Columban Mission December 2010

The Magazine of the Missionary Society of St. Columban

December 2010

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A Three Legged Camel

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hristmas and family. They seem to go together like salt and pepper. The crowds at airports and the traffic on the highways as Christmas approaches provides a visual reminder that people are eager to spend time with their loved ones during the holiday season. In fact, many of us seem to make extraordinary efforts

to be with our families at this special time of year.

We all have our precious memories of Christmas celebrations from when we were young. Everyone in the family had a part to play. As the youngest of four children, two of my responsibilities growing up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, were retrieving boxes of Christmas decorations from an unheated attic and arranging the Christmas crib figures. Arranging the figures required a fair bit of expertise, as the camel had a twig for an artificial leg, and one of the wise men had a hole in his back. Imperfect, but loved and part of our family history.

The focus of it all was the Christmas Mass and then back home to open presents, sing carols and later in the day, Christmas dinner with all the trimmings including a specialty of my mother—bright red cinnamon apples around the turkey. The main actors in the event, of course, were Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the Holy Family. Without them the whole activity was meaningless. What would Christmas be with an empty crib?

It is an interesting coincidence that my first parish assignment after ordination in 1961 was Sei Kazoku Kyokai, Holy Family Parish, in Japan. My last parish

In So Many WordS

assignment overseas was Holy Family Parish, Labasa, Fiji.

By Fr. Charles Duster

My 43 years of overseas priestly ministry was bracketed, so to speak, by the Holy Family—not bad company with which to be associated.

Throughout those years, Christmas celebrations differed from parish to parish, country to country. In Japan, perhaps 100 people out of 100,000 living in the area would participate in Midnight Mass, half of them visitors

While the celebrations can vary from place to place, family to family, together we joyfully celebrate the birth of the King. www.columban.org

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invited to the church for the first time. In Fiji, by contrast, often entire villages would join in the Eucharist which was almost always followed by a communal meal. Families come in many shapes and sizes—nuclear families, extended families, faith families—but always it is the family at the heart of the Christmas celebration. While the celebrations can vary from place to place, family to family, together we joyfully celebrate the birth of the King. Our own memories and experiences of Christmases past are rooted in that wondrous event pictured in the Christmas cribs we see around us this year, even if the camel is lame and one of the wise men has to keep a low profile.

Fr. Charles Duster lives and works in Chicago, Illinois.

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A Demographic Switch The Korean Family Changes

by Fr. Sean conneely

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ome days I wonder if I am in the same Korea that I came to in 1969. Things have changed so much. Korean society is probably one of the fastest changing societies in the world over such a short period of time. Until the mid-1960s, 85% of Koreans lived in rural towns and areas. Now, the opposite is true with approximately 85% of the population living in cities. Many people live in high rise apartment buildings over 30 stories tall.

In 1970, as I worked in a rural parish in Kwangju Diocese, most of the families farmed for a living.

The Catholic families, like all other families in the area, were guided, bonded and bound together by the Confucian system that defined the relationship of respect and duty within the family according to age, status and gender. The Confucian system has specific names for the place of each person in the immediate family and the extended family and in-laws and the wife’s family. For example, in English aunt is the same word for our father’s and mother’s sisters or sisters-inlaw. In Korean, there are two words which distinguish the sister as that of the mother or the father. One is e-mo, and the other is ko-mo.

Duty, filial piety and order are the strongest values in the Confucian system. Like all systems

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it has pluses and minuses. Like most systems in reality it favors the strong and those with status. The older men and heads of families call the shots and emphasize the rules that favor them. No one suffered more under that system than the myonurii, the daughter-in-law, especially the wife of the eldest son, who had to prepare all the meals and food for the extended family several times a year as they celebrated the family’s traditional ritual ceremony for their ancestors.

Nobody could be more powerful, demanding and sometimes cruel than the mother-in-law. And no “dutiful son” could ever challenge his mother or take the side of his wife in a family issue or quarrel.

In the past, sons more often received higher education, and the women did most of the backbreaking work of planting, weeding and cooking on the farms.

So, what has changed in Korea?

With the industrialization of the nation, more opportunity for jobs, education, freedom of speech, freedom of movement and familial relationships have all changed. The old societal rules have changed as well.

The beginnings of democracy came to Korea in 1987 after many years of struggle, and many new laws and attitudes came with it.

What effect did all these changes

have on the family and on our role as Church and as missionaries to respond to the changes?

Education and financial independence must be two of the biggest influences and change agents in any society. For Christians, freedom of religion and the basic truths of human dignity—being created in the image of God, God’s love and mercy and the promise of afterlife for all—are agents of change and a vision of hope. The new urban and industrial Korea provided an opportunity to sample these truths and more in many new churches.

Many people were only too willing to escape the shackles of the past as they experienced it. Of course quick change, especially without evaluation, doesn’t always produce good, sustainable change.

The immediate rewards for people were more employment opportunities resulting in more income for the family. The families were then able to enjoy better living conditions. Sons and daughters www.columban.org

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were able to go to universities and get better educations while the better educated young people, even those from poor families, were able to go abroad to study.

Because of the rising population, the government established a policy of two children per family and then later one child per family.

As a result, some families become isolated at home, deprived of aunts, uncles and cousins, and the extended Confucian family structures began to break down.

Education became the top priority for most families which means children going to school at 7:30 a.m. and taking extra classes at night with some in classes until 1:00 a.m.

In other homes, live-in university students provide tutoring at all hours. Mothers stay awake in order to keep their children awake to study more.

