The Magazine of the Missionary Society of St. Columban
November 2013
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Humble Service In the foot washing scene at the Last Supper Jesus deliberately reverses roles by becoming the servant and in so doing He witnesses to a new way of relating where service, and not domination, is the mark of being a follower of Jesus. At first Peter resists having his feet washed, because if he complies it would mean accepting this radical reversal of the structure of domination and its accompanying roles. He is in a bind. If he doesn’t allow Jesus to wash his feet then he cannot be a disciple of Jesus. He truly wants to continue his life as a disciple and so allows Jesus to wash his feet. When Jesus finishes washing the feet of the disciples He tells them to do as He has done. If they wish to be disciples then humble service must pass into their lives and onto others. As disciples of Jesus in our world today this way of humble service has been passed onto us. During this year the universal church is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. We remember the call of the Vatican Council for the whole people of God, the community of all the baptized, to serve the coming of the reign of God, and we celebrate this call for everyone in the church to play their part as humble servants in the life of the church and the world. We all play a part in the way of humble service passed on to us from In So Many Words Jesus’ act of washing the feet of His disciples. By Fr. Kevin O’Neill Our service is for the common good which includes the well-being of both the individual and the human family, especially the poor and marginalized, the well being of the church as a community of faith, and the well being of Creation. The virtue of humility is the willingness to accept Our service is for the common good the gifts and talents that each of us has and then which includes the well-being of both humble service is the willingness to do what we can. Humble service allows us to accept that we can play the individual and the human family, our own part and others can play their part. We are especially the poor and marginalized, able to invite others to join us in our service as Jesus the well being of the church as a invited His disciples. Today, Columban mission celebrates the call of community of faith, and the well being the Second Vatican Council by inviting people from of Creation. different countries and cultures, men and women, to play their part in God’s mission through humble service as Columban priests, Sisters, lay missionaries, students, priest associates, co-workers, companions and affiliates and benefactors. Columban Fr. Kevin O’Neill is the Superior General of the Missionary Society of St. Columban. He lives and works in Hong Kong. www.columban.org
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Hospital Chaplaincy in Korea An Interview with Columban Fr. Jim Cahill By Fr. Barry Maguire
I came to Korea in 1963 along with six other Columban priests. We should have been the first class of Columbans to go to language school, but when we arrived in Korea we discovered that language class in Yonsei University had already started! So we had a teacher come to the Columban House every day to teach us. We suspected that the Regional Director of the time didn’t want us going to Yonsei University because it was a Protestant University. The teacher we had coming to us was excellent, but it meant that we were in the Columban House all day. We weren’t outside experiencing and learning about life in Korea for ourselves, rather we were learning about Korea through the eyes of the Columbans living in the Columban House. That wasn’t a good way to start our missionary lives in Korea. For example, when we first arrived here we were told to avoid Korean food. The older men had all experienced getting sick from eating in restaurants, so were wary of eating kimchi etc. But the first time I went out for a meal I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious Korean food was. My first parish appointment was to the island of Huk San Do out in the east China Sea, and then I went back to do some more language study, this time in Yonsei University. As an Irish Catholic priest I underwent something of a culture shock. As a language student I experienced Protestant teachers 4
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Fr. Jim Cahill
doing their best to help me be an effective missionary in Korea. They wanted this Catholic priest to be the best Korean language speaker I could be! This was a real eye-opener for me. Coming from Ireland in the 1960s I thought Protestants were the enemy! It helped me realize how flawed our thinking was at that time. After Yonsei I was sent to Jeju island. Jeju was terrific! Huk San Do was a great learning experience but living there all year round was tough. The only reason for sending a curate to Huk San Do was to keep the parish priest company. In contrast, in Jeju we were five priests living together. My apostolate was the student apostolate, and I loved working with them. The time came for me to be appointed parish priest, and I was looking forward to continuing in Jeju only to be told that I was
appointed to Huk San Do, again! This time there was a middle school there, built by a Columban, Fr. Sylvie Curran, which was a marvelous achievement as most Huk San Do people couldn’t afford to send their children to school on the mainland. The problem was getting teachers, especially female teachers. So I invited some young women from Sung Shim Womens University to help out. Like Peace Corps workers, a group of four women came and stayed for a year. It was difficult and challenging for them, but the following year another group came and the next year after that and so on. This time round on my visit to Seoul I met three of that first group, 43 years later we met once more! Great memories… When I was in Jeju I remember a couple of students who came to me, and we talked and talked, but I couldn’t find out exactly what the cause of their troubles was. After I left Jeju I heard that one of them had committed suicide. This raised the question in me – what was I lacking that I couldn’t help these people? I was a priest who couldn’t answer the needs of people who came looking for help – why? So I became interested in studying counseling. Our Regional Director sent me and fellow Columban Fr. Liam McCarron to study CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) in America. What is CPE? It was started by a Protestant minister who when he was younger became ill and was sent to a mental hospital. He made a full recovery but realized that www.columban.org
