The Magazine of the Missionary Society of St. Columban
May 2013
Table Fellowship
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A Richer Banquet
“Go out to the highways and invite all you meet to the wedding.” (Mt 22:9) Christianity has always seen itself as an inclusive religion - inviting ALL peoples to the Wedding Banquet of God. Jesus reached out to all. He sent His Church to ALL peoples, even to the ends of the Earth. All are called to Salvation; all are called to God’s Heavenly Banquet. So we went out from our home countries to invite all others to God’s feast of Eternal Life in Jesus Christ. But there is an aspect of this invitation that we Church people sometimes forget. What we forget is that we are not only “hosts” at the Banquet, but also “guests” ourselves. It is God’s Banquet - we invite alright, but we are also invited to this feast. In 2008 the U.S. Columban Regional Assembly challenged us Columbans to deepen this aspect of Jesus’ mission. We called it “a spirituality of table fellowship.” It meant opening ourselves more to the gifts and talents of others. For years overseas since Vatican II, Dialogue and Partnership had been part and parcel of the way we were doing mission - listening to the local people and growing ourselves from their faith as well as sharing our faith with them. It was “table fellowship” where we not only proclaimed the Good News, but heard
In So Many Words
the Good News from others at the table. In other words,
By Fr. Charles Lintz
we were all “hosts and guests” at the table of the Lord. So the 2008 Regional Assembly challenged us Columbans to greater “table fellowship,” to move from an individualist way of doing mission to a more collaborative one. We had talks and input based on Scripture and our experience as to why this was a better way to do mission. And we decided to change some of our regional structures. We hired a COO (Chief Operating Officer) in 2009 and with him reorganized the St. Columbans, Nebraska, office for greater feedback and participation. We started a Senior Managers Group to advise on policy and operations; and we restructured our Mission Houses in El Paso, Texas/Juárez, Mexico, Los Angeles, California, St.
It is God’s Banquet we invite alright, but we are also invited to this feast.
Columbans, Nebraska, and Bristol, Rhode Island, to work better together. Combining the expertise and the mission faith of each individual has resulted in a richer Banquet for all. It has been difficult at times, as changes are always difficult, but with patience and continued effort our “spirituality of table fellowship” has taken root in our U.S. Region and has produced, and is producing, a richer Banquet of the Good News for all of us. Such is the bounty of our Saving God!
Columban Fr. Charles Lintz lives and works in Bristol, Rhode Island.
www.columban.org
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Mission Alive Fontana, California By Fr. Al Utzig
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ontana California started out as a collection of orange groves and chicken and goat farms. With famous Route 66 running through it, it really started to grow during World War II when the first steel mill west of the Mississippi River was built here. It is now developing fast, with 200,000 people, 70% Hispanic, 7% Asian and 1% Native American. There are also many Anglos and African-Americans. Our parish of St. Mary’s reflects those numbers very well. The steel mill is now gone, turned into Fontana Speedway, on the NASCAR circuit. There are many trucking/freight companies that operate out of here now, too. The parish was founded in 1939 and used a 125 seat church until 1999 when the site was moved to its present location at the foot of the small Fontana Mountains. A metal warehouse was purchased and erected to seat 1,100 parishioners.
Youth enjoying services
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The original house on the land became the parish house and office. Fourteen years later, we still have no other buildings even though we have over 3,500 families. So all of our catechism classes (we have 500 children in First Communion class and 120 for Confirmation), our RCIA, and our many ministries all vie for space in the four open rooms at the back of church, the parish office, garage and even the kitchen. The church is open every day from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. with an almost constant stream of visitors to our cozy Blessed Sacrament chapel. It has three kneelers and two chairs, all well worn. And the fresh flowers that keep appearing on the altar there and in front of our saints, especially Our Lady of Guadalupe, mean it always smells good in that corner. Columbans have been here since 2001 when Fathers Bob Clark and Bernie Toal came. Then Fr. Gerry
O’Shaughnessy came from Peru to take over and was joined by Fathers Brendan O’Sullivan and John Waunarny. I came last January. We see it very much as a part of Columban mission in the United States. It is lower middle class, with many, many Spanish speaking migrants, lots of migrants from the Philippines, and a good mix of lots of interesting people from all over including Christian refugees from recent violence in Egypt. Our parishioners are very active in the life of the church and have learned to be very independent, to get things done that need to be done. For example, we have 90 catechists, all volunteers. Until recently, all maintenance was done voluntarily. In fact, much of the maintenance is still done voluntarily. Marriage groups, youth groups, prayer groups, altar servers, ushers, lectors, Eucharistic ministers (some in English, some in Spanish) all finance themselves independently through fund raisers all during the year. The parish budget is around $300,000 a year. Our Pan de Vida (Bread of Life) ministry is alive. We give out over 200 boxes of food to families in need every two weeks. On one visit, our volunteers found a family of four, three of them young teenagers, with their mother living in a camper-type trailer, no bedrooms, or any rooms, only a little sink and bathroom and floor to sleep on. The father, from Central America, simply disappeared on his journey back through Mexico. It is probable that www.columban.org
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he ran into foul play. Their roof leaked, and the floor was sagging. Our Knights of Columbus did some repairs, but the family needed more of a house. So the Saturday before Thanksgiving we held our first ever Walk-a-Thon to raise funds to get them into a better place. Over 125 parishioners, many of our youth, came out with sponsors. We hiked over one of our little mountains to the next parish and back, about seven miles, and raised over $7,000. With the proceeds, we purchased a 40ft. house trailer and equipped it with some furniture. Since Christmas that family now has a living room and a bedroom. Even though the present allpurpose building is as cozy as folks can make it, we really need a church proper. Then we can turn our existing building into eight or ten much needed rooms for classes and meetings and a social hall with kitchen. Right now all of our cooking and eating is done outside under canvas awnings. We
The usual crowded service
just purchased two acres of land beside the church to build our new church. Unfortunately, that used up just about all of our savings, and now we are starting over. The diocese has come up with a very simple steel frame church design that is earthquake resistant and economical to maintain. We’re hoping to use it for our new 1,200 seat church! We’re pretty sure that
once it has been built, our five weekend Masses will not be nearly enough. They’re already standing in the aisles at some of them. The new church and modifications will “only” cost about $3.5 million, very reasonable by today’s standards. CM columban Fr. al utzig lives and works in Fontana, california.