Husbands working in big companies work late and socialize with their colleagues until late at night. Thus, wives spend more time with the children and their friends www.columban.org

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Until the mid-1960s, 85% of Koreans lived in rural towns and areas. Now, the opposite is true with approximately 85% of the population living in cities. than with their husbands. The end result may be better educated children but little family life. They hardly ever eat meals together; there is very little bonding between father and children. Often the wife/mother is more emotionally involved with the children and her women friends than with her husband. Since the 1990s, with the increased competition to get into top class universities, families with financial freedom began to send their children abroad to English speaking countries as early as primary school to study and get into colleges abroad. This led to the syndrome known as “the wild geese” families in which the mother goes abroad most of the year to care for the children, and the father has to fend for himself at home,

like a wild goose. During holidays the children and mother may or may not come home.

Unfortunately, this creates a greater distance between father and family. It also exposes the children and mother to a Western way of life with different values and relationships. Having tasted the life of a new culture, many women don’t want to return home. If they do return, the women want a new way of life, one with the freedom they experienced abroad either as students or wives/mothers.

The change creates great worry for the “at-home” father and conflict between himself and the returned family. Conflict can lead to violence, and loneliness can lead to unfaithfulness. Money, education and status can lead to December 2010

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individualism, and many young women are not willing to or able to endure the old patriarchal family system any longer. Divorce is no longer a dirty word.

With young women leaving the farms and countryside for the cities, one of the basic needs of rural areas was exposed—the need for women to become wives, to bear children and carry on the family line. To cope with this problem both government and private agencies set up matchmaking systems to connect Korean men with foreign brides from the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Mongolia and other countries.

While the arranged marriages meet one need, they create many others.

Now, in some rural areas, more than 50% of the wives are from foreign countries, living in areas and raising families where only Korean and Confucian culture existed for 3,000 years. This causes much stress, conflict and problems that call for solutions, new structures and ideology that did not exist thirty years ago.

The declining population in Korea due to the one-child family created another situation as well—the need for foreign workers to fill spots once held

by Koreans. These workers have been arriving from as far away as South America and Africa as well as nearby Asian countries.

The economic opportunity is a great boost to both Korea and the foreign workers. However, family separations, cultural misunderstanding, loneliness and injuries plague the foreign workers and often lead to the break up of the family in the worker’s home country. With the huge growth in the Korean economy, many foreign companies have come to Korea.

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Korean couples have been running weekend programs for engaged couples and Marriage Retorno programs to give a more Bible-based spirituality to the couples. I introduced the Retrouvaille Program for troubled marriages in 2005. These and other programs are helping couples to keep communication, intimacy and spirituality alive and to grow in their marriage and family life.

Many religious orders and lay people serving as both professionals and as volunteers are sharing their resources and time to help families who are experiencing problems, especially the migrant workers and interracial couples.

The Retrouvaille Program for troubled marriages and other programs are helping couples to keep communication, intimacy and spirituality alive and to grow in their marriage and family life. origin of the foreign company come to Korea, which is a big change.

While these changes have created a few problems, they also have exposed Korea to new family values with more of an international flavor and Christian values of human rights and dignity that have resulted in fairer and more just laws, policies and attitudes throughout the country.

How did the Church respond?

Maryknoll’s Fr. Donald MacClinnis introduced Marriage Encounter to Korea more than thirty years ago. As of 2009, 80,000 couples have participated in the programs, not to mention all the other enrichment and weekly meetings in parishes. In turn, the Korean couples have shared the fruits of their experience with the Korean Diaspora across the world.

Various national groups have set up their own websites to educate and support each other and keep in touch with their own culture and families at home. The new challenges and problems are a call to care and share, support and learn how to build a better and more caring Korean society for the future. What that will look like no one really knows. One thing is certain, the Korean family of 2010 is far different from the family of 1969. CM Fr. Sean Conneely lives and works in Korea.

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As We Forgive Redemption and Reconciliation

by Fr. Frank Hoare

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ew Year celebrations were in full swing in Namoto village in western Fiji. It was after midnight, but loud music was blaring from the radios and groups of people were noisily drinking alcohol. Samu, a powerfully built man in his thirties, staggered to his feet and followed Manoa, an unmarried youth from a neighboring village, out of the communal shed. Samu was obsessed by rumors that Manoa was carrying on a liaison with his wife. His suspicions and resentment, fueled by the alcohol, gnawed at him. His anger quickly boiled over. Outside on a path between two houses, Samu challenged Manoa and cursed him roundly. He struck Manoa with a savage blow from his fist. Manoa fell to the ground, hit his head against a rock and lay motionless.

Presenting the whale’s tooth www.columban.org

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A young man died as suddenly as an unexpected flash of lightning.

The following Sunday I faced a full church in Namoto. It was a difficult homily to preach. People were stunned. A Catholic family in a nearby village was mourning a son. A Catholic family in Namoto was weighed down with guilt and shame. I could not ignore or avoid the situation. It was important to put words on the shock and acknowledge the rupture of an ordered existence. But it was not my place to point the finger of blame. The tragedy was wider than lust and revenge. It was a teachable moment in which to examine the contributing factors of alcohol abuse, rumor mongering and the failure of leadership. Manoa’s tragic death pointed to a breakdown in the communal ethos as well as the

religious values of the village. We all shared some responsibility. It was a moment for communal conversion.

Forgiveness and reconciliation might come later, but it would take time.