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during his time in the hospital all his minister friends who came to visit him didn’t have a clue about his needs as a patient and how he was suffering. They were good men, but they were terrible as pastors in a hospital situation. So he set up a program (CPE) that was to teach ministers about mental illness and train them in the experience of pastoral ministry by ministering to the sick. CPE started in mental hospitals but was then practiced in general hospitals too. However, Fr. Liam and I knew none of this when we first started. We didn’t know that the hospital we were staying in was a mental hospital. Our first morning there at breakfast we ate in the patient’s dining room in our black suits and Roman collars, and the woman beside us took all her clothes off and started rolling round on the floor! We weren’t prepared for this and indeed our supervisor at the end of the year said to us that he was stunned by how little we knew when we started. But being Columbans, we stayed until the www.columban.org
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end! One of the things we learned is that mental illness can be seen as a spiritual disease and so the path to mental health should include some form of spirituality. I returned to Korea and was asked to work in St. Mary’s Hospital in Seoul as there was a vacancy there. At that time, just like Ireland, hospital chaplaincy was seen as a place where only old priests or sick priests went to work. However, St. Mary’s Hospital had a medical school as well, so I very much enjoyed my time there working with both patients and medical students. After a couple of years some Seoul diocesan priests asked me if I would teach them counseling. My first reaction was, “Can I do this through Korean?” So I decided to do a short course program of CPE (10 weeks). It included visitation of patients, writing reports, group meetings and individual supervision. To my great relief the feedback was positive, and the fact that it was all done through Korean gave me great satisfaction.
Thus I felt a desire to become a full-time supervisor, and after further studies, I became a CPE Supervisor. And it’s great 40 years later to come back to Korea and meet the priests and Sisters who studied CPE in those early days. I left Korea, because I was invited by a hospital in Ireland to start a CPE program so I went there and ended up staying 25 years! I am now retired. I see that the rules for CPE in Korea and CPE in Ireland are the same. It’s all about the well-being of the patient. The key to being a good hospital chaplain is that the person wants to be there, they want to work in the hospital as a chaplain. Nothing can replace the experience of being with patients and listening to them. It’s not the kind of work you can force someone to do. CM Columban Fr. Barry Maguire interviewed Fr. Jim Cahill for this article. Fr. Maguire lives and works in Seoul, South Korea.
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Towards a Theology of Ancestral Spirits in Fiji Integrating Two Belief Systems
by Fr. Frank Hoare
An Impossible Demand
Kelemete was tired and hot as he stood on police guard at the roadside of the chiefly village of Veisesei as an important meeting of chiefs took place. He moved under the shade of a nearby breadfruit tree, gathered some branches and leaves together and sat on them. Not long afterwards this was noticed by some of the villagers who were serving yaqona to their chief and guests. The breadfruit tree is one of the totems of the people of Veisesei, and they were upset to see Kelemete showing disrespect for their totem by sitting 6
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on it. “Ore” they cried, meaning “you must be punished.” One of the villagers filled a large basin holding more than a liter of yaqona and, followed by five others each with a similarly filled basin of yaqona, approached Kelemete and demanded that he drink the murky brown liquid.
Calling on the Vu
Kelemete was distraught. In vain he pleaded that he meant no disrespect, that he had not realized that the breadfruit was a village totem, that it would be impossible to drink all the yaqona. No quarter
was given. He must drink the six basins. Kelemete looked out at the sea which glittered like glass in the mid-day heat of a cloudless sky. He remembered his own village on a smaller island to the west and thought of his ancestral spirit, Tui Naikasi, the turtle god. As he stared at the haze above the sea he remembers saying silently, “Grandfather (the respectful term for ancestral spirit), I need your help now.” With that he took the proffered basin of yaqona and drank it down in one gulp. He did the same with the five other basins of yaqona www.columban.org
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one after the other and then in a kind of a trance he demanded that the large tanoa of yaqona from which the guests were drinking be brought to him. Now it was the turn for the locals to be worried, and the Veisesei chief called out to Kelemete and asked him where he was from. “Nacamaki village, sir,” he answered. “No wonder,” said the chief, “I request that the yaqona you have drunk be sufficient.” Kelemete then came out of his trance, stood up and continued his police watch.