Co l u mb a n M issionaries I nvite You ! WA S H I N G TO N , D. C .
CHINA
Internships and Domestic Volunteering • Advocate for just and sustainable legislation
Teaching • Teach at a Chinese university for one year
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Analyze social justice issues through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching
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Grow in your faith
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Fall and Spring internships – 12 weeks Summer internships – 8 weeks
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Domestic Volunteering: 6 – 12 months
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Live cross-cultural mission
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Discover a life unlike your own
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Placements in August and February
To learn more about these programs and to apply visit: www.columban.org/get-involved
Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach ccaoprograms@columban.org /301-565-4547
www.columban.org
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Moments to Celebrate Reading the Bible in Pakistan By Sr. Perlita Ponge
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very couple of months or so Sr. Marie and I, along with Fr. James Kajo or Master Lawrence our catechist, visit the Vimo family in a small village in our parish (Kunri). They are Parkari Kholi people and very poor, but each time we visit they insist on killing a chicken and preparing a pot of chicken karai (stew) and inviting us to a meal. They continually remind me that poor people are often more generous than those who have plenty. We visited them to give them tokens for food rations soon after the recent floods washed away most of their village. Their house, like the houses of their fellow villagers, had been constructed of dried mud
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so were washed away by the floods. The only building left standing was the parish school, which is built of brick and concrete. We planned to do what we had gone to do and move on to the next needy family, but they insisted that we stay. The mother of the house said that she had already sent someone out to kill the chicken. They lost so much in the flood and don’t even have a roof over their head, and yet they want to offer us hospitality. I see the poor I meet in the course of my daily work as the soft and gentle side of Pakistan. Whatever their religious faith may be, they are so hospitable, and sharing food seems to break down
barriers. Even with so little they are grateful to God for what they have. They see our visit as a blessing, and it is a moment to celebrate. Since the floods in the parish we have traveled the back roads of our parish in a four wheel drive vehicle, especially the back roads far from the main highways. Along the sides of these roads refugees in their thousands from the floods have camped (the roads are raised between one and two meters above the level of the adjacent fields). Those on the back roads generally receive little or no aid. We have been able to give them food ration tokens, blankets and sometimes two kilogram food parcels with rice, sugar, lentils, flour, oil and tea, the basics of the local diet. We were able to give freely without discrimination and without demanding an identity card. Most of those we meet are strangers to us and we to them. We don’t introduce ourselves but rather just leave them something to alleviate their difficult situation and move on. One woman told us with a smile of gratitude that we were the first to give them a hand. We would return on another occasion and some remained but some were no longer there. Hopefully the flood waters had subsided enough for them to return to their villages to make a new start. Floods come and go, and the meteorological experts tell us to expect more frequent flooding in the coming years. However, life goes on and some of our parishioners asked us to take on a new project. Some women told me that they would like to be able to read the Bible. Consequently, we organized a pilot project to teach women to read and write and presently have a group of 21 women aged from 15 to 45 years. They are www.columban.org
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Parkari Kholi and Punjabi women. We began in September but had to close for the floods, but we called the group to class again in October and, much to my surprise, all 21 turned up. One member of the class told her brother in another village about our class, and he requested adult literacy classes for his village. We want to respond but first we will complete the course we have started and evaluate it. We don’t want to fail by attempting to bite off more than we can chew.
Also, we feel that it’s a matter of hastening slowly. Our teacher is Berna. She receives a salary, and we charge the participants 30 rupees a month (around 20 cents). The classes run from Monday to Friday from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. A key element to the success of this program is the teacher who has to be someone who treats those in the class with courtesy and respect. Also, we would need to find a person in or near the other village who might take on the task.
We feel the project is off to a good start as the initiative to begin came from the women of the village and the invitation to extend also came from residents of another village. CM Columban Sr. Perlita Ponge lives and works in Pakistan.