In the wake of the tragedy, Samu received a three year sentence for manslaughter. During that time, I visited him in prison. Samu was glad to see me. He requested a rosary and asked how he could learn more about the Bible after he completed his sentence . Wary of a sudden but shallow conversion, I recommended that Samu attend the weekly village liturgy preparation meeting. During those meetings, the Bible was brought in procession to the family responsible for reading in church on the following Sunday. The family, together with the catechist and liturgy committee, read, reflect and share on the Scripture readings.

This, I suggested, would bring him in regular contact with God’s word with the support of a faith community. The catechist and his wife could be Samu’s mentors and the midwives of a new life for him.

Meanwhile, Samu’s clan felt alienated and defensive. Manoa’s family was in shock and rejected early overtures of reconciliation.

The village catechist and liturgy leaders discussed the situation during Lent. As Holy Week approached, the liturgy leader approached me to request a different Good Friday Stations of the Cross. Instead of holding them in the church, he suggested incorporating them into a procession that would embrace both villages, both extended families, the living and the dead.

But would the two key families agree to participate? The liturgy leader approached them and persuaded them to take part in faith.

Good Friday morning was hot and humid. A large crowd of villagers gathered outside the December 2010

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house of the deceased Manoa.

His family gathered around the seven-foot cross as we began with a prayer linking their sorrow with the sorrow of Mary and sufferings of Jesus. I was asked to carry the cross from the first station to the second followed by the people singing a hymn. At the third station commemorating the first fall of Jesus, Manoa’s father took the cross and led the procession from his village to the outskirts of Namoto a few hundred yards away.

The fourth station commemorates Mary’s sorrowful meeting with her son Jesus. After the Biblical reflection, Samu’s widowed mother offered, as a profound sign of apology, a whale’s tooth, the most sacred symbol in Fijian culture, to Manoa’s father.

Tears were shed as Manoa’s father accepted this traditional and much revered symbol from Samu’s uncle.

With that acceptance, Manoa’s family accepted Samu’s clan’s apology and reconciled with them.

Another emotional station was the twelfth where Jesus dies on the

Forgiveness and reconciliation

cross for the salvation of the world.

At the spot where the fatal accident happened, we meditated on how Jesus’ acceptance in love and forgiveness of His death overcame the evil let loose in the world by Adam’s original sin and the sin of Cain’s killing of his brother Abel.

Afterwards I requested that the large wooden cross we had carried that day be planted and erected on that spot as a reminder to the community of a needless

Opening the Door to Life and Salvation Reviving a Sense of Mission

by Fr. Shay cullen

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ot long ago, I was asked to write an article on a papal apostolic prayer.

I used to think of such prayers as long and windy, padded with unpronounceable words and hardly intelligible. This one is different: “That the Church may be a ‘home’ for all people, ready to open its doors to any who are suffering from

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racial or religious discrimination, hunger, or wars forcing them to emigrate to other countries.”

In a few words, it sums up a vital aspect of the mission of Jesus Christ—that all people, of all races, colors and creeds would live in harmony in one family under God’s care and protection as if in a loving home. The doors were

tragedy but also of a memorable process of reconciliation of not only two families but also two communities. CM Fr. Frank Hoare lives and works in Fiji.

to be open to all who come with good intentions — the sick, the hungry, the refugees, the asylum seekers, those deprived of dignity, the downtrodden wretched of the earth, the abused and victimized of this world. The door is open to them day and night and also for the sinners to repent and to come asking forgiveness and be willing to accept penance.

One example of this brave new world is the story of Hakim, a Muslim teenager, who was driven from his village by war and became a refugee and a migrant in the city. As a street child, Hakim was arrested and suffered abuse and hunger in jail and was forgotten.

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release and recovery are an example of that prayer in action.

The workers opened the prison doors for Hakim and welcomed him into God’s family. They healed his wounds and gave him a new life. This is the mission of Jesus in today’s world, the prayer being answered and fulfilled.

This openness came from the mission of Jesus and is reflected in prayer; it is to bring life and salvation to the victims of all kinds of human rights violations. The insistence by Jesus that all persons are equal in God’s kingdom, that all are God’s children, loved equally and without discrimination caused Him to be castigated and falsely accused by the religious authorities of His day.

Jesus wanted heaven on earth, an end to injustice, hunger and discrimination, and He prayed that His Father’s will “be done on earth as in heaven.” The kingdom of justice that Jesus wished for all mankind was for this life, not only in the next life, and the privileged ruling authorities in Jerusalem were all too aware of the power, impact and danger to them in that message.

Jesus brought into the world a new life-changing set of values centered on relationship between God and humankind. It uplifted knowledge and awareness on the dignity of individual persons as God’s children with inalienable rights. Two thousand years ago, it was expressed beautifully in the Magnificat and the Sermon on the Mount. Yet all such life-giving human rights values were from time to time suppressed by church and civil authorities alike throughout periods of history.

In fact it is only in this generation that we see the prayer being more fully answered in unexpected ways and venues.

These human values and rights are www.columban.org

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being recognized in international laws by the United Nation’s conventions and protocols, and many nations are incorporating them into their laws and practice.

We see the International Criminal Court holding accountable the perpetrators of heinous and unspeakable crimes against humanity. Universal justice is spreading at an increasing pace.

Respect for individual and community rights and values is slowly being implemented and is empowering individuals, communities and organizations to work for the transformation of their own societies.

We see too the challenge that lies ahead as some nations are

oppressive and discriminatory to asylum seekers and refugees fleeing violence and economic hardship.

Openness and fair sharing of a nation’s resources and wealth with the poor and exploited has to be fair and balanced. All Christians need to revive their sense of mission, put their faith into action and deeds and work to make that papal prayer a reality today. CM Fr. Shay Cullen lives and works in the Philippines.

