The Magazine of the Missionary Society of St. Columban
December 2013
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Volume 96 - Number 8 - December 2013
Columban Mission
o n t e n t s
Issue Theme – Singing to the Lord
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.
Something Beautiful 12 Sunrise Over Calvary 4 Going About the Lord’s Business in an Occupied Country
Fr. Francis and Bro. Peter
7 Christmas in Seoul
The Lessons of Luke 4:14-22
8 A Time to Be a Mother?
Trusting in God’s Plan
11 My Heart is the House of the Lord
Las Posada
15 Another Myeong Sek
The Road to Emmaus
16 Unserious Prayer
An Unexpected Moment
18 Listening
Treating Others with Loving Care
20 The “Reincarnation” of My Mother
Eternal Life
21 If you want… Departments 3 In So Many Words 23 From the Director CM DEC13 2 final.indd 2
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Mailing Address: Columban Mission PO Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056-0010 Toll-Free Phone: 877/299-1920 Website: WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG Copyright © 2013, The Columban Fathers (Legal Title) Publisher REV. TimOTHY Mulroy, SSC directorusa@columban.org
Editor Kate Kenny kkenny@columban.org
Editorial Assistant Connie Wacha cwacha@columban.org
G RA P HI C DESI G NER KRISTIN ASHLEY
Editorial Board Dan Eminger Jesus Manuel Vargas Gamboa Chris Hochstetler Kate Kenny REV. TimOTHY Mulroy, SSC Jeff Norton Greg Simon Fr. Richard Steinhilber, SSC Connie Wacha Scott Wright
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.
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To Receive Graciously
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n the week before Christmas I was busy buying presents. I find it a difficult time, because I do not have the imagination needed to buy truly personal and endearing presents. Then there is always someone for whom it is difficult to buy anything because they seem to have everything. The experience reminded me of a book
I read, Gifts and Strangers, by an English missionary anthropologist, Fr. Anthony Gittins, recently rewritten as Ministry at the Margins. He analyzes missionary life from the point of view of “gift giving and receiving.” He sees these as a necessary part of building relationships. Gittins builds on the theories of Marcel Mauss’ seminal book, The Gift. Mauss points out that gifts are rarely free, they nearly always indebt us. But that is not so terrible because these debts establish relationships. The alternative is the rich, independent person who needs and owes no one but is ultimately isolated and lonely. Gittins points out that all of us have the obligation to give, to receive and to repay. I have no problem with giving. As a missionary I am a professional giver although I am not so sure I allow people the freedom to accept or refuse my gifts; now I wonder how that makes them feel? However, it is the obligation to receive that concerns me most. I went to Korea when it was a much poorer country than it is now. I was young and generous and while I loved being with the people I did not feel that I needed anything from them. However, I slowly learnt that a
In So Many Words
missionary who needs nothing and lives a life apart, is irrelevant to the real lives of people even if he/she is always
By Fr. Noel Connolly
giving and never receiving. “Not to receive” is an unwillingness to be in relationship. When we seem not to need others’ gifts and services we can make them feel helpless and insignificant. It is like
As a missionary I am a professional giver although I am not so sure I allow people the freedom to accept or refuse my gifts; now I wonder how that makes them feel?
having rich friends for whom we cannot buy a present; it is an alienating feeling. Not only can people oppress others with large presents, but they can also insult them by the way they receive other’s gifts. “To receive graciously” is to give power to others. It is to hand over the initiative to them, to allow ourselves to be indebted, to empower and liberate “the giver” in others and to open ourselves to mutual relationships. This is not only important for missionaries but for everyone, and it is also critically important in our relationship with God. We can either give and accept gifts graciously, or we condemn ourselves to being strangers.
Fr. Noel Connolly lives and works in Australia.
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Fr. Frank Douglas
Going about the Lord’s Business in an Occupied Country Fr. Francis and Bro. Peter by Fr. John burger
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arlier this year I had the opportunity to participate in a study program at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute. It is so close to Bethlehem that one can look out across that ancient city from Tantur’s dining room. It was in that dining room that I first met Brother Peter Bray, a New Zealander and a De La Salle Brother. Peter and I conversed easily when we discovered that I had visited his previous place of assignment, Francis Douglas Memorial College in the pleasant city of New Plymouth, on the North Island of New Zealand. When we say the word “Palestine,” we probably think
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right away: “a flashpoint of international tensions.” When we think about New Zealand, what comes to mind is one of the more tranquil countries on the planet. Earthquakes like the one in 2011 in Christchurch do occasionally happen, and there are some ethnic tensions, but compared to the West Bank, it is quite serene. Until coming to Bethlehem, Brother Peter spent most of his career at Francis Douglas Memorial College, a secondary school for boys at New Plymouth, New Zealand that has strong ties to the Columbans. One of those ties is the school’s namesake Fr. Frank Douglas. Ever since a terrible day in 1943 when the
Japanese led him away, no one was to see or hear from Columban Fr. Frank Douglas; his body was never found. As a young man, Frank Douglas believed in taking time before making important decisions. After graduating from high school, he worked in the post office of his home town Thorndon, New Zealand, for a year before making any plans for the future. He wanted time to think through all his options. When he did decide on a path in life, it was the priesthood. He was ordained for the Archdiocese of Wellington and spent three years in New Plymouth as assistant pastor. Still, he felt a pull to the missions; he knew www.columban.org