Hope through Scouting The Way to a Different Life By Sophie Castillo
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icket To Life (TTL) is about taking scouting to street children to help them have a better life; scouting will be their ticket to life. TTL began in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2004. For our program in the Philippines, we have funding from the World Scouting Movement. The administration of the city of Davao provides support for the TTL troop in Davao. They have a benefactor high up in the administration who was once a scout. Through Columban Fr. John Leydon, the parish priest of the Columban-run parish of Malate, Our Lady of Remedies, we have the use of a place to meet. The parish covers the cost of transportation when we go somewhere with the children. The parish also helps with the cost of schooling of some of our young scouts. www.columban.org
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Sophie and her husband Enrique with the troop
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Derek and Sophie
Derek Bonifacio is the Malate troop leader, which he does as a volunteer. He is also a fulltime employee of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines. He works as an artist, photographer and personnel assistant. The children want a meeting every Saturday afternoon so, even if Derek cannot attend, my husband, me or other adult collaborators always step in as substitutes. In the beginning we had to ask the parish social worker to visit the children and urge them to come to the meeting. Now the children are waiting for us to open the door. Scouting has become an important aspect of their life routine. For the first three months only ten or so would come along to the weekly meeting but, when they realized what it was all about, we had 30 or so coming each week. I urge the children to think and dream beyond their present situation: “Don’t limit your dreams. You don’t want to stay living in the street. Work for and follow your dream.” Even though the children live in very difficult circumstances they are close to their families. Even though at times their parents are not good to them, they love their 8
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parents. They want to continue to live with them on the street. The street is the home they know. It is true that we have to deal with many problems, but our problems are not with the children but with the parents who, at times, do not allow or encourage their children to attend the Saturday afternoon meeting. They are concerned that we are taking them away from work and subsequently depriving the family of much needed income. We usually have two or three adults at the troop meeting and are actively involved with the children. We don’t simply leave everything to Derek, our troop leader. We have seen that it is important that we adults win the trust of the street children, who often find little support from their parents. Jerwin Lihay-Lihay is fourteen years of age and lives with his family on the street. He is the eldest of six children. He works at night driving a pedicab, earning between 80 and 100 pesos a night (40 pesos = $1.00). He pays his own school expenses. Jerwin is from the first group of scouts that began in May 2008. He attended the orientation and one day when he arrived late
we observed he was using drugs (sniffing glue). He did not come again for a year. His sister was attending, and he would come and watch from behind the fence. In May 2009 he joined the second group, attended twice and then stopped coming. When he came to the parish feeding program the teacher told him that I was looking for him. That made him so happy, and he has been attending the meetings ever since. I told him that I was really happy to see him again and, on his own initiative, he returned to school. Jerwin is no longer using drugs and, even though he is only in grade three, he has decided that he wants to be a lawyer. However, his mother, who is on drugs, tells him to work and not be bothering with school or scouts. His sister has stopped coming to the scout meeting, and I see her selling flowers on the street. Marlene Maduro is fourteen years of age and joined the first group in May 2008. She has always gone to school and is now in the first year of high school. She lives on the street with her family, has two older brothers and two sisters. She helps her mother who is a street vendor, selling cigarettes, soft drinks, snacks, sweets and so on. Her father and two brothers hit her mother and sisters when they are drunk. They ask her for money to buy alcohol, and when she refuses they beat her. Marlene used to be very shy but has developed leadership skills and is quite responsible. She wants to be a teacher, and her mother is most supportive. CM Sophie Castillo works fulltime for Boy Scouts of the Philippines. She is the youth program assistant and the coordinator of the TTL program in Manila and Davao. She works with the troop in Malate on a voluntary basis.
www.columban.org
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Bringing People Together Life at the Table By Amy Woolam Echeverria
I’ve always been drawn to tables. One of my favorites is a simple enamel top kitchen table circa 1930s that was in my grandmother’s kitchen. I would sit on a red vinyl high stool while she would prepare pies, roasts and afternoon snacks on its cool white top with black trim. I would imagine my mother sitting in the same high chair when she was a girl watching the same way I did. The table bound these three generations of women together. Tables, by their nature, bring people together. Whether it’s an intimate family dinner or a banquet of many, tables are where we share our hopes and dreams, our hurts and sorrows. Tables are where life happens: meals, homework, paying the bills, late night talks and early morning coffee. It is no wonder that Jesus chose the table as His preferred place to minister. He understood the intimacy and healing that comes from sitting at the table. Sadly and too often, tables become places of exclusion. Race, www.columban.org
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economics, gender, religious affiliation all become barriers to full participation in society. Often institutions and governments create policies that keep people excluded from the Table of Life. When we celebrate the Eucharist, we are reminded of our call to welcome all to the table, especially the economically poor, the vulnerable, the outcast. Part of that call to welcome is working for changes in policies that keep people excluded. At the 2008 Columban U.S. Regional Assembly, we said of our mission in the U.S., “We are called to a spirituality of tablefellowship.” In the five years since that gathering, we have placed our structures and programs at the service of fulfilling that vision of communion. Our mission centers, invitation programs, Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Ministry are all ways that we seek to bring people to the table and into the fullness of life. (John 10:10)Not surprising, more recently at our 2012 General
Assembly we named “Called to Communion” as our guiding vision for the international Columban Society for the coming six years. We were inspired by the image of communion that came from the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, Aparecida, 2007 which says “The Church is communion in love.” Today, my grandmother’s kitchen table now sits in my home. More than a piece of furniture, it reminds me of the warmth and love that comes from sharing at the table. This month we celebrate Pentecost, another reminder that God’s love is endlessly personal and universal. It is this love that binds us together and brings us all to the Table. CM Amy Woolam Echeverria is the director of the Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach in Washington, D.C.