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Family Life The Privilege of a Loving Home

By Anna Draper

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amily life is something my husband and I take for granted. We were blessed with great parents. They taught us, supported us, and we knew beyond a doubt that their love for us was unconditional. My first job out of college was at an emergency shelter for troubled teens. In that shelter, I came face to face for the first time with another reality—that not everyone has the privilege of growing up in a loving home.

I remember a 17-year-old boy who had grown up on the streets and in shelters. He was rough, kept to himself and didn’t speak much.

One night it fell upon two of us to take some of the kids to church.

We ended up at a small chapel with no more than ten churchgoers.

Ten kids from the shelter and my coworker and I made up half the congregation! The kids were embarrassed to sing, since there were so few people, so I made it a point to sing extra loud, hoping

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they might be less self-conscious about their own voices. On the ride home in the van, the kids and I laughed about my terrible singing voice. One person not laughing was the 17-year-old boy. He sat in the back and was quiet. He looked at me intently for awhile and then began nodding his head as if in agreement with something. He pointed at me and smiled, “I get it!

You just like to make other people feel good about themselves.” He then joined in the laughing.

What worked in our shelter wasn’t just the rules and constant teaching. It was the family atmosphere we created. The kids knew they were safe—that no one there would raise a hand to them or yell at them or let another kid hurt them. They knew we cared about them and wanted the best for them.

As the boy pointed out regarding my singing fiasco, we wanted the kids to feel good about themselves.

The type of loving environment

we created was one they had never known in their own families. In this new world, behavior problems disappeared. Kids who were previously “out of control” cleaned up their rooms daily, did their homework and helped cook dinner.

While we worked with the youth, other counselors worked with their families at home, in hopes that they would be reunited and better equipped to live peacefully together.

I brought this experience with me to Chile six years ago when my husband and I became lay missionaries with the Columbans.

Again I found myself working with youth, but this time in a different setting. We have worked in two large, inner city parishes, trying to build up the churches’ youth groups. The biggest problems we’ve seen here are drugs, teen pregnancy, domestic violence and gangs—not unlike the problems that plague young people in cities

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in the U.S. We’ve learned a lot along the way and are constantly trying to learn more to enable ourselves to better help the young ones with whom we work. During our mission, we’ve taken a long list of courses: Working with High Risk Youth, Drug Prevention in Families and Sex Education for Adolescents, to name a few. At times we feel so impotent while facing these problems that we’re constantly looking for ways to build up our forces, to learn more and to be better equipped to face the challenges of every day life in the población (Chilean ghetto).

These courses have helped, but in the end, I think the biggest gift we can give teens today is a loving community. More and more teens are turning to sex partners, drugs or gangs in order to have a sense of being loved or belonging.

Some of our best results in the parish have come from activities that strengthen the families and the church community that they

form. Two years ago we celebrated Family Week in our chapel by offering nightly talks, testimonies and games related to strengthening the family. During the week we discussed issues like prayer, communication and discipline.

Parents found a support group in other parents, and kids found a safe place to play and share with others their own age. On the first night of our talks, about fifteen adults showed up. Each night brought more people, and by the end of the week we had about 50 adults participating.

This was a wakeup call for our chapel that families were the key to creating both a strong church community and a strong society.

Since then, my husband and I have been trying to connect to families through all of our ministries.

Working with youth groups here has entailed much more than simply providing catechism to teens preparing for confirmation.

Rather, we are constantly trying to

build bridges between the kids and their parents, visiting their homes and encouraging communication.

Simple acts like going to Mass, praying the rosary or sitting down to a meal (without watching television while eating together) are transformational opportunities when shared as a family.

The reality in the población, just as in other parts of the world, is that the family unit has changed. Mother and father are often not married and both may not be a part of their children’s lives. Grandparents are either not present at all or are the primary caregivers. Sometimes, the people to whom children feel closest are not blood relatives at all. In the end, it’s not the composition of a family that matters most but rather the strength of the love that binds it together. Our church community is a family too, and it is important to strengthen our ties in order to remain strong while facing the challenges of the world today. CM Columban lay missionary Anna Draper lives and works in Chile with her husband David and son Joshua.

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The Art of Waiting The Fulfillment of Hope

By Sr. Redempta Twomey

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n these ‘at the touch of a button’ days, when we can call up whole worlds on the internet with one touch of a finger, we would like to command our happiness with similar ease; it should be instant and total.

The illusion that we can do this is common enough as we see all around us: “Eat me,” “Drink me,” “Wear me,” “Drive me,” and you’ll be happy forever. Buy now, pay later and you won’t be deprived of the immediate gratification that you, special you, so richly deserve.

What is intolerable is that we should have to wait for anything.

In this impatient age the man or woman who builds a faster car, a speedier program or a so-called instant meal is on to a winner.

But, as the posters shout out to us, speed really does kill and not just on the roads. When we can no longer live comfortably with the sense that things take time, that growth needs time to develop and mature, our restless spirit becomes small and shriveled. Our nets remain empty as the happiness we WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG

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“The vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it”

are trying to catch continues to elude us.

If there is one thing that emerges clearly throughout the Bible, it is the art of waiting. Again and again the prophets proclaimed that happiness was on its way and was not yet there. They urged the people to “wait patiently” for God to save them, never to give up hope, but to believe in the promises of a faithful God. However great their troubles, they must never lose heart. “That he will come is as certain as the dawn” (Hosea 6:3).

And, always, those who believed in the promises held fast and kept the vision alive.