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“something greater” was still before him, it seemed. Part of that “something greater” he found as a Columban. In 1936 he joined the Columbans and after missionary formation in Australia was assigned to the Philippines. The first months in this new ministry were spent learning the language and customs of the Filipino people. In 1939, he became the pastor of Pililla, a town of 10,000 on the island of Luzon. Rumors of war were spreading even then. “War or no war, I’ll stick it out here,” Fr. Frank wrote home in 1940. Pililla was his mission; he would remain. The people were poor, their faith seemed equally underfed. It was a small, struggling town with a half-ruined church, a dilapidated rectory and a mere handful of Catholics when Fr. Frank arrived. Fr. Frank began with the youth. “They’re the future of the church here, and they also seem the best avenue to reaching other people,” he said. Within a few months he organized a troop of Boys Scouts and began working with the older youths of Pililla organizing www.columban.org
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recreational activities and a social action committee. Before long, his efforts began to bear fruit. The Church was repaired, the rectory made habitable and faith was gradually coming back to the people. “Think I’ve made a sound start – but still so much to be done…” he wrote in 1940. Much did remain to be done, but tragically, Fr. Frank was not the man who would do it. The Japanese invaded the Philippines shortly after Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941. Although he had ample time to escape, Fr. Frank stuck to his earlier decision. For him leaving his people in such a time of need would have been letting everyone down. “They have nowhere else to go – nor do I,” he wrote. For two years, Fr. Frank lived a precarious existence as one who would not collaborate and cannot revolt. As an enemy alien, he was under suspicion by the Japanese, often taken in for questioning, held for hours and accused of being a spy. But he knew nothing to satisfy his interrogators. He was simply a priest, a missionary doing his job
in an occupied country, of anything else about the war he had no knowledge. On June 25, 1943, Fr. Frank was arrested by Japanese soldiers who were trying to stamp out guerrilla activity in the mountains near Pililla. He was taken to a Church in the neighboring town of Paete, beaten and tied to a pillar in the baptistery for three days. According to one report, the Japanese suspected that Fr. Frank had been hearing the confessions of resistance guerrilla fighters who hid in the nearby hills. The interrogators attempted to make him reveal the guerrillas’ whereabouts and any information confided in the confessional. Whether or not he was aware of the guerrillas, Fr. Frank remained silent. At his request he was allowed to make his own confession to a Filipino priest in the presence of a Japanese interpreter. That priest later recounted the physical appearance of Fr. Frank at the time. “His face was bloody, one eye was blackened and swollen, and his arms were covered with infected cuts and sores.” At the end of the third day, the Japanese took Fr. Frank from the church and dragged him to a military truck surrounded by soldiers. The truck drove toward Santa Cruz. When it returned later that night, the soldiers were its only occupants. Fr. Frank’s “something greater” was completed. His body was never found. It is an inspiring story. And graduates of Francis Douglas Memorial have been inspired to become Columbans; my friends from the Japan mission, Frs. Leo Schumacher and Brian Vale are alumni. December 2013
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Brother Peter may also have been inspired by Francis Douglas’s idealism and dedication to youth, because after many years in peaceful New Plymouth, he answered the call to take on an assignment overseas, at Bethlehem University in the Palestinian West Bank. Despite many obstacles, he is, like Fr. Frank Douglas, a friend of youth doing his job in a delicate situation. His current official title is Vice-Chancellor. Bethlehem University is a Catholic institution of higher learning with an interesting history. During the Holy Land visit of Pope Paul VI in 1964, Palestinians expressed their desire for a university in their homeland. After consultation and study, and in the midst of the post-1967 war era which resulted in the West Bank and Gaza being under Israeli military occupation, a committee of local community leaders and heads of schools was formed in 1972 to establish an institution of higher learning that could offer a broad 6
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and practical university education in arts and sciences, open to students of all faith traditions, to meet the needs of Palestinian society. With the support of local educational leaders and the cooperation of the Vatican’s Congregation for Oriental Churches and the De La Salle Christian Brothers, Bethlehem University officially opened its doors in 1973, becoming the first university on the West Bank. The University is located on the campus of a former De La Salle Brothers school for boys and at the highest point in the town of Bethlehem, just a few hundred yards from Manger Square. Enrollment began 40 years ago with 112 students and is now over 3,000. The University has gradually expanded its facilities to meet its growing needs. The Institute for Hotel Management and Tourism is among the University’s more distinctive programs. My tour of the campus included a wonderful lunch there, served by
enthusiastic students preparing to work in the hospitality industry. The Faculties of Arts, Science, Education, Nursing and Business Administration also grew in response to the needs of the community as has the Institute for Community Partnership which offers continuing education and professional development programs. Despite being closed twelve times by order of the Israeli military (once for a full three years), classes have continued to be held on and off-campus. Curfews, travel restrictions, military harassment, and the negative impact of the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank, are factors faced daily by the University’s 3,000 students. Most of the more than 12,000 graduates are employed in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza in various professions and leadership positions, though some have migrated. The University’s story is one of courage in the face of adversity and injustice—working together to build a different future. I visited the campus again to say Mass for the Brothers’ community, and as I was driven back to Tantur through the military checkpoint, I thought to myself that Fr. Francis Douglas would be proud of Brother Peter’s dedication to youth, his coping with adversity, his going about the Lord’s business in an occupied country. CM Columban Fr. John Burger lives and works in Bristol, Rhode Island.