A Dual System of Religion
Some years later, Kelemete studied at the Catechist Center and became a very good, zealous catechist in his village. When he told me the story of what happened at Veisesei I asked him how he explained his experience that day in the context of his Christian faith. “I don’t know,” he answered, “I try not to think about it.” Many, probably most, Fijians live a dual system of religion. They are Christian, value the Bible, worship on Sundays and hope for salvation because of the death and resurrection of Christ. But they also believe in the traditional pre-Christian spirits, foremost of which is their ancestral spirit, who constitutes so much of their connection to place and clan, to their identity as Fijians. Where Christianity does not address the difficulties and crises of everyday, Fijians turn to their traditional beliefs. Since most, like Kelemete, find it hard to harmonize or integrate the two systems of belief they remain side by side in their consciousness. www.columban.org
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A Strengthening Spirit
Fr. Leone Raselala was a senior Fijian diocesan priest. The ancestral spirit of his clan has the characteristic of turning his back when present. Fr. Leone recounted that as a child eating a meal with his family he would sometimes unconsciously turn his back to the others who would then signal to each other that “Grandfather” was present. In subsequent years, he noticed his niece doing the same thing. Before ordination, when Fr. Leone was studying in a seminary in New Zealand he lay on his bed one
“Maybe the time will come when we Fijians won’t need our beliefs in ancestral spirits. But for now I think of them as guardian angels, messengers of God to help us in our need.” ~ Fr. Leone Raselala
afternoon in a drowsy state, though not asleep. He saw the door open and a seated figure come backwards into the room. After a short while it left in the same way. Fr. Leone recognized that this could be explained in psychological terms as fantasy or projection in an altered state of consciousness springing from the loneliness of being in a foreign country. However he felt more at home with accepting that his ancestral spirit became
present to him in a comforting and protecting way. That sort of experience happened to him on a couple of other occasions.
Integration of Christian Faith and Spirit Experiences
I asked Fr. Leone how he, as a Christian and a priest, understands the ancestral spirit. He answered me by sharing with me his father’s answer when he asked the same question. His father, who was a village catechist, put it this way. “Maybe the time will come when we Fijians won’t need our beliefs in ancestral spirits. But for now I think of them as guardian angels, messengers of God to help us in our need.” This is an example of a dynamic equivalence substitution, a process which results in a translation model of local theology. The connotations of guardian angel in Western theology and of ancestral spirit in Fijian culture would need to be further examined to see if they formed an adequate mutual translation. However it is interesting to see here the beginnings of a process of Christian theologizing in local cultural categories. Hopefully this kind of reflection will continue and develop in Fiji so that Fijian culture and Christian faith can enrich each other. CM Columban Fr. Frank Hoare lives and works in Fiji.
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A Story, a Sermon and a Song The Lesson of Partnership By Fr. Frank Hoare
The Professor
He got out of the car and stood on the curb. His wife linked her arm in his, and they walked towards the steps. A brief pause, then they climbed the seven steps together. Another brief pause. They moved forward together. Ahead the path took a 90 degree turn to the left. Reaching the bend she drew his arm ever so slightly towards her. Together they wheeled left and continued on. Reaching the steps leading up to the presbytery verandah she gave a slight downward tug followed by the lightest lift of his elbow. Both climbed together the two concrete steps on to the wooden verandah. Again, a slight pressure of her hand on his arm. They turned to the right and walked to where I awaited them. Then, it dawned on me. My guest, Professor Moag, distinguished linguist and expert on Hindi language, was blind. As I guided them into the sitting room and prepared coffee for them I reflected on the exquisite delicacy of their partnership. She did not command or even speak. He was completely attentive to her touch. Neither one hurried. Everything was done together, almost as one. He was making himself available. She was his essential guide. I have forgotten now what information I received from the professor that evening, but the lesson of his partnership with his wife remains.