At the time of Jesus’ birth we meet a number of these people whose hearts have been honed and WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG

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Habakkuk 2:3.

readied, whose faith is unwavering as they waited “for the consolation of Israel” (Luke 2). They are small, fervent and poor, unremarkable in the society but beacons of light to those who believed. Zechariah the priest and Elizabeth, his wife, whose delight in her own good news gave way to joy at her young cousin’s pregnancy; old, faithful Anna, and Simeon who rejoiced that “My eyes have seen your salvation;” Joseph and his wife Mary whose acceptance of the happenings they could not fully understand, unlocked the door

“That he will come is as certain as the dawn” Hosea 6:3. for all of us. Their readiness and openness to mystery is the work of time and patience. Centuries before the prophet Habakkuk had written, “The vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it” (Habakkuk 2:3).

Now, at last, the time had come, the vision was being realized,

the waiting was at an end and so Simeon, recognizing the infant in Mary’s arms could pray, “Now Lord, you may let your servant go in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation...” (Luke 2:29). To the old man was given the answer to the longings of the ages. In the tiny bundle in Mary’s arms, he saw the fulfillment of all his hopes and the hopes of his people.

Christmas calls us to this recognition, calls us to really see the infant Mary holds. For this we need time, not so much to take it as though we were snatching it from our hectic days, but rather to give it, graciously, lovingly and with longing, to the Lord of all our days. No instant results, no touch of a button immediate elation but surely, if we are true, a peace filling our hearts gently, quietly, telling us that we are welcome, that there is space for us with Mary and Joseph and with all who throughout the ages recognized the Child, the Son of God and knelt to adore Him in silence. And, almost without knowing it, we are happy. CM

Sr. Redempta Twomey is the assistant editor of The Far East and lives and works in Ireland.

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“Oh Holy Night” My First Christmas in Pakistan

By Fr. John Burger

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fter applying for a visa to visit the Islamic Republic of Pakistan over Christmas last year, I was instructed to present myself in person at the Pakistani consulate for an interview.

Why was I going? And, why go at this particular time? The morning of my interview at the consulate, a deadly bomb had been set off in the market in Lahore, Pakistan. What work did I do in Hong Kong? Did I intend to do anything missionary on this trip? My answer was that I just intended to visit missionaries over the Christmas holidays and sightsee, not engage in mission myself. Apparently my answer was satisfactory, and the requested visa, by no means a sure thing, was granted.

As I boarded the elevator down to street level from the consulate’s offices on the 35th floor, a recording of “Oh Holy Night” was playing.

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“Long lay the world In sin and error pining Till He appeared and the Soul felt its worth.

The thrill of hope, A weary world rejoices For yonder breaks A new and glorious morn!”

I smiled to myself, taking it as a small sign, but a good sign.

The day I left for Pakistan there was a children’s choir singing in the lobby of the Hong Kong airport.

The sweet voices of Chinese children greeted my ears; they were singing “Walking in a Winter Wonderland” in English. “…to face unafraid, the plans that we made…”

I was heading to a new country, one with security concerns.

Significant portions of the country are in a state of war. Secessionist feelings are rife in more than one province. Meanwhile the country’s infrastructure lacks an adequate

supply of electricity, water or gas.

Was there anything ahead of me that would challenge me “to face [it] unafraid?”

Two familiar things greeted me upon my midnight arrival in Karachi airport—the friendly face of Fr. Tomas King, the Columban mission unit coordinator, and the golden arches of McDonald’s. We did not indulge in any fast food but headed for the Columban house.

The next morning, Fr. King and I set off for the city of Hyderabad where we would stay with Bishop Max Rodrigues who made time to welcome me and made a point of praising the contributions of Columbans.

That evening, I went over to the Hyderabad Cathedral. There were unmistakable signs that Christmas preparations were in high gear.

The choir was practicing inside the church, and a large tent was being erected in the courtyard.

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Fr. Paul McMahon took me out to a small community attached to the cathedral. En route we passed an ancient citadel as well as shops of all kinds. In the streets, Shiite Muslims were gearing up for Muharram processions, the commemoration of the martyr Hussein, due to reach its peak a few days after Christmas.

The people at the small chapel welcomed me formally with traditional gifts of the Sindh province—a cotton jarak, or shawl, and a Sindhi topi, or cap.

In short order I was brought to a neighboring house for a cup of tea, the first of many.

Christmas Eve was a clinic day at the tuberculosis clinic in the parish compound. It was a busy day for Sr. Theresa and Columban lay missionary Carmela. I headed out to one of these smaller places with Fr. Bernard, a diocesan priest from the Philippines who is a Columban associate. He is completing his first year in the parish. When we arrived at the chapel at Dalhart,Talhar, lots of activities were underway including men on the roof of the chapel stringing Christmas lights.

While preparations continued, Fr. Bernard and I called on a couple of the Catholic families living nearby. Two plastic lawn chairs were brought out for us to sit on.

As I sat there in the courtyard a cow munched on straw from a manger, like the ones I have seen on a thousand Christmas cards. At the Mass, different ethnic groups— Punjabis and Parkari Kohlis— prayed and sang together, though they tended to sit separately. I was struck by the way some of the people were dressed for the occasion. They too could have posed as shepherds for religious cards.

Two well-attended Masses were held back at the parish compound in Badin. The crowd at Mass on WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG

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Christmas morning was too big for the church or the school hall, so the Mass was held outdoors under a colorful tent. After Mass there was a program of dances and songs by the children.