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Christmas in Seoul The Lessons of Luke 4:14-22 By Fr. Sean Conneely
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t Christmas each year, the church celebrates the birth of Christ, the baby boy born in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago. God became human to live in our midst and to show His love for us. To help prepare for the liturgy of Christmas we gather in semidarkness in the main hall of our Mission Center in the Advent spirit of waiting in expectation for the coming of our Savior. With Christmas coming at the end of the year, I like to avail of the occasion of the Christmas liturgy to reflect on and ask ourselves how we have lived Christ’s Gospel during the past year. This year I picked Luke 4:14-22 as a theme for our reflection material. In Luke 4, Jesus tells the people what His mission on earth was: to heal the sick, set captives free, share the good news with the poor, etc. 2012 was a special year in Korea and in many other countries across the world. Many leaders came forward to run as Presidents for their country and promised the people how they would set up their “Kingdom,” what their reign would look like. In Korea, a few weeks before Christmas, for the first time ever the people picked a female as their President, Ms. Park Geun Hye. In the U.S., President Obama was reelected; and the French, the Russians, the Chinese, the Japanese, and peoples of other countries chose their new leaders. www.columban.org
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Wars and violence raged on across the world; there were typhoons, floods and many poor and destitute people suffered many calamities. Huge social and economic problems were front page news on a daily basis. The world is not much different in such matters than in Christ’s time. I felt an important question for us at Christmas to ask was, were the leaders we choose trying to bring about the reign of God as in Luke 4 or were they just caring for their own cronies and safeguarding their own power? Do they plan to set captives free? Care for the sick by having good medical programs, to have the good news of faith, truth and justice in their education policies, etc.? We looked at some people in power across the world in church and states and ordinary people who in their daily lives seem to be doing their part to set up the Kingdom of God here and now and of course—as always—I ask: what am I and what am I doing? You can’t have Christmas without some fun and joy for the children. Before the final blessing two men in Santa clothes gave out gifts to all. Amidst the joy and laughter our guitar man spontaneously led us all in a Korean rendition of “Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer” and other holiday songs. At the offertory, people brought up gifts and symbols and offered prayers that related to our theme in Luke 4. Each year we donate
the offertory collection to some urgent cause in our mission countries. Before Christmas this year, the island of Mindanao, in the Philippines where Columban missionaries work, was devastated by a monster typhoon that ruined the banana crop, and destroyed homes, roads and bridges. Our congregation donated generously as they always do, in the spirit of sharing and love of neighbor. There is no right festivity in Korea without Duk Guk, a special rice dumpling soup. A group of women prepared the food early in the day for all in attendance. It was much appreciated this year as it was a cold, cold night. We had some to spare and that was shared with the Filipino migrant workers that had their ceremonies and festivities after we had finished. We hope and pray that the spirit of sharing and caring will last with us through the rest of the New Year as we try to live Luke 4 on a daily basis. CM Fr. Sean Connelly lives and works in Seoul, South Korea.
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A Time to Be a Mother? Trusting in God’s Plan
By Gertrudes Samson
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he Bible says: “For everything there is appointed season for everything there is a time under heaven.” When I was a child I told my mother, “Mum, when I grow up I would like to have many children, a big family like what you and father have.” Both of my parents came from big families. In my mother’s family they are eight children, and in my father’s family they had ten. Of course, my mother just smiled at me and said, “Why do you say so?” I said, “Because it seems like having a big family is happier!” I had lots of uncles and aunties who gave me presents during Christmas, and most of all lots of cousins to play with whenever we had reunions and family gatherings. I loved being with all of them.
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My mother said “Yes, you are right, having a big family is happier, but together with big families come big responsibilities too – of raising the children and big expenses also for their education in order to give them a better future. Do you not notice? I only have four of you as children, but it feels like I already have a hundred.” Then we just had a good laugh for we knew that my siblings and me were all very playful most of the time, and we were always turning our house into mess. Then time passed by, and I grew up. Many things happened in between and later I became a lay missionary. Then that longing to have a big family slipped my mind. At my age now, I think that if God would still give me the chance to get married, I would consider it a very big miracle and a very big
blessing if He would give me one or two children. I am beginning to think that I would not experience the opportunity to have many children anymore. But God is also full of surprises too. When I became a lay missionary and was assigned in Birmingham, England, God brought me to Lady Pool Congregation Church (or Lady Pool, as we call it) and called me to help in their creche (nursery). It became my main ministry at that place, though I also helped in teaching English every once in a while whenever there was shortage of English class teachers. In the creche I helped watch over around six to twelve children at their toddler age, the youngest at that time was nine months and the eldest was around three years old. At Lady Pool, I was the only single volunteer there. My co-volunteers were already married and most of them already had children, so I learned a lot from my co-volunteers about how to handle children. It became a great opportunity also for a single lady like me to experience a glimpse on how to be a mother of many children. Since the majority of my co-volunteers are missionary Christians, it was great opportunity for us also to talk about faith, pray together, and find ways to show the love of God to people of other faiths, because most of our students were not Christians, and we have co-volunteers also who are Muslims. Every Thursday Lady Pool holds English classes for migrant women, and most of them are from Yemen, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The creche was set up side by side with the classes to help the students concentrate on their lessons, because most of them are mothers and have no choice but www.columban.org
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to bring their children with them for no one could watch over them at home. Most of those women have very limited English when they came to England to marry or to be with their husbands. Some even need to start learning with the basics of reading and writing the English alphabet and some simple English terms. This is because in their countries giving women an education is not a priority. Because of their situation, we could imagine how difficult it is for people like them to have limited English in the midst of a Birmingham population where English is the main means of communication in a multilingual community. So what we are trying to do at Lady Pool is to help them learn the basics of English language, so they can communicate better and adapt faster and easier to their new environment in England which is now their new home. At the creche, though it is very challenging, I really enjoy being with their children too, even if I cannot understand their languages for they speak Arabic, Urdu or Punjabi. We always set up their play area and put some toys out so they could play with one another and with us too as we watch over them. It is a great opportunity for me to be a child again also. The ministry may sounds easy, but it was not for a single lady like me at the beginning, who did not have experience with toddler children at all. All I have is a willing heart to be with them and journey with them because of my faith in God. As I mentioned, the youngest at the creche when I started was nine months at that time. He was so little the other children could easily push him over. So I always kept an eye on him. There were many times that I had to carry him and other small children in my arms. www.columban.org
