, but the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity—held in the week ending on Pentecost in Chile—provides some opportunities for contact and visits.

In Puente Alto, south of Santiago, the community of Santa Elvira chapel decided to invite the members of the nearby Pentecostal church to the park halfway between them, a “no man’s land,” to share cookies and soda and songs.

Both the Sunday Mass and the Pentecostal service were held at the same time, so it wasn’t difficult to invite both congregations to come together after their respective liturgies for a few minutes of conversation and music. Guitar players on both sides compared strumming styles and melodies, and the community leaders from both camps made a point of serving drinks and baked goods to the others.

Someday we might actually pray together in a common service,

but it’s still a little controversial for some members of both communities, so we don’t push it.

Praying together is more a goal than a means, in this case. Basic human contact, trust and familiarity with the history and structures and traditions of the other will set the stage for greater closeness in the future, and the unity that will make the Gospel believable.

Christ’s mission of bringing Good News to the lives of the poor, the oppressed, the sick and the lonely requires in our post-modern times a lifestyle of respect for the cultural diversity of humankind, of dialogue with communities of other spiritual traditions, of cooperation with other Christians and of ecological responsibility towards the community of living things and the planet.

“We must not only care for the earth, but we must respect one another,” Pope Benedict XVI said at a summer day’s audience a few years ago, held outdoors, with Alpine peaks and meadows for a backdrop. “Only with absolute respect for this creature of God,” he continued, “this image of God… only with respect for living together on this earth, can we move forward.” CM After many years in Chile, Fr. Robert Mosher is living and working in Omaha, Nebraska.

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Leave a Legacy: Include the Columban Fathers in Your Estate Plan Since 1918, the Columban Fathers have been proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel.

As cross-cultural missionaries, we have been blessed to help carry out the mission of Jesus around the world. We are deeply grateful for the prayerful and financial support of our benefactors.

Through the years, we have used these gifts in a variety of ways: • Established centers for developmentally challenged children and adults and those on the fringe of society.

• Built up the Church by working with local people to create communities of faith and provide educational opportunities.

• Educated and trained seminarians and lay missionaries.

• Created economic initiatives to help the poor lift themselves from poverty.

One of the most popular ways to ensure that your desire to help others is continued after your death is a legacy gift to the Columban Fathers. A legacy gift can bring real economic savings to you and your family while providing opportunities to continue our work. A planned gift to the Columban Fathers could help to: • Eliminate or reduce income tax payments on your retirement fund.

• Increase current income and reduce capital gains.

• Increase charitable tax deductions.

• Continue the generosity you have shown throughout your life.

There are several planned giving opportunities available to suit your financial plans that will help you to partner with the Columban Fathers, leaving a legacy today and helping someone else tomorrow.

For a confidential discussion about leaving a legacy gift or to personally discuss the various planned giving opportunities, please contact: Fr. Michael Dodd Planned Giving Office/Columban Fathers PO Box 10, St. Columbans, NE 68056 Toll-free: 877/299-1920 Email: plannedgiving@columban.org www.columban.org/donate 22

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The Love of God Made Visible

O

ne of my Columban confreres, Bernard Smyth, who died in 2006, is the author of a book entitled Paul, Mystic and Missionary.

I was fortunate to know Bernie in Chile during my time there on mission. A humble, focused and prayerful man, Bernie also knew how to have a good time. I will always think of him as one of the many good priest missionaries who, during our nearly 100 years of Columban history, witness to me and others the love of God. It was in Chile on a Society visitation that Bernie‘s “addiction to St. Paul” (his words) began.

The Columbans in Chile were grappling with questions of missionary presence, spirituality and community during their assembly. Bernie writes: “I think it was during one of these debates, probably when I was absently looking out of the window and marveling at sunset

From the Director

By Fr. Arturo Aguilar over the Andes, that an idea, not a very original idea, came to me. Why not go back for guidance to St. Paul, the first and greatest of missionaries?

Perhaps he would have something timeless and true to say to the missionary of today.”

The Good News must first be proclaimed to all the nations.

I recalled these words of Bernie when Pope Benedict opened the Church’s Pauline Year in 2008, giving us the outline of a model missionary and teacher. Among the apostles and disciples, Paul stands out as one who felt the urgency of the missionary mandate he received: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!” (1Cor.9:16). Knowing himself as loved and redeemed, Paul could not but take to the road to proclaim Christ and His message of salvation.

The Holy Father writes: “By looking at St. Paul’s experience, we understand that missionary activity is a response to the love with which God loves us.

His love redeems us and prods us to the missio ad gentes.” (A good translation of this phrase is mission to the nations from Mark 13:10: “the Good News must first be proclaimed to all the nations”).

After digesting Paul’s life, travels, letters and spirit in search of what he would have to say to the missionary of today, Bernie comes to the same conclusion as Pope Benedict. He writes: “For, like Paul, we really have only one thing to proclaim to a bewildered humanity and it is not, of course, his or ours at all, ‘the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Rom. 8:39). In Christ this love was visible, perceptible, almost tangible. In our humbler way this should be true also of us.”

In the Missionary Society of St. Columban, indeed, as in many congregations, societies and groups of a religious nature, practices and terminology of the business world are frequently useful. Fr. Smyth wrote his book on Paul in 1980, so I was surprised, and pleased, to find this analogy: “Like Christ, each of us must be Sacrament of God. To put it in less theological language, any good salesman brings samples of his wares. As samples, we missionaries bring ourselves. People will be less impressed by the things we say than the samples we are.”

Mark 13:10

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COLUMBAN FATHERS PO BOX 10 ST. COLUMBANS, NE 68056

NON PROFIT ORG POSTAGE PAID COLUMBAN FATHERS

New! Journey With Jesus!

Parish Program

The new Journey With Jesus parish program is a supplementary mission education curriculum for Pre-K through Grade 8 from the Columban Fathers. Based on the call to mission of all baptized Catholics and the principles of Catholic social teaching, the program introduces children to a variety of cultures and the missionaries working in them.

Each lesson includes: • Opening and closing prayers • Video presentations (DVD or VHS) • Activities The program is available free on loan or for purchase. To learn more about the Journey With Jesus parish program, visit the Columban Mission Education website: WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG/MISSIONED or call toll-free at 877/299-1920.

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An Invitation Calls for a Response We are but clay, formed and fashioned by the hand of God.

That is to say, we are weak and vulnerable but with God’s grace we are capable of great generosity and idealism.

Is God calling you to spread the good news?

To a life of ministry among those who are less fortunate and more vulnerable than you are?

We invite you to join this new generation by becoming a Columban Father or Columban Sister.

If you are interested in the missionary priesthood, write or call…

If you are interested in becoming a Columban Sister, write or call…

Fr. Bill Morton National Vocation Director Columban Fathers St. Columbans, NE 68056 877/299-1920 Email: VOCATIONS@COLUMBAN.ORG

Sr. Grace De Leon National Vocation Director Columban Sisters 2500 S. Freemont Avenue #E Alhambra, CA 91803 626/458-1869

Japan + Korea + Peru + Hong Kong + Philippines + Pakistan + Chile + Fiji + Taiwan + North America

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