After lunch Sr. Theresa, Carmela and I accompanied Fr. Dan O’Connor out to two small settlements where the people live in small houses made of sticks and mud. It turned out to be the highlight of this Christmas for me. The scene could easily have been something from the time of Jesus, a cluster of small mud brick buildings inside a protective wall of thorn bushes. The paterfamilias was a man who had eight sons. I did not get a clear idea of exactly who was who, but it was unimportant.

Before we could begin praying together, we had to have a cup of sweetened milk tea, as tradition dictated. One of the women fetched water from somewhere and arrived with a large basin balanced on her head. She spilled not one precious drop; she has probably been doing it several times a day for years. While we sipped our tea, the children gathered around to color a picture of the stable at Bethlehem.

When Fr. Dan mentioned that this was not our last stop and that we had another settlement to get to before the end of the evening, our host countered by laying down the law of hospitality: “No one leaves my house without eating a meal.”

And he was not talking about fast food!

So Mass began, but as the men and children gathered around the table of the Lord, from the corner of my eye, I could see one of the daughters-in-law kneading the chapatti (bread) that we would be served later. Fr. Dan had a picture of the stable at Bethlehem and a set of figurines with him. The cow in the picture looked remarkably like the large cow just to our left who

was eating her way through a large bundle of fresh straw that one of the women had carried over on her head.

As the Mass went on, the sun slowly went down in the west. Men and women drew woolen wraps around their shoulders to ward off the chill. I was imagining myself living in an age long past, when the mobile telephone of one of the villagers started ringing insistently!

My momentary escape from the twenty-first century was over.

We did not linger over our chapatti, but said our good-byes and headed off for another Mass in another small settlement. Getting there involved driving a four wheel drive truck over a narrow bit of road with drop-offs on both sides.

I would have thought twice about crossing it by bicycle. The catechist got out and directed and Fr. Dan skillfully ferried us across, twice, as we passed the same spot on the return trip.

Except for a little light from fluorescent flashlights, the last stop looked even more like Bethlehem in 4 B.C.! There was a starry sky overhead, with many more stars than I am used to seeing. But what made it seem so much like the first Christmas was the presence of a baby being rocked in a small hammock suspended from one of the rafters.

Oh Holy Night indeed! From now on I feel that I will not have to imagine the Bethlehem scene but just remember my first Christmas in Pakistan. CM

Fr. John Burger serves on the Society’s general council in Hong Kong.

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Families Created on the Street Ministry to Street Children in the Philippines by michael boctot

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mong the busiest places in Metro Manila are the streets. The automobiles, bikes and jeeps cross in front of and around each other to reach their destinations on time. Heavy traffic occurs during rush hours.

People are stranded and often very annoyed as they demand that the jeepney drivers find ways to get out of the congested traffic.

Every Saturday I battled the bustling traffic going to and from Marikina City and the Columban House of Studies in Cubao for my apostolate. I worked with the street children living under the light rail transit (LRT) station at Santolan Bridge. To reach to that area, I took the LRT heading to Santolan and then walked to the bridge. It was under the bridge that the street children would be waiting for me. Charlie Ponferrada, another Columban seminarian, and I worked together as volunteers at Kuya Center, a foundation that aims to bring street children in off the street and provide for their basic needs such as shelter, food and education if possible.

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My first encounter with the children was on June 13, 2009. I didn’t have any idea what would happen. I did not know what to do. Since I was with Charlie and Richard, the social worker at the Kuya Center, I just observed the children and started by asking their names. Later on I played and laughed with them. I paid attention to their individual stories and their

These children do not have families to go home to.

They live with other children with whom they sleep under the bridge. ambitions in life. I tried to make new friends.

These children do not have families to go home to. They live with other children with whom they sleep under the bridge. Many of the street children are able to eat once a day, but sometimes they are not able to eat at all. Some of them pick through garbage and sell it as their source of income.

In that way they can buy some of their basic needs. Some of them sniff a solution known on the street as “rugby.” In this case, rugby is referring to an inhalant such as a common household cleaner, cooking spray, paint thinner, aerosol adhesives or solvent.

Solvents are easily accessible to Philippine street children and the “high” helps them to forget their painful hunger.

Among the children, I noticed that there was a girl in the group of boys. She was the mediator whenever there were disagreements over sharing their rugby for sniffing. She would facilitate in distributing it. The children also had a superior in the group whom they called mommy, as he was the one taking good care of the sick and hungry children. One time I asked one of the children why he decided to live in the streets and what made him sniff rugby. He said, “I sniff rugby to stave off hunger.”

Those were the most terrible words that I had ever heard from a child.

My tears ran as he continued to tell his story. www.columban.org

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Working for almost a year with these children taught me how to share my life with them. Sharing not only in material aspects but, most importantly, sharing my time with them. My being with them every Saturday was one of the greatest things to happen in my life; I felt their joy when they would see me walking towards them and it gave me delight to be their kuya.

(Editor’s note: kuya is the Tagalog term for older brother and is used as a form of address to someone seen as such, even if not related.)

When they would call me kuya, it seemed that I really was their older brother.

I am very fortunate that my parents have taken care of me from birth. Sometimes I asked for my freedom, and so I worked on my own. Sometimes I took for granted the love that they showed me.

These street children are longing www.columban.org

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for the same kind of love that I experienced in my family. They want to be loved. They want to be valued and respected as human beings and treated with the same dignity as anyone else. I am very thankful that I had the opportunity to work with the community of street children. Many times, they helped me in my own journey. By spending time and talking with them, we were able to show them respect and God’s love for all.

Amidst the busy streets, the smell of the garbage, the sting of the heat of the sun, there are children living out their lives looking for value and needing love and respect as children of God. They only need a little attention from someone, a little respect, love and appreciation. They wait every day for the one who will notice them and share with them the value of life.