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They were not yet strong enough to climb on the slides and rocking boat, or sometimes I needed to separate them immediately when they looked as though they might hurt each other. So at the end of the day, my back usually ached, especially when winter came. There were even times that I could not sleep at night due to back aches. That experience made me realize many things. I suddenly remembered what my mother said, that together with having a big family and having many children comes big responsibility too. The experience made me realize also the value and importance of the mission of our parents in our lives, especially our mothers. It is really true, we are who we are now, we are here because of them, and because they did their mission at their best too. Honestly speaking, I salute the parents for their dedication in raising their children well, not to mention that the mothers even
risked their lives whenever they gave birth to each of them. I am sure that our parents’ backs ache more than me and probably their hearts too at times that their children get hurt or sick, or get into trouble. Therefore being a parent or a mother is not an easy role in life. It is indeed a serious mission full of challenges! It was only when two of those children started to call me “Ammaaa” and “Baapu” that I realized that I served as their substitute mother or parent whenever I am with them. My co-volunteer smiled at me and said, “Those words means Mother and Father” in their language. So I realized at those moments that I am now a mother and a father too. It made me smile, and it put joy in my heart knowing that in their eyes I began to be a mother or a father also. Being with those children reminds me to reflect on the December 2013
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important values my parents and God Himself would like to instil in me as I grow, the value of friendship and forgiveness, living each moment at a time, not worrying about tomorrow, etc. Children do fight sometimes, over toys or for a place in the play area, so we always remind them to make peace and make friends with each other, and to learn how to share things with one another. Hopefully they will learn and remember that as they grow. What is very nice about children I have observed is that they are very forgiving. Though they fight, a few minutes later they are friends again, laughing again together, and playing again as if nothing happened. I love watching them as they play too. They play with all their might up to the last minute. They live each moment and do not seem to worry what is going to happen next. They entrust everything to their parents or whoever is watching over them to take care of everything for them. I realize maybe that this is the way God wants us to live our lives as well. 10
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He wants us to entrust everything to Him that He can take care of everything, and we are not to worry. Perhaps if most of us would keep our childlike attitudes, maybe we would become more friendly and willing to share, more forgiving, more joyful and enjoying each moment of our lives, and not worry so much about the future. Towards the latter part of my term at my Lady Pool ministry, my back does not ache as much as it did before. Maybe because the small ones have grown, and there is no need for me to carry them in my arms, or maybe also because I have learned some techniques from my co-volunteers who have more experience in handling children. I am thankful to God for journeying with me too. Through them I learned that I do not have to carry the children all the time. I could also hold their hand and guide them instead when they want to climb the slide or rocking boat. Sometimes I just have to encourage them to walk on their own too, with matching encouraging words like “you can do it, baby” plus
some claps and a smile to affirm them so they could do it too. Then at times that I still need to carry the children, I learned from my co-volunteers that I could carry them instead at my hip side instead of holding them in my arms so it would not hurt my back! The experience reminded me most of all how God journeys with me in life. Sometimes I could feel Him carrying me. Sometimes I could feel He is just guiding me. Sometimes I could feel I am walking on my own too. Sometimes He also likes me to exercise my knees and legs on my own in my walk of faith so I will be stronger and be able to help others too in their journey in life, only to realize later that He is still there just beside or behind me ready to catch me or pick me up when I fall. I am very thankful to God for all those learning experiences at my Lady Pool ministry. Those children serve as a reminder to me to pray to God to give me the grace to be childlike always and have a childlike trust in God at all times. Now going back to the title of my sharing, “Is this my time to be a mother?” Or, not just as a mother but also as a father? Maybe yes, but perhaps just a glimpse of it. Most of all, it is my time to feel like a child again and to remember how to be childlike again too. And I think that is the most important aspect, for as Jesus said, “Unless you become like little children, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” CM Columban lay missionary Gertrudes Samson lives and works in England.
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My Heart is the House of the Lord Las Posada By Sainiana Koleta Tamatawale
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ine days before Christmas in December 2012, the Christian community where I live held what they call the posada. It’s an annual tradition of faith practice among the Mexican people here, remembering the time when Joseph and Mary, went looking for an inn where she could give birth. During those nine days participating with our parishioners for the posada in our parish, Corpus Christi, in Rancho Anapra, Juárez, I was really touched by the words of the song they sang. One group was outside holding the Peregrino, which is the statue of Mary on the donkey with St. Joseph. The group inside responded to their request singing. When the people sang, “Mi Esposa es Maria, Es la Reina Del cielo y Madre va a ser Del Divino Verbo,” I was really touched that these were the words of St. Joseph while they searched for the place where Jesus would be born. I learned to see and honor St. Joseph for being the guardian of the Word. On the eighth day of the posada, the people asked me to hold the peregrino and lead the group to knock at the door. I saw the crowd following. I looked at the peregrino I was holding, and I was reminded that this is the way I am invited to journey with the people here in Rancho Anapra, to be open and allow them to change my life. My journey with the people is life WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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Sai and friends in Anapra, Mexico
giving to me, and I feel peace to be able to look beyond my little faith. In my silence I prayed that in our journey of faith together we will open our hearts to allow Jesus to lead our lives always. I believe that it is when we really feel the inner peace inside us, that we will be able to share the peace of the Lord Jesus to one another. This beautiful faith tradition of the posada has become for me a way of entrusting to the Holy Family the protection of all the people and their beloved families who are exposed to a lot of violence in the reality we live in today.
In reflecting on this symbolic faith journey with the Mexican people, I came to a deep awareness that within me is a space where the Lord Jesus wants to dwell. I asked myself then, how often do I open my heart to listen and feel Jesus’ presence in me, in the innermost depth of my being? CM Columban lay missionary Sainiana Koleta Tamatawale lives and works in Juárez, Mexico.
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amongst women is one of the greatest gifts we can experience, and it just surprises me that I had to learn this from the women of a culture other than my own. They care, and they share joys and sorrows, skills and creativity. There’s something particularly beautiful in the Advent calendars they are presently working on. The Peruvians are famous for their cribs. Nearly every home has a crib at Christmas, full of all kinds of animals. I don’t know where the
In the days leading up to Christmas the story is celebrated with the coming of the angels to give the Good News to the shepherds, the Holy Family, and the arrival of the kings.