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Keeping Children Safe A Strategic Initiative By Fr. Ed O’Connell
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uana, a single working mother, leaves home very early in the morning for work. Sometimes she has time to prepare breakfast, the children’s snacks for school, and brush her daughter’s hair. Other days, the children themselves have to do these tasks, occasionally arriving late for school. Benjamin, Juana’s nine-yearold son, leaves school and runs the risk of violence from street-gangs as he walks home alone. He then prepares lunch for his sisters. Ruth, who is six, has nobody to take her to the kindergarten, so she stays home alone in the morning. Benjamin also has the task of collecting his little sister, Carmen, who is three, from the Wawa Wasi 10
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daycare center and of taking care of her for the rest of the day which reduces the time for his homework and for any recreation. Sometimes Carmen gets tired and has to be carried home. Benjamin does his best, but it is not the same as having his Mom there. Meanwhile Juana is busy selling plantain chips as snacks on the street next to a bus stop some six kilometers away. She is in danger from road accidents and possible assaults. She has no income other than what she earns. She is continually worried about the welfare of her children who are left alone while she spends long hours working away from home.
Benjamin and Carmen
Facing the Problem
Juana is just one of many mothers who live in San Benito (population 12,000), in the District of Carabayllo, a journey of two hours from the center of Lima, Peru. Although the township began fifteen years ago, most homes still lack access to running water, sewage, roads and a regular supply of electricity. www.columban.org
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Strategies and Activities
A primary aim of the project is to strengthen the social skills of the working mothers so that they can better protect their children. There are workshops in personal development, information about work opportunities and rights, training to prevent risks to the children, visits to the families and psychological support. There are separate workshops for the children, helping them with their studies and recreation, enabling them to make friends with other children, giving them psychological support, and even teaching them how to produce more nutritious meals. Working along with existing community organizations, there is a program to create new spaces where the children can play, read, and do homework together in their own neighborhood.
Benjamin and Ruth
What the Project Aims to Achieve
Juana working at her stall
Our Warmi Huasi team of dedicated and experienced professionals consists of Rosario Salinas, an obstetrician, Amelia Palacios, a teacher, Shirley Almeyda, a psychologist, Milka Rosas, a social worker, and Vanessa Cardozo, a nutritionist. From August to November 2011, this team, working with a group of six university students at the weekends, interviewed 536 mothers. Of those mothers, 162 work more than four hours a day, on more than three days a week outside the home, and have children under twelve, our target group. During February and March 2012, the team interviewed 83 www.columban.org
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mothers and evaluated their 130 children. They then began to work with 55 of those mothers and their 110 children, who according to the study were those most at risk. We will take on a similar size group next year. The plan is to involve six community accompaniers in the project, as later they will play a key part in the community organizations designed to take over at the end of three years. We have been working continually to stimulate interest among the local, municipal and central government institutions, so that they will understand the risks faced by the children and assume their statutory responsibilities.
All of the above are designed to insure that children, under the age of twelve, of working mothers will successfully overcome the risks to which they have been exposed. The hope is that the mothers will be enabled to keep working, knowing that their children are growing, playing and learning in a safer and happier environment. The project will be continuously evaluated over the next three years, and whatever lessons are learned will be fed into future programs in other areas. What is certain is that we will never lack areas that can benefit from such projects. CM Currently living and working in Peru, Fr. Ed O’Connell has been a missionary for almost 40 years.
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“I do believe that, in those last weeks, he met angels here too in the persons of the men who unfailingly nursed him and knew him to be a brother.”
Lazarus at the Gate Forsaken by All by Sr. mary Dillon
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hen I saw him I could only think of Lazarus at the gate, the searing parable Jesus told the Pharisees in St. Luke’s Gospel. (Lk. 16:20) Jesus spoke of a poor man lying at the gate of a rich man’s house, covered with sores which the dogs licked. Here in Myitkyina in 2012 I met a Lazarus, a young man with AIDS, thrown out of the family home, abandoned by all and living in a little hut nearby. No one spoke to him. No one visited him. His brother would push a plate of food to him once a day without saying a word. Du Hkawng, a small man, was in his early thirties, unmarried 12
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and belonging to a fairly well-off family. He had taken anti-retroviral drugs for a while but decided to do without them and gradually got worse as his immune system broke down. Unable to walk or sit up, he lay day after day under a piece of tarpaulin, unwashed, incontinent, stinking. I am sure if there were dogs around they would have come “to lick his sores.” (Lk. 16:21) It was in this miserable state that I found him, this poor modernday Lazarus. I tried talking to his family to no avail. His elderly mother, his uncle, a brother and sister-in-law wanted nothing to do with him. Fear of
AIDS was deeply rooted in them, and they dreaded “catching” it. Their son, their brother, was a nonperson in the family and nothing would move them on this. We have nearly 70 people, young and old alike, with HIV/AIDS in the Home we built two years ago. I would have brought him there, but he was too weak and the journey would have been too much. So, with Lucy, the wonderful woman who works with me, I went to get some clean clothes, and we washed him and gave him a nourishing drink. His emaciated body, full of sores, some with maggots, was a dreadful sight. We did what we www.columban.org