Pentecost
A few years later I found myself in a remote Fijian village, 8
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not yet accessible by road. It was Pentecost, feast of the Holy Spirit, birthday of the Church. Such a rich treasure house of images from which to draw for a homily! Images of tongues of fire, a mighty wind, many languages, the startling proclamation of a murdered prophet alive again. Conscious of being a failed charismatic myself, without experience of the gift of tongues or prophecy, I struggled with how to explain to the villagers the influence of the Holy Spirit on our lives. Then I remembered the professor and his wife.
I recounted the story. We Christians are the professor. We have an invitation, a request for our service but are blind to the way. Many obstacles lie before us. We fear falling. It seems safer to stay where we are, to do nothing. But the appeal is persistent. And we have a partner to guide us. The Spirit won’t command or demand, won’t embarrass or force us. Her touch is gentle and light. We must give our complete attention, knowing that without her direction we will not reach our destination. Walking together as one, our partnership with the Spirit
is fruitful. It leads us where we should go, to do what we are invited to do.
Postscript
Eighteen years later, I made a return visit to this village. Chatting with Waisea, the catechist, I was startled when he reminded me of my Pentecost homily so many years previously. How did he remember it? It seems that he and his wife, Ana, were struck by the image of the Spirit as the gentle partner of an attentive disciple. Ana wrote a poem in the Fijian language and Waisea put music to it. And so, a new song was born. They have sung this hymn regularly since then at their charismatic prayer meetings. They continue to derive consolation and strength from the image, lovingly communicated. I asked to hear the song, and they kindly obliged. A rough translation of two of the Fijian verses would be: Come walk beside me, Holy Spirit of the Lord. The way is dark and I have gone astray. My sight is blind; I pray you, day by day Come to my help, have mercy on me, Lord. I felt a ray of light come pierce the gloom of night, A strong and loving arm to guide me on my way. The Spirit, source of love, is calling gently as I sway, Fear not, I am the way, the truth and only Lord of life. Many signs of the mystery of life flit around us, if we only have the sensitivity to notice and the feeling to be captured by them. CM Columban Fr. Frank Hoare lives and works in Fiji.
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Maybe God Speaks Good Chinese… Witnessing to God’s Love By Columban lay missionary She Capili
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hen the Taiwan Mission Unit (TMU) welcomed our group in June 2011, part of our three-year commitment as Columban lay missionaries was to be in a oneyear fulltime language apostolate as part of our preparation for ministry. Even now, I am still in awe regarding how I was able to enjoy my Mandarin learning and survived the challenges that go with it. Now I feel less nervous in conversations. I feel more courageous in speaking and less afraid of making mistakes. As I am about to complete six months of being involved part-time in the migrant ministry, our God of surprises continues to shape my heart for the upcoming months when I would be starting to work fulltime. Each day, I discover more about my gifts as well as my weaknesses. Being away from my family and friends as well as leaving behind the kind of lifestyle I was used to in the Philippines entailed a lot of coping to be able to adjust in this new life God leads me to. Now that I am beginning to realize this big shift in my missionary journey, I feel how God moves me from being just self-centered towards being other-centered. When I was having my exposure to some of the ministries where the Columbans are present, I never imagined that I would find myself looking after the needs of the survivors of human trafficking living in our Hsinchu Catholic Diocese Migrants and Immigrants www.columban.org
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She Capili and shelter residents
Service Center (HMISC) female shelter. I thought I would be working with the indigenous people in the mountains. We were told that it is necessary that you know how to ride a motorbike if you want to work in the mountains. After some attempts of learning how to drive a motorbike, I never had the courage to move it even just a few meters forward. I did not get what I wished for, but clearly God sends me where He wants me to be. I remember what one of our Columban priests would say, that “it is not our mission, it is God’s mission.” Living with the ladies in the shelter, finding meaning and inspiration in visiting fellow Filipinos detained at the local detention center, and having
joy in assisting our English teachervolunteer for our English class program with the female detainees from Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines are God’s greatest blessings for me on my fresh start in mission. At first, living together with around 20 Indonesians, a few Filipinos, and a Vietnamese woman was overwhelming for me. We come from different countries, have different religious beliefs and practices, have different personalities, life experiences, challenges, and we speak various languages. It took me several weeks to be able to finally remember their names and their faces. It would be the same challenge whenever a new group of women would November 2013
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Assisting migrant workers
Celebration!