Something Beautiful The Mercy Workshop, Lima, Peru By Sr. Norah Davey, RSM
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n June 29, 2011, the Columbans in Peru returned Saints Peter and Paul Parish to direct diocesan responsibility. The Columbans began pastoral work in the area in 1967. Soon after, it was formally established as a parish. The Sisters of Mercy from Leeds arrived in 1969. Sr. Norah Davey worked in a variety of apostolates in the parish from 1981 to 1990 and has visited Peru regularly since taking up a position on the staff of the Faith 12
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and Mission Program in Dalgan Park twenty years ago. She remains the link between the women who produce the crafts and those who sell it in England and Ireland. There’s something really beautiful about the women of the Mercy Workshop in Lima, Peru. I’m biased, because I’ve been working alongside them for 30 years. I’ve seen them become parents and grandparents, and they seem more beautiful than ever. I’ve learned from them how friendship
tradition comes from, but animals are an essential part of the Peruvian crib. Their Advent calendar begins on December 1 with the birth of the sun, and the following days we welcome the moon, then life emerging from the water, then the dinosaurs, flowers and insects. In the days leading up to Christmas the story is celebrated with the coming of the angels to give the Good News to the shepherds, the Holy Family, and the arrival of the kings. What is particularly beautiful about the calendar is that the Christmas story is nested in the great story of how everything came to be. One of the prophets of our day, Thomas Berry, emphasises our unease at recent findings regarding our place in the Universe: www.columban.org
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“Discoveries of how the universe, the planet earth and we ourselves have come into being, have so challenged our Christian understanding that we are still unable intellectually or emotionally to feel fully at home in this context.” ~ Berry, Thomas, The Wisdom of the Cross, 1994.
“Discoveries of how the universe, the planet earth and we ourselves have come into being, have so challenged our Christian understanding that we are still unable intellectually or emotionally to feel fully at home in this context.” (Berry, Thomas, The Wisdom of the Cross, 1994.) The calendar fleshes out the profundity of this one story in such a way that it can be seen and touched and wondered at from the child’s earliest years. Finally, the success of the workshop is due also to some tireless and faithful women and men who have invested themselves www.columban.org
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in the project since the early 1980s. They can be found at parish fairs, at craft fairs, at any fair where they can have a stall. Many of them have been to Peru and have spent time with the women. They know the work of each woman, and they know their individual stories. I think that’s particularly beautiful. One of the most beautiful Biblical texts we use at Christmas comes to my mind when I see the calendars. The first chapter of the Gospel according to St. John includes evocative phrases such the following: Something which has existed from the beginning,
that we have heard and we have seen with our own eyes; and we have watched and touched with our hands; the Word who is life (this is our subject); That life was made visible; We saw it and we are giving our testimony. CM Sr. Norah Davey lives and works in Dalgan Park, Ireland.
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Sunrise Over Calvary An Artistic Expression of Hope By Fr. Dan Troy
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ang Xu denied having any artistic ability when I asked him to express with colors the hope that is in his life. His reply was typical of how he refers to his own ability. However, further encouragement about producing a work of art brought a slight change of approach when he said that he would try to see what was possible. Two years earlier his response was similar when he began to make Christmas cards in the Columban outreach to people with special needs in China. He was keen to be involved but slow to declare his confidence. Within a few weeks of joining the project Yang Xu had settled in well to what he proudly described as his first job. During those early weeks, he also announced with joy that when he received his first pay packet he could hardly believe that this was really happening. As an expression of joy during that time he bought a gift for his mother from his first pay packet. Two years later Yang Xu continues to grow in his own confidence through the various people who encourage him. Yang Xu was born with severe cerebral palsy thirty years ago. His legs were always too weak to ever provide the possibility of him being able to walk. His restricted speech and the limited control of his hands meant that he never had the opportunity to attend school. In spite of the physical limitations that are part of Yang Xu’s life, he is an intelligent and capable person.
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Yang Xu and Fr. Dan Troy
The recent request for him to express himself in an artistic way led to the painting named Sunrise over Calvary. When he showed me the painting he returned to a familiar style of expression by saying the painting was not so good, apologizing for what he saw as the untidy lines. The painting, as I see it, is an expression of his life experience that comes from deep within his own being. Yang Xu is not baptized, but he goes to the church regularly. His life has involved a long-term embracing of the cross. His painting shows the cross as a constant reality. However, his painting also shows hope, the rising sun that announces a new dawn. A
physical condition that could have crushed Yang Xu has not triumphed over him. Recently Yang Xu began to make greeting cards with printed images of his original painting. His meaningful artistic work and his patient assembly of the cards ensure that a part of Yang Xu is linked with the cards that are gradually finding their way to people in various parts of the world. As expressed by Yang Xu in his painting, even in difficult and complex situations, God can find a way to bring hope. CM Columban Fr. Dan Troy lives and works in China.
www.columban.org
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Another Myeong Sek The Road to Emmaus By Fr. Noel O’Neill
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yeong Sek,Theresa, was special. She was special because she was differently abled. She was special, because it was she who accompanied me as together we first began to walk the Road to Emmaus. After 25 years in the parish ministry I sought permission from my superiors to begin a new apostolate, a ministry to those people with special needs. Myeong Sek had been abandoned by her parents when she was a few years old and ended up in the Beggars Camp, a large institution which I frequently visited while in the parish ministry. After much negotiation with the authorities at the institution, I succeeded in getting permission for Myeong Sek to leave the institution and to join with me and a volunteer as we moved into a two-story house in a residential part of the city. It was October 1981.This was the first attempt in Korea of offering people with special needs the opportunity of living in the local community. Early last year Myeong Sek was diagnosed with cancer. She spent the last ten days of her life in a hospice. A hospice and Emmaus have something in common. A hospice is for people dying whose ailment cannot be cured. Emmaus is for intellectually disabled people whose disability cannot be cured. A visit to either one alerts us to the preciousness of each moment of life; it arouses within us a sense of gratitude. www.columban.org
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While Myeong Sek was in the hospice I visited her every day. As I sat beside her bedside and held her tiny hand, we reminisced on the funny incidents we shared together throughout the past 30 years. The times we used to sing Kaptori Wa Kapsoni (a Korean popular duet) and dance the hokey pokey. As she laid back on her bed she would break into a broad smile, a loving smile, sending me a message that no words could express. They were happy moments, happy days, happy years. That smile also hid the many wounds and hurts she had endured in her lifetime. I was only too well aware of those painful wounds. Watching the peaceful look on her face I felt she already sensed the heavenly welcome. She could almost make the dying words of St. Theresa, the Little Flower, her own: “I am not dying, I am entering into life.” Myeong Sek was waked for three days at the funeral home. Those who had lived with her in the group home were dressed in mourning black dress, and they greeted those who came to pay their respects, present staff members and former staff members who had known her for many years. Many Catholic friends and sponsors came who were touched and moved by their relationship with Myeong Sek. This tiny, fragile woman had the gift to make them feel loved and at peace with themselves as they struggled with their problems.