My challenge now is to continue the work that I began, but in another setting. In June 2010, I started working with newlyordained Columban Father Andrei Paz in Malate Church, Manila, as part of the youth ministry team. The children there are also street children but with different histories than those I worked with at Santolan Bridge. However, the universal truth of God’s love for all—the rich and the poor, the landed and the homeless—is what brings us together as a family of kingdom people. CM The author (pictured on this page, top left) is a third-year Columban seminarian from Tangub City, Misamis Occidental. Michael is studying philosophy at Christ the King Seminary, Quezon City, and took his oath of membership in the Missionary Society of St. Columban on June 29, 2010, the 92nd anniversary of the formal establishment of the Society.

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A Diminishing Family Value Care for the Aged

By Fr. Barry Cairns

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very year in September, Japan has a national holiday called “Respect for the Aged Day.” This year that very name has taken a battering!

It all started in June 2010 with Mr. Sogen Kato of Tokyo. In the city family records, he was listed as alive and 111 years old, but he had never been seen. Police became suspicious. It turned out that 30 years ago he barricaded himself in his room in his son’s house, telling the family that he was going to become a Buddha. The family left him to it! His mummified body was found by police.

After the story broke about Mr. Kato, more and more similar cases came to light. One city health official trying to trace a 108-yearold woman went to the woman’s daughter who said she had not contacted her mother in 25 years but thought she was living with her brother. The brother told officials he did not know where his mother was, or even if she were alive or dead. Another woman was registered alive at age 125 and living at a designated address. Upon investigation, the address was found to be an expressway. A Kyodo News headline on September 10, 2010, reported that at least 234,000 centenarians are missing.

Magazines, newspapers and television commentators have gone beyond the bizarre details and have

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challenged the Japanese people to look into these cases. The challenge they throw down is this: from ancient times we Japanese have been known for our filial piety. Is our traditional respect for the aged growing weak?

From among the people interviewed came these comments: “Look at my small apartment. I live here with my wife and two children.

I respect my mother, but where could I possibly put her?” From another: “My married life is already under stress, and we could not cope with living with my aged father.”

All interviewed said that they could not afford to support aged parents in a retirement home.

And from interviews with the elderly there were such comments as “I don’t want to cause inconvenience to my son and his family.” Causing inconvenience is one of the greatest social sins in Japanese society. Another said, “My daughter-in-law doesn’t like me, and I don’t like her.” Another said, “My children are not interested in me so I will stay alone in this apartment until I die.” A new word has been coined made up of three Chinese characters, kudoku-shi, meaning, to die alone. How sad!

Japanese life expectancy is the highest in the world—86 years for women, 79 years for men. In five years, 32 million, or roughly 25% of

Obasute means “abandon old women.” The sign marks the spot where many years ago, the lord of the region ordered all old people in his domain to be thrown out of their homes and abandoned.

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Japan’s population will be over age 65. Research says that at present 35% of those over age 65 live alone and that number will drastically increase.

Where is care for the aged to come from? This is a major worry for the elderly. Many cannot foresee being cared for by family. The care so glibly promised by political parties at election time seems very shaky. Millions of pension records have been lost. Prices rise while pensions do not. Changes in government and policies unsettle the elderly. Only the rich can afford a retirement home.

But city officials are also in a bind. They may go to the home of an aged person to check on health and welfare, but if they press the doorbell and someone answers with

“it is not convenient to see you,” they must leave. The privacy laws in Japan are explicit and strict.

Here is another indicator of the sad state of the aged and the breakdown of family values: in the first six months of 2010, 97 elderly people were charged by police with keeping protected wild birds illegally, especially a bird called a mejiro or white eyes. The reason they gave: “I feel lonely. Hearing the bird sing eases the pain.”

Again, the National Police Agency reports that shoplifting among the aged has increased — 27,019 cases in a year. Recently, loneliness, not financial difficulty, has been given as the reason the people were shoplifting.

Japan is a rapidly aging society.

Materialism and urbanization have

weakened family ties. Respect for the aged and traditional care by family members is a tradition that is disintegrating. So many aged persons are hurt and lonely.

They are in prison. Jesus said, “I was in prison and you visited me…take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you” (Matt.

25). Would that more and more people come to claim this reward for the care they bestow on the aged members of their family and society. CM

Brazil, in an effort to both create self-esteem in those living in communities on the periphery of society, and to deepen awareness in audiences of social injustices.

In Brazil one such injustice is the racial discrimination towards indigenous and Afro-Brazilians that is still strong in many areas, despite the government’s much touted image as a multi-racial democracy.

More recently, with encouragement, suggestions, and financial help from friends,

I helped to form and register a non-government organization (NGO), Espaço Cultural Cena Um, (A Cultural Scene) whose two principal aims are to strengthen self-esteem and to raise awareness of social injustices. For almost five years we operated from the second floor of a warehouse that we rented.

Eventually, we applied for an international grant to help us buy a small property on the periphery of the city of Salvador, not far from the parish where most of our young

At age 79, Fr. Barry Cairns lives and works in Japan.

To Dream Dreams Turning a Vision into Reality

By Fr. Colin mclean

“Your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions” (Joel 3:1b). How wise was the prophet Joel! Well, I was once a young man with a vision. Now I am an older man, and the vision has become a dream, a dream that I hope will become realized and not just “what could have been.”