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could to make him comfortable; this man, who, like Christ Himself, was forsaken by all. On returning to the Home that evening, I spoke of poor Du Hkawng to some of the residents. They knew what it was to be ostracized; they too had felt the pain of being unwanted in society; they had suffered the stigma of having AIDS. But now, thanks to good medication and good care they were up and walking. Some of the men came to me. “Sister, if you can get us there we will visit Du Hkawng and look after him.” And from then on two of them went each day and washed and cleaned poor Lazarus, fed him with soft foods and talked and sang to him. From the depths of their own suffering humanity they cared gently for their brother. I went with them most days, but even when I could not be there they never failed to look after him. I was deeply moved by their love and by the kindness they showed. Out of their own poverty they gave all they had, ministering to this “least of the brethren.” Du Hkwang died shortly after, alone in his little hut. He had never talked even once in the weeks we knew him. I feel sure that, like Lazarus, “he was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom.” (Lk. 16:22) May he have joy now, he who knew so little of it on earth. But I do believe that, in those last weeks, he met angels here too in the persons of the men who unfailingly nursed him and knew him to be a brother. In my heart I called them our “AIDS Angels” and thanked God for the blessing they were, not only to poor abandoned Du Hkawng, but to all of us. CM CM Sr. Mary Dillon worked for many years in Korea before assuming her present assignment in Myanmar (formerly Burma). www.columban.org
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The Grain of Sand that We Offer Helping the intellectually disabled discover their own dignity as they find a place in modern society. By Gemma Kim Myeong Seon
I had recently completed a degree in sociology at Gwangju University. I was looking not just for a job but for my way in life. I had participated in the student protests in 1980, as had many of my companions in the faculty of sociology. I had witnessed the slaughter of hundreds of fellow students by government forces. Seeing my companions mowed down by guns held by other young Koreans–my own people–left me feeling shattered and struggling to make sense of life. I got a job with a welfare agency run by a religious organization but did not like it as I felt pressured to embrace their religion. After a month or so I left that job and my sister, who had gone to Ecuador as a lay missionary in 1978, introduced me to Columban Fr. Noel O’Neill. Fr. Noel had just begun work with the intellectually disabled. At that stage he had no funds to pay staff, so we worked as volunteers. At that time, Korean society did not recognize nor address 14
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the issue of the wellbeing of the intellectually disabled. Fr. Noel first began work with those who had been institutionalized by the state and lived caged like wild animals. We knew others lived with their families who were ashamed to admit they had disabled members and hid them.
I had already been quite disturbed by seeing our military and police shoot my fellow students as if their lives had no worth. It did not take me long to grow into the conviction that it would be worthwhile spending my life at the service of people whose lives were accorded little or no value by
“Stark experience challenged me and led me to the conviction that life is both precious and sacred, regardless of whether or not it is productive.” With a very simple survey form we went about the locality looking for these hidden people. One of the questions on the survey was, “If you knew your baby would be handicapped, would you terminate the pregnancy?” Most said that they would, but Buddhists tended to say that they would not, as they have much respect for all forms of life.
society. Stark experience challenged me and led me to the conviction that life is both precious and sacred, regardless of whether or not it is productive. In 1985 I joined a lay association called, “Apostolic Auxiliaries,” which works in coordination with the local bishop. We commit to a celibate life, but each member finds WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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his or her own way in life. We do not live in community, but we meet regularly for prayer and study and an annual retreat. At some stage of our lives we spend two years at our international formation center in Lourdes, France, to focus on deepening our relationship with Christ. This lay association continues to sustain me in my work with the mentally disabled. It has helped me discover and live by the values that matter to me. I feel that I have grown as a human being by focusing my energies on the wellbeing and growth of some of the weakest and seemingly insignificant members of society. If asked now what advice I might offer a young person embarking on life’s journey, I would say something like, “Do not simply take on board what society may be pushing. Be wary of building your life around the quest for money, fame or power. Do not allow personal, physical beauty to become an obsession. Rather, WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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discover your true values and through them find your own way to be fully human.” In the course of the past 30 years, I have done many jobs with the mentally disabled. I also did further studies and completed a Master’s degree in social welfare in a university in Seoul as the course I wanted was not available in Gwangju. I have also lectured part time in a number of universities on work with the mentally disabled. At present I am director of the Emmaus Workplace, which provides a variety of jobs for the intellectually disabled. Our basic goal is to do what we can to enable them to feel that they are part of society. We help the disabled integrate in society as best they can. Most, if not all, have been treated as rejects, and we want to welcome them as members of society. In the area of work, we have jobs for three categories and do all possible to help them move into the first category, which means they are able to do full time work and
receive the legal minimum wage. In this center there are eleven men and women in this category at present; there are fifteen people in the second category, which means they can work for six hours a day and receive one third to one sixth of the legal minimum wage; in the third category there are ten people in programs for about six hours each day, which are designed to help them cope with the basics of life and work a little. They receive pocket money. What we do may be like the grain of sand on the seashore, but it’s the grain of sand that we offer. CM Gemma Kim Myeong Seon works with Columban Fr. Noel O’Neill in South Korea (pictured above) where he founded the Emmaus Workplace.