Myeong Sek often said, “When I die, those who come to the wake, feed them well.” They came in large numbers to pay their respects and all ate well. Before leaving as each one ate and departed you could almost sense the presence of Myeong Sek as she said kamsahamnida, thank you, thank you. The funeral Mass was held at the parish church Myeong Sek attended. Six priests concelebrated for a packed congregation. I chose for the Gospel reading the story of the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus. As the two disciples eyes were opened at seeing Jesus break the bread, so also my eyes were opened by my relationship with Myeong Sek. This tiny, fragile woman, who could not read or write, who had no concept of time or money, was my teacher, my professor. We need to invite and welcome more Myeong Seks into our society, because they will surprise us with the manner they can touch our inner selves and help us to welcome our weaknesses, our old age with graceful and peaceful courage. Yes, Myeong Sek, was differently abled. CM Columban Fr. Noel O’Neill founded Emmaus Industries to help better the lives of the differently abled. He lives and works in South Korea.
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Unserious Prayer A An Unexpected Moment By Fr. G. Chris Saenz
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friend once told me the following story. While on vacation she attended Sunday services in a local church. Arriving early, she waited in silence as the local people arrived. As is the custom, all entered with respectful silence. At one moment a young couple walked in with a small child, their son. They went to the front of the church and sat down. As everyone waited, the child turned around, looked at everyone, waved and smiled. My friend smiled and waved back, but most people ignored the child. After a few minutes the child repeated the gesture. At the third attempt the mother noticed her offspring’s actions. She grabbed him, pushed him back into the seat and said
sternly, “Stop that silly grinning! Don’t you know that you are in God’s house!” This story reflects a common teaching that God is a serious God and does not tolerate unserious actions, like smiling, in church. Sounds silly but is true. We were taught that God loves us and wants the best for us. Yet, we worship to another God, one who will condemn us if we are not found pleasing. Fr. Frank Jones, an Australian associate priest with whom I worked in Chile, used to say jokingly, “We have a God of love, and he hates you!” He was highlighting this double talk we do about God. Our descriptive words of God don’t match our deep inner beliefs about God’s nature. www.columban.org
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I felt a deep inner giggle building. My body shook as I began to laugh uncontrollably. I couldn’t stop! When I was a seminarian, a priest once scolded me for giggling during prayer. During a parish luncheon the parish priest convoked a blessing over the meal. Suddenly, without intent, a funny thought entered my head. It produced a small giggle. The priest heard this, stopped the prayer and shouted to me, “What’s the laugh! What’s so funny!” I was embarrassed and didn’t know how to respond especially since it was not my intention to giggle. Fortunately, another priest wisely intervened, “Come now, not all prayer is serious.” After, I began to wonder. What is this prayer that is not serious? What is that like? Years later I was to discover the profoundness of the unserious prayer. In 2008, I was in Boston, Massachusetts, attending the Center for Religious Development’s program on Spiritual Direction. During the course of study we experimented various forms of prayer and accompanied others who sought to deepen their spiritual life. At one point, I entered a spiritual dryness. Nothing was happening. I was praying to God, but felt no response from God. Eventually, I found it hard to even seek God. This is a common experience in the spiritual life—entering the desert—and it was not my first time. However, I was becoming www.columban.org
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very frustrated. After all, if I was to be a spiritual director, I should know how to talk to God and God should respond. Should I not always feel God’s presence? One day, I decided this has to end. I was going to leave the desert, the spiritual dryness. Therefore, at night I prepared my prayer space in my room. I had an icon of Jesus, the Bible, rosary and a candle. I had a psalm ready for meditation. I lit the candle, shut off the electric lights and sat down in a lotus position in front of the Bible and icon. I was going to get this right! This was serious business! So I thought. I tried to still my body and calm my inner spirit, in preparation to approach this evading, serious God.
The seriousness was gone, but the sacredness was not. With that, I got up, closed my Bible and relaxed with this laughing, unserious God. Suddenly, from within my body, I felt an inner biological rumbling. My stomach was turning. I realized that I was about to pass gas. “Not now!” I said to myself. “I am entering a sacred moment and this was no time to give into biological needs!” Yet, the force was strong. Suddenly a loud, long blast was released. I was stupefied, stunned. My sacred moment was rudely interrupted by a crude biological function. How can this be? The serious mood was broken. Slowly, another feeling was beginning to emerge. I felt a deep inner giggle building. My
body shook as I began to laugh uncontrollably. I couldn’t stop! It was than the evading God of my dryness appeared, the image of Jesus rolling on the ground laughing with me! It was hilarious. It was unexpected. It was the most intimate moment I ever shared with God. We laughed together. I felt God saying to me, “Don’t be so serious. Don’t take yourself so seriously. I want you to be you with all your idiosyncrasies and peculiarities. I created you this way. Laugh with me.” If God created a body that can pass gas, smile, giggle and laugh, why must they be something “to avoid?” Can there be a way to know God more intimately? God does laugh, smile, and apparently has a good sense humor. Can we not encounter this God? The seriousness was gone, but the sacredness was not. With that, I got up, closed my Bible and relaxed with this laughing, unserious God. My spiritual dryness ended but not in the way I expected. I had resolved to make it a serious, hard journey. God turned it into an enjoyable, funny road trip. So I ask this question to all: when was the last time you laughed in prayer, giggled, or, did something funny that led you to this laughing, rolling-on-the-ground God? Try an unserious prayer. God needs a good laugh, too. CM Fr. G. Chris Saenz lives and works in Chile.