Since my seminary days, I have had the vision of using theater arts in the service of the Gospel. I have utilized theater among youth in the Philippines, and now here in www.ColumBan.org

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participants and I live. Its location should help us attract more youth from neighboring peripheral communities to participate in one of our three performance companies: Scene One Theatre Company; Dance Company Levante dos Malês (named after a strong urban slave uprising in Salvador in 1835); and Scene One Acrobatic Quartet. The name “Scene One” refers to the theater as our medium of expression (Scene) and the first step in raising social awareness—provoking a questioning of our reality (One).

In 2005, two young men from our dance company went to Australia, where they participated for two months in classes at the NAISDA Aboriginal and Islander Dance School. People working in justice education with the Columban Fathers in Australia were impressed by their Afro-Brazilian dance performances. As a result, they invited seven members of our dance company to participate in World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney, Australia. Five young men and two young women from Brazil participated in an event titled “Columban Youth Theatre of the Oppressed,” with the group AKBAY (from the Columban founded and run PREDA foundation in the Philippines) and 22

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youth from St. Peter’s College in Tuggerah, New South Wales.

After returning from that enriching and enjoyable experience, we applied for the deed to the property we purchased, endured months of waiting and now are in the happy position of preparing the plans to get the necessary permit for the construction of a modest theater that will seat an audience of 80 people. Hopefully, construction will begin by March 2011. We are not yet certain we have sufficient funds left from the grant, after the property’s purchase, to cover the total cost of construction, but we will jump that hurdle as we come to it. We are blessed with a variety of instructors skilled in drama, Afro dance, and more recently, circus arts. Our theater administrator, Marcelo Batista dos Santos, a married deacon from our parish of Santo Antônio das Malvinas, brings administrative experience to his job. However, we are still hoping to find someone with a theatre

background who could assist in publicity and marketing.

So the vision is now a dream on the verge of becoming a reality. If we can really get up and running, I believe we can attract a lot of young people from impoverished communities in the vicinity of our soon-to-be-constructed theater, help them grow as people, and hopefully, become catalysts for change in our society. I see the talent in the youth with whom I am in immediate contact, and I believe that is only the tip of the iceberg of talent that lies hidden in these marginalized communities, just waiting for the right opportunity to be able to show it. Our Scene One Theatre has begun to give them this opportunity. I was happy to learn that Cirque d’ Soleil began with a staff of eight and now has 800 people working around the world. The vision has now become the dream. It is my hope that both the vision and the dream become a reality. CM Fr. Colin McLean lives and works in Brazil.

Cena Um dancers are pictured in the middle photo above. The other two photos are of the construction of the theater.

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To Serve with Love and Joy

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s a boy I remember prayer was never far from my mother’s lips. A quick Ave Maria Purisma (Hail Mary full of grace) in the face of looming storm clouds across the Texas plain comes to mind. Prayer is a surge of the heart; a simple look toward heaven, embracing both trial and joy. My mother taught me that prayer is an ongoing conversation of the heart which brings us into relationship with God. It is that primary relationship with God which impels us to be in relationship with this world. The intermingling of the otherworldly with the worldly is God’s love incarnate. As a Church, we are called to relate to our world with love and joy.

From the Director

By Fr. Arturo Aguilar As a Society with members from all over the world, we share a spirit of mission to serve others, especially the poor. At our recent annual Columban retreat, I was reminded that we are often described as missionaries of the people. We have a tradition in

Prayer is a surge of

the heart; a simple look toward heaven, embracing both trial and joy.

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the U.S. that following our annual retreat we gather in thanksgiving at our retirement home where we celebrate with our brothers by commemorating their jubilees with Eucharist and a good meal with family and friends. At our most recent celebration, one of the jubilarians, Fr. John Marley, shared a story that I want to pass on to you: Once on my home vacation from the missions, I stayed with my older sister and her family. At that time, their neighbors were a young couple and their two children, Marina, age nine, and Stephen, age six.

One day the children were in the local store where some of the area farmers were relaxing. The farmers asked the children what plans they had for when they were grownups. Marina had no problem answering. She was going to be a nurse in the city hospital.

Stephen was uncomfortable and kept his head down.

Curious, the farmers urged him to answer, “Come on, Stephen; don’t be shy. Tell us what you’re going to be when you grow up.” Stephen continued looking at his shoes.

Finally someone coaxed him, “Whisper, Stephen. What would you like to work at when you grow up?” Stephen did not look up, but answered in a clear soft voice: “I’m not going to work. I’m going to be a priest.”

Stephen’s answer reflected what many Columbans believe about their vocation. While our many years of service in the harvest of the Lord are indeed work, it is work that brings profound joy to our lives and others. It is the relationship with God, nurtured in prayer, which attracts others like you who, through your generous support, your prayers and your service, join us in God’s mission.

We are grateful for the opportunity to serve. That is what our jubilee celebrates.

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Columban Fathers Po box 10 st. Columbans, ne 68056

NON PROFIT ORG POSTAGE PAID COLUMBAN FATHERS

Remember Our Missionaries This Christmas Season

Christmas reminds us to give of ourselves and to be thankful for the many blessings and gifts God bestows to us.

As you remember family and friends this year, please also remember that your taxdeductible Christmas gift to the Columbans enables you to become a partner in mission.

Your gift can help Columban missionaries continue to bring Jesus Christ’s message of love and forgiveness to some of the poorest of our brothers and sisters.

Simply put your donation in the envelope enclosed in this magazine and send it to us today. Or, you can make a donation online through our secure website: www.columban.org Also, watch the mail for your free 2011 Columban calendar! You can order additional copies for yourself or loved ones by writing to us or sending an email to: missionoffice@columban.org.

Columban missionaries around the world wish you a joyous and peaceful Christmas season!

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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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