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Scouting Malate Helping Street Children Dream
By Fr. John Leydon
I belong to Malate parish, Our Lady of Remedies, in Manila, the Philippines. The majority of our parishioners are urban poor. In a scene like this you soon realize that there are many degrees of poverty and that the bottom rung is those who are homeless. There are no street children here as such; we have street families. These are usually families who have fallen through the net, and there is usually a degree of disfunctionality in either one or both of the parents, due to drugs or some other factor. However, I personally have no idea how these families survive on the street. I feel that I’d last no time at all in a situation like theirs. I am in total admiration of them. We have a program for the settled areas, which are poor. We also have a program for the street families. The street families have a degree of stability, but you can imagine what it might be like not having a house, living on the street. A lot of the kids from the street families drop out of school so we 16
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have an education program for them to help them get back into school. That’s a daily program from Monday to Friday; there’s a feeding program for them as well, so at least they’ll get one decent meal a day. A few years ago the scouts approached to see if we would be interested in setting up a troop for the children of the street families. It seemed like a good idea to us, especially Fr. Enrique Escobar (a diocesan priest from Peru who worked with us in Manila for six years), who was very close to the poor and had a scout background himself. We were also very impressed with the scout’s person in charge, Sophie, a dynamic woman with intense commitment to the children who have joined our local troop. Twenty four children joined the first year, seven of whom were totally wild and unmanageable and were intent on wrecking the program, so were asked to leave. At that initial stage they might have killed the project before it got off the ground. At first it was so
difficult to get the children to come to the meetings, and the teachers involved had to go and almost drag the children to the regular meetings of the troop. But, after a while the youngsters began to turn up on time waiting for it to happen. It responded to some needs they had, maybe something along the lines of structure, mentoring and opportunity for growth. The following year the seven who had been put out during the early days of the troop’s formation were outside with their noses to the window clamoring to join again. When the troop consolidated they were able to take them in again. There was now no possibility of them wrecking anything, and they had also seen the benefits for their companions and wanted to share in that as well. They knew that joining demanded they pay a price, in terms of good behaviour, but they were persuaded that it would be worth it. Sophie and her husband are full time workers with the scouting movement; they are most www.columban.org
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impressive people. They have two children, and I noticed that when they took the scouts off on a camp they took their children along too. Normally middle-class parents, who are involved with the poor, and especially with street children, would be very protective of their own children and would keep them apart from the poorer children with whom they are working. Sophie’s children simply joined in the scouting business with the rest of the troop. The children of the street families also mix with the other children of the parish, but there is a gap, even though all of them are poor. The children in the Malate parish troop are part of a scouting movement program called, Ticket to Life Scouts (TTL), which is a project for Children in Especially Difficult Circumstances (CEDEC) aged six to sixteen years. The program is designed to help the children develop a plan for their lives by schooling them in responsibility and, in general, fostering their personal www.columban.org
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development through the scouting movement. More than 5,000 children within the Asia-Pacific Region belong to TTL in eight pilot countries – Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Our scout troop went to a Jamboree in December 2009 where 13,000 scouts from the Asia Pacific Region gathered for their 26th Jamboree. It was a great experience for them to be able to mix with boys and girls from many countries, especially street children from other countries, and feel that they belonged. Sophie is totally committed to scouting and is very vivacious. What comes across is her love for the kids; it’s palpable, so to speak. She knows each child. She has to deal with their families but at times has trouble convincing them of the worth of the scouting program for them and their children. The family depend on the children for income, so they are always asking (themselves at least) how
the scouting movement might enhance family income – begging or watching cars or some other small chore for which they might earn a tip. On one occasion recently I attended a feedback session with the parents, many of whom were over the moon about the way their children had matured in a way that they thought would never happen. I found what many parents had to say to be so inspiring; they helped me see that this program is having an impact on their lives. It goes beyond just meeting a basic need without any human development. This program has a promise of real change; you see it reaching children who are both quite vulnerable and also open to learning. What the troop is doing with them is, in some way, helping them to push and dream beyond the directionless and poverty stricken routine of street life. CM
Columban Fr. John Leydon is the parish priest of Malate in Manila, the Philippines.
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Being Like Everyone Else A few words from three young people who work in a factory set up by Emmaus Industries By Fr. Noel O’Neill
Matthias Lee Tae Soo
My name is Matthias Lee Tae Soo, and I have been working in the candle factory for six years. Now I am the leader of a group of nine workers in the factory. Even though I only earn the basic wage, I dream of making money and being famous. I participate in the Legion of Mary with the youth of our parish, and we have become quite concerned about the ecological destruction on Jeju Island as the government builds a new naval base. I have friends in the youth group, and we keep in touch with each other by texting with our mobile phones. Before I got this job I was not involved in the parish; I had no friends, no social life. I became a Catholic and then helped my mother and father become involved in the Church. Becoming more active socially has been good for my family.
Lee Jong Won
I am Lee Jong Won, and it is so much fun working in this factory. We supply toilet paper to the local army base. The teamwork is great. I like to practice speaking English. I have been working here for seven years. At first I wanted to buy a house on Jeju Island and marry my girlfriend who works in another 18
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sheltered workshop, but now I want to get a job in Busan and live there. The factory a not-for-profit company, so what we earn goes to the workers and the development of the factory.
Cho Gratia
My name is Cho Gratia, and I have been working in the toilet paper factory for ten years. We work as a team to produce the toilet rolls, and I feel good about that. Before coming to work in the factory, I attended a center for learning skills to see what I might do in the future. One of the things I like about this place is that every Friday evening members
from a theater group come to help us prepare a play, which we present in the city cultural center in October. I like acting and have had major parts in a few of our plays. Also, with four other workers, I participate in a weekly scripture study session, which lasts one hour. We learn as we fill in the drawings that the team from the diocesan center brings along with them. We also go to the Emmaus Center for cooking lessons, and there is a yoga program here in which eleven of us from the factory participate. CM Columban Fr. Noel O’Neill lives and works in South Korea where he established Emmaus Industries.