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Listening Treating Others with Loving Care By Fr. Charles O’Rourke
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y world view and approach to mission work changed radically during my early years in Korea. Initially I thought I had the answers. I rigidly decided pastoral issues entirely according to the rules of Church law or, let’s say, my understanding of that law. This was before Vatican II so my attitude as regards my style of pastoral ministry was what was customary at that time. Listening was not my strong suit; I scored low on 18
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compassion and empathy in that first parish. In our introductory course to the language and culture of Korea there was little emphasis on being sensitive to and adapting to Korean culture. I was not identifying from my heart with the needs and wants of my parishioners. After four years as assistant priest I was asked to go to an island parish which numbered over 2,000 parishioners. It was 1962, and the second Vatican Council was in
session; Pope John XXIII was still alive. However the spirit of the Council had yet to have any impact on my life and work. And yet, despite my rigidity I was happy, and the people with whom I worked were understanding and accepting, probably for two reasons. First, they made allowances for me as a foreigner; second, Koreans have been culturally conditioned by centuries of hierarchical rule. I was parish priest there for two years and had regular conversations www.columban.org
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about my approach to ministry with fellow Columban, Jack Roche. Fr. Jack urged me to be more flexible, listen, be less self-centered and go with the flow. At the time I did not change but prayed and thought about the matter constantly. On leaving the parish I returned to the U.S. for home vacation, which was also a time to continue evaluating my approach to mission. After listening and reflecting on what I learned from Fr. Jack, plus my own experience of working with people, I knew that I had to change and be more flexible and listen to people’s needs, hurts, and sufferings, and celebrate their joyful times. It was only 1965, but the spirit of Vatican II was beginning to touch me. Of course this decision enriched me enormously. It gave me greater peace of mind and, in my heart, I felt happy and liberated. I began to see people as more important than rules and regulations, then [Jesus] said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mk. 2:27) I began to discover the importance of fostering a good relationship with my parishioners, which also helped me with my relationship with God. Dealing with people in their joys and sufferings helped me recognize the uniqueness of each person. I ceased to be merely a functionary and became one with those among whom I worked. I also learned to administer the Sacraments from the perspective of my parishioners’ needs rather from that of the law – the person trumps the law! I came to a deeper realization of how God loves each individual regardless of race, gender, creed, color or status www.columban.org
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in society. As a priest, I realized my duty was to facilitate what Christ came to do in our world – be a messenger in deed and word of the Good News of the Reign of God. I was only 35 years of age when, with a renewed vision of my role as a missionary priest, I took on the task of establishing yet another parish. I set out to be welcoming and many young catechumens came to the parish and were eventually baptized. The church was unfinished so many joined in heavy manual work, leveling, building terrace walls, putting down gravel and concrete. I, too, joined in the work and used the parish vehicle and trailer to cart all the materials we needed. I was brought up on a farm and so was familiar with a variety of manual work and also working with machinery. In fact, I think I reverted to being my natural self and became more closely identified with my fellow parishioners. Working together like that helped us become a more unified and happy community. I was there for four years and then went on to do something similar in a third parish where I was confirmed in my belief that doing things with others and trying to be one with them allowed a lot of good things to happen. In three of the parishes that I worked in we began with 100 to 300 Catholics and within a period of four years the numbers grew to around 500 in the first parish, 1,000 in the second and 2,500 in the third. In 1985, I was assigned to a Korean parish in Chicago, Illinois. There had been a serious misunderstanding in the parish, causing divisions, so my first task was to win the parishioners’ confidence. Every day for three
to four months representatives of parish groups and other angry individuals visited me to speak about their perception of not being treated fairly and of not being represented adequately on the parish council and other administrative groups in the parish. Day after day I listened, seeking to understand the situation (the details of which I do not feel free to explain here). Other than listen, all I could do was to pray and, believe me, I certainly did. I had never been challenged like this in my life. Then when those visits ceased I noticed that the atmosphere of hostility began to ease, but it took at least one year to become like the family spirit I had known in Korea. So, along with the power of prayer and the experience of being a good listener a lot of healing and reconciliation took place. Subsequently, during the following seven years that I continued to work in that parish, I became aware of God’s Spirit working in the community as it grew and flourished. For me to listen to those around me meant that I was loving them. It was a way of treating my brothers and sisters with loving care, of offering them support and encouragement. I learned to accept that my wishes or my way might not always be the best way. Listening allowed me to put myself in the shoes of the other person, and so learn to be open and flexible. This in turn meant I contributed to the happiness of the world around me as well as my own, all of which brought peace and happiness into my daily routine. CM Fr. Charles O’Rourke lives and works in St. Columbans, Nebraska.
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The “Reincarnation” of My Mother Eternal Life By Fr. Frank Hoare
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y mother, Eileen Hoare, nee Mahon, died in Ireland as a result of a stroke in June 1999. I was finishing a sabbatical course in Chicago, Illinois, when my sister phoned with news of the stroke. It came as a great shock, because just ten minutes before my mother had the stroke she and I had been speaking by telephone. She had reported feeling great, had been out swinging a golf club earlier that day and was actually playing cards with my younger brother and his son when I called. Then everything changed instantly. I rushed back to Ireland, and after a ten-day vigil we buried my mother. On return to mission in Fiji, a few weeks later, I was approached by Mosese, in Natanuku village, for permission to name his recently born daughter after my mother. I readily agreed and baptized the child Eileen. At the end of the
following year I returned to Ireland to be based there as a member of the Columban General Council. Natanuku village in Ba Parish has about twelve Catholic families. While I was in Ba the people had begun to collect money for a new church to replace a small, cramped Ctesiphon church. A donation of $5,000 from abroad in the mid1990s motivated the villagers to begin fundraising. They then organized twice-yearly fundraising gatherings which were enlivened by competition among the four sub-groups within the community. However, a military coup and two severe currency devaluations with a resultant large increase in the cost of building materials prolonged the fundraising. Back in Dublin in 2004, I was surprised to receive a letter from Mosese. He reported that, at a meeting of his sub-group, the members were disheartened to
find that they were lagging well behind other sub-groups in their fundraising. They felt they would be shamed on the day of the gathering which was fast approaching. Then five-year-old Eileen stood up and said to them, “Tell my son in Ireland that we need his help. He will assist.” Mosese reported that all present were amazed at this. He didn’t want to put me under any pressure but felt that he should let me know. Naturally, a summons like that has to be responded to. I quickly arranged to send a contribution. I returned to missionary work in Fiji a few years ago. When I occasionally visit Natanuku, I try to remember to bring a present for Eileen. Now 14 years old, she is a bright girl and was Head Prefect in her last year in primary school. This year she has begun attending secondary school and is happy there. She is a keen member of the Columban Companions in Mission group in the village and says that she hopes to be a primary teacher when she is older. But Eileen has no memory of referring to me as her son. Many Africans have a traditional belief that the spirit of a dead person enters the body of a baby who is born at the time of their death and who is named after them. Fijians whom I have asked say that they don’t have this traditional belief. This incident however gives an unexpected twist to Jesus’ saying, “Anyone who has left houses, brother, sisters, father mother, children or land for the sake of my name will be repaid a hundred times over, and also inherit eternal life.” (Mt. 19:29) The new church in Natanuku is now half-built but has stalled at present because the builder died a few months ago. I still feel a call, however, to see that it is completed. CM Columban Fr. Frank Hoare lives and works in Fiji.