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My Days Are Over Gratitude for an Interesting Life By Fr. Leo Donnelly
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y days are over, but not quite finished. Before they are, I would like to thank all Columban benefactors. I have known an interesting life, and it is thanks to you generous people. As Columbans we are well aware that your support hasn´t been out of investment profits etc., but mostly out of salaries and pensions, which makes it all the more remarkable. In Lima this year we are celebrating 60 years of Columban presence. Every day of those 60 years speaks of you good people. Almost 200 priests, Columbans and diocesan volunteer associates have spent at least six years of their lives here with us. Over one third of this number have been diocesan volunteer associates. Together we have established, nurtured, developed and then handed over to the three dioceses some twenty parishes. Each of these implies presbyteries, churches, halls and schools and medical posts in some, and also includes other projects in a few. We are presently manning five parishes in Lima and three in the Andes. All of this in the poorest of poor areas, which just adds emphasis to the extent of what your support has meant. On top of all www.columban.org
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of this you are looking at our own maintenance, mobility, health care and thousands upon thousands of dollars in social welfare to the more needy. You rightly deserve to take a bow. I know of scores of working class people and pensioners, the everyday ordinary people who have made all of this possible. The parallel that comes to mind is the “widow’s mite,” and just today as I
“I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brother of mine, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40) write I was told of a lady with three adopted children, all three with health problems, who has sent one of our men $50 for his project with invalided adults. We are all conscious of our presence on mission being facilitated by the people who support us. Our relatives, our friends, our fellow Catholics acting
through their support are really lay missionaries. My own father was more than a bit anti-clerical and once, in anger, said to me, “Son, it is just as well you are going to be a priest, because boy, if you had to earn your bread by the sweat of your brow, you´d (bloody ) starve to death.” That my fellow Columbans, me and the people we serve haven´t starved, but thrived, is thanks to you as our partners in mission. “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brother of mine, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40) Our presence on mission is your presence. I can only say many thanks and blessings upon you and yours, as we have been blessed by your presence. We have had fascinating lives as missionaries and boast perhaps of “some miserable moments, but never a dull one.” I know that I am not writing simply as “Mrs. D´s little boy, Leo,” but also in the name of all of those men and women with whom I have shared my life as a pastoral priest. Sincerely then, may Abba bless you profoundly. CM Columban Fr. Leo Donnelly lives and works in Lima, Peru.
May 2013
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Navigating Difficulties A woman raises her three children without the support of their father in a Lima shanty town By Rosa Blanco Rosa and family in front of her house
It was 1987. I had three children, Patricia (born 1974), Enrique (born 1979) and JosĂŠ (born 1986). I had separated from my husband and had been living with my parents who were very good to me. However, my mother kept interfering with my children as if she were responsible for bringing them up. I really had no choice but to move out. I joined an invasion and built a temporary house. I made a little money by taking in washing, but there were days when I wondered whether there would be anything to eat the following day. At that time I first met Fr. Martin Collum. Our barrio leader had invited him to one of our regular meetings, at which we needed to resolve an issue among ourselves. A number of us were in disagreement with our elected leader over a certain internal matter. He hoped to calm the waters with the mediating presence of Fr. Martin. I spoke up and 20
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suggested to Fr. Martin that he go home and leave us to work out our own problems. I can still picture him sitting on a rock with his head in his hands looking at the ground. He had thought he was coming to help but did not realize that he was being used by our leader. Not long after that, in 1991, the newly elected president of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, introduced drastic economic measures that overnight moved thousands of families from a state of poverty to one of misery. All over Peru we organized communal kitchens. I became the president of our local kitchen. To help us gain access to emergency food relief, Fr. Martin invited the leaders of 75 such organizations, within the jurisdiction of our parish, to a meeting. Fr. Martin and I became firm friends, and he also became godfather of one of my children. From the leaders of the 75 kitchens we elected a commission
of fifteen people, and I was one of those elected. I began to work closely with Fr. Martin in the coordination of the work of the communal kitchens. We had a monthly meeting in the parish, and we also had to check to make sure that each communal kitchen was getting the food aid to which they were entitled. Also, we ensured that the most desperate cases were taken into account. On one occasion Fr. Martin asked me to go to a meeting of an NGO that was helping us with the practical application of a new law that allows mothers to inscribe their children in the register of births with the father’s surname even if he is not present. She was required to go with two witnesses who would sign to support her claim. I was not sure what I was going to do at such a meeting, and I turned up in my scruffy clothes and broken shoes. The rest of those attending seemed to be well dressed professional people. I was WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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Rosa in her house in 1995
and Kiara
ica
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“I began to feel freer as I realized that I was no longer wondering whether my children and I would have something to eat the following day.�
so nervous; I did not know what I was going to say. I waited until everyone else had spoken. All I could think of was the case of the woman I had accompanied to the municipal office to register her young boy. The functionary was being awkward and even told her she would have to get a blood test as he needed proof the child was hers. That really made me angry; this poor woman was having enough trouble just facing up to the daily grind of her life and here was this cheeky office worker insulting her by implying that her child probably was not even hers. I got mad and went for him. Whatever I said he did not make any more trouble for the woman. When I finished speaking about this at the meeting everyone applauded; I was so surprised. That was the first time I spoke in public. Some years later, that same small boy, now a man, greeted me in the street but I did not know who he was. He remembered that WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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I had spoken up for him and his mother. In 1994, when Fr. Martin was leaving the parish, he introduced me to Fr. Ned Crosby, a Columban associate priest originally from Galway, Ireland, with whom I continued to work. When he was leaving the parish he did his best to ensure that I not be left without a job, and he recommended me to the Diocesan Social Outreach program. That was when my life changed, as I had a small income to help pay for my children’s education, food and clothing. I was also able to gradually improve my house. I began to feel freer as I realized that I was no longer wondering whether my children and I would have something to eat the following day. I had the opportunity to begin to look at myself. In the course of my work in the social outreach program I found that I was able to be myself; I met many dedicated people.
Rosa
All this helped me value who I am, my own way of being. I began to learn reflexology the same year I joined the social outreach team. That also helped me move on. I have done training courses and found I was a good therapist so have continued to work in the field. I have enough work and know that patients have learned to value my work. All this affirmation has helped me move on, so now, at 62 years of age, I continue to feel quite enthusiastic about my life. Years ago, when things were really hard for me, I could have taken on a way of life that I would later regret, but I did not go down that track despite the insecurity and poverty of my life at that time. My own determination and my faith in God helped me overcome the difficulties I had to navigate. CM CM Columbans have been living and working in Peru since 1951.
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Secure the Future of Mission… in Places like Peru Become a Columban Mission Sponsor
F
rom the undeveloped urban barrios of Lima to parishes high in the Andes, Columban missionaries have been engaged in pastoral ministry (or simply “serving”) to the people of Peru for nearly 60 years. When you become a Columban Mission Sponsor, you help support the work of Columban priests, Sisters and lay missionaries, and you secure the future of mission well into the future. There are two ways to become a Mission Sponsor. Choose the method that’s right for you!
Make Your Gift Online Put your gift to work even faster, save time, paper and postage by signing up at: www.columban.org/sponsor.
Contact Us To receive a monthly reminder by mail or to speak to someone about becoming a Columban Mission Sponsor, call us toll free at 1-877-299-1920, 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m. CST, Monday through Friday. The Columban Fathers P.O. Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056 1-877-299-1920 plannedgiving@columban.org 22
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A Creative Event My father was a hard working farmer who had a keen sense of duty to support our family of eleven. Rain or shine he labored long days in the fields and the farmyard and found great satisfaction in physical work. However, once inside the door of our home, he relinquished all responsibility to my mother, who took care of the cooking, cleaning and laundry. This rhythm of life seemed natural to my father as he grew up as an only son, with four sisters older than him and four more that were younger than him. My father was fortunate to have a strong, healthy constitution which allowed him to engage in manual work until he reached his mid-seventies. By then, my siblings and I had grown up and left home, and so he and my mother were alone together. Around that time he underwent minor surgery and was advised not to undertake physical labor for a month afterwards. That must have felt like the longest month in my father’s
FROM THE DIRECTOR By Fr. Tim Mulroy entire life! Being idle made him restless, and he felt frustrated at not being able to attend to farm tasks. Perhaps, out of sheer boredom, he began to assist inside the home. To my mother’s great surprise, he began setting the table for meals, washing the dishes afterwards, and cleaning the kitchen. Furthermore, when his period of convalescence was over, he continued doing a share of the housework. Later that year when I went home on vacation I was amazed to find that my father had become domesticated. When I commented on it to him, he remarked that there was nobody more surprised than himself! He admitted that he had always
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Changing his role in the home at the age of seventyfive gave my father a fresh perspective on what table fellowship entailed. considered housework to be light and easy in comparison to physical work in the fields. Besides, the kitchen had always seemed to him a much more pleasant and predictable environment than the outdoors, where one had to negotiate with the changing seasons. He readily acknowledged that learning to do housework had greatly changed his perspective on my mother’s contribution to family life. While he had always acknowledged her dedication, he had now come to a deeper appreciation of the challenges she had faced in maintaining the family home. “Even though there are just the two of us here, I can’t believe so much work goes into a meal. What must it have been like for your mother to continuously feed eleven of us!” he pondered. Changing his role in the home at the age of seventy-five gave my father a fresh perspective on what table fellowship entailed. It was no longer something that happened automatically, but rather a creative event that had to be imagined in advance, planned beforehand, adapted to changing circumstances and numbers, implemented in conjunction with other chores, and made to appear to those who gathered that it was not just an effortless, but even an enjoyable undertaking.
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Columban Fathers PO Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056
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Invest in the Future– Include the Columban Fathers in Your Estate Plan
An Invitation Calls for a Response We are but clay, formed and fashioned by the hand of God.
A planned gift can bring real economic savings to you and your family while providing opportunities for future generations. A planned gift to the Columban Fathers could help to: • Eliminate or reduce income tax payments on your retirement fund. • Increase charitable tax deductions. • Continue the generosity you have shown throughout your life. There are many opportunities available that will help you to partner with the Columban Fathers, leaving a legacy today and helping someone else tomorrow. To personally discuss the planned giving opportunities available, please contact: Fr. Michael Dodd Columban Fathers P.O. Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056 877/299-1920 plannedgiving@columban.org www.columban.org
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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… 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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