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WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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If you want….. By Fr. Leo Donnelly
If you want, the Virgin will come walking down the road pregnant with the Holy One, and say, “I need shelter for the night, please take me inside your heart, my time is close.”
Yes, there under the dome of your being does creation come into existence eternally, through your womb, dear pilgrim — the sacred womb in your soul,
Then under the roof of your soul, you will witness the sublime intimacy, the divine, the Christ taking birth forever, as she grasps your hand for help, for each of us is the midwife of God, each of us.
as God grasps our arms for help; each of us is His beloved servant never far. If you want, the Virgin will come walking down the street pregnant with Light and sing ….
Columban Fr. Leo Donnelly lives and works in Peru.
www.columban.org
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Looking for something different to give this Christmas? If you enjoy experiencing the Columban Mission magazine, why not share that enjoyment with friends or loved ones? For a donation of only $15, you can give eight issues—one full year—of Columban Mission magazine. Your gift will bring the stories and inspiration from the missions to those you care about the most. It will also provide the support that is so very needed to our missionaries in the field. As part of the gift subscription, we will send a card personalized with a message from you, letting them know that you cared enough to share this special gift with them. Just fill out the form below and mail it along with your donation to Columban Fathers, P.O. Box 10, St. Columbans, Nebraska 68056 or go online to www.columban.org to fill out the form and donate by credit card or PayPal. You may also call us toll-free at (877) 299-1920 to order the gift. Name of Gift Giver Name of Recipient Address/City/State/Zip Phone/Email Message to Recipient (optional)
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The Gift of Faith and Joy “How do you celebrate Christmas in your village?” I asked Salustino, as we battled December’s icy wind while walking back together to the Columban International Seminary on the south side of Chicago. “After nightfall on Christmas Eve the catechist leads our small community in prayer ….and there are also readings from the Bible and carol singing,” he replied. “So you don’t have Mass?” I inquired with an element of surprise in my voice. “No, a priest comes to our village once a year … or maybe just once every two years,” he added thoughtfully. A year earlier Salustino Villalobos Mondragon, a Columban seminarian, had come from Peru to Chicago to study English. One of a family of twelve, he had grown up in the village of Agua del Leon in the foothills of the Andes Mountains. At the age of twenty, he traveled a twenty-four hour bus journey from there to Lima, the capital city, in order to pursue his dream of becoming a Columban missionary priest.
FROM THE DIRECTOR By Fr. Tim Mulroy Within a short time of meeting this young man one senses quickly that he is passionate about soccer, his studies and his faith. But where did he get such faith as to want to spend his entire life in service of the Gospel? How was this faith nurtured, enabling it to blossom so that he wished to radiate it across the world? Before coming to Chicago, Salustino had already studied at the Columban seminary in Chile, while his dream was to become a missionary priest in China. Like the shepherds on that first Christmas night, Salustino had heard the catechist proclaim the
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Year after year he had joined his community in responding to this astonishing message with praise and thanks, with music and dance. message of the angels: “I bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by all the people: today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you, He is Christ the Lord.” (Lk. 2:10-11) Since his childhood, together with his family, he had listened to that Good News during the Christmas prayer service in his village, where there was no priest and no chapel. Year after year he had joined his community in responding to this astonishing message with praise and thanks, with music and dance. The story of the celebration of Christmas in Salustino’s village is a reminder that, like that first Christmas night, Christ continues to come to people living on the fringes of our “advanced” society and at the margins of our organized religion, blessing them with the gifts of faith and joy. And Salustino’s decision to spend his life as a Columban priest ministering among people in a faroff country is evidence that God intends that these gifts of faith and joy “be shared by all the people” in our world today, just as the angels promised on that first Christmas night.
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“If I your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” — John 13:14 All of us are called to Christian service. But some are called to a lifetime of service to the poor. If you feel attracted to such a life, we are waiting to hear from you.
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Watch the mail for your free 2014 Columban calendar! You can order additional copies for yourself or loved ones by writing to us or sending an email to: missionoffice@columban.org.
If you are interested in the missionary priesthood, write or call… Fr. Bill Morton National Vocation Director Columban Fathers St. Columbans, NE 68056 877-299-1920 Email: vocations@columban.org Website: www.columban.org
If you are interested in becoming a Columban Sister, write or call… Sister Virginia Mozo National Vocation Director Columban Sisters 2546 Lake Road Silver Creek, NY 14136 626-458-1869 Email: virginiamozo@yahoo.com Websites: www.columbansisters.org www.columbansistersusa.com
Japan + Korea + Peru + Hong Kong + Philippines + Pakistan + Chile + Fiji + Taiwan + North America
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