arrive. There was even a time when I’ve mistakenly thought a fellow Filipina to be an Indonesian. I remember feeling awkward and strange during my first few weeks. I felt uncertain with how I should relate with them. I am grateful for the guidance given to me by Sr. Joyce Arevalo, OSA, who used to supervise the female shelter. It is also a big relief that Columban Fr. Peter O’Neill is working in partnership with me in the migrant ministry. Aside from being the diocese’s chaplain for migrants, immigrants and their families, Fr. Peter serves as the HMISC director. He is my pastoral advisor, and he also shares with me some of the ways he supervises our HMISC male shelter. Presently there are 37 survivors of human trafficking living in our male shelter. I was a bit nervous about how to relate with some ladies with very strong personalities. I have experienced getting reactions during the first time I tried organizing their schedule for the household chores. I found out and realized that I was introducing a new and different way compared to 10
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what they have been used to. That was among the many other things that I have learned. It is important to first observe, build relationship and trust among the group before slowly suggesting some ways which I think would be helpful in getting things organized for harmonious living in the shelter. Our common language is not English but Chinese. Most of the women speak very good Chinese, because they have worked as caregivers for years living in the homes of their Taiwanese employers. I try hard to stretch the little Chinese that I know whenever I try to ask how they are, whenever I call their attention to some shelter policies, and every time I conduct regular meetings with them. They are very patient with my limited Chinese, but at times I feel sorry and frustrated for them too. There was one time a woman approached me and expressed her anger towards another woman. She was speaking so fast, and I was just looking at her, waiting for her to finish. Maybe she knew that I didn’t understand everything that she said with so much energy and
feeling. I just gave her a pat on her shoulder. She took a deep breath and said thanks for listening. When I share my challenges with my companions, they would always say that sometimes words are not important…that one’s presence is enough. We have many funny moments in trying to understand one another. I remember I wanted to express how irritated I was with some not so good habits of some of the residents. I was trying to formulate the sentence in my mind, and because it took me some time to get my Chinese organized, my anger was already gone by the time I was ready to say it out loud. My friends would tell me, that perhaps God was teaching me not to say things which I would regret in the future, that God holds back my Chinese tongue so I can take things slowly and be mindful of the things I say or do. Listening to the sentiments of 28 different personalities is not simple. At times when I don’t know what to say and do, I would find myself casually asking God, “what shall we do about this?” Despite the challenges I’m experiencing now, I www.columban.org
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feel joyful and fulfilled journeying with them. I am thankful for the gift of time when I get to sit down and have meals with them, watch television together, go out for a walk at a nearby park, and listen to their stories of struggling, surviving, and living forward. They teach me life lessons. I feel sad whenever somebody’s time to go home has come, but there is even more sincere and deep happiness to realize that their going home means freedom for them and another chance to have a better life. For a few months, I had the opportunity to go with our Filipino social worker to the foreign detention center in Hsinchu City. Every Tuesday morning, we visit the undocumented Filipino migrant workers detained at the center, follow up on their cases and assist them whenever possible, and listen to their concerns. All of them came to Taiwan as documented migrant workers and for various reasons left their legal employment and became undocumented workers. Some of them were caught by the immigration officers in common places such as the train stations and public markets, while others chose to leave their illegal employers and surrender voluntarily to the immigration police. I have met both young and old Filipino migrant workers. I have heard stories which I thought could only be seen in the movies. I have shared with them both tears and laughter. I have been inspired and moved by their faith and hope that soon they would be able to go back home and try other means of providing for their families. I have also witnessed how they can be Jesus to one another in going through this difficult moment in their lives.
A detention cell has around 40-50 detainees of different nationalities. There is an overwhelming number of Indonesians and Vietnamese. One time, I was able to go inside one of the cells. They share a common bathroom and a couple of doubledeck beds. They have a fixed wakeup call and clearly specified time for taking a bath, brushing their teeth, taking an afternoon nap, eating their meals, etc. They each have five minutes every day to take outside calls. They need to observe the rules or else they would be reprimanded and even have their stay inside be extended. Aside from the visits to the Filipinos, I also have the opportunity to meet the Indonesians and Vietnamese in a two-hour English class every Thursday morning. Every week, an average of 20 women attends the class facilitated by our Canadian teacher-volunteer, Laurence Dean. We are grateful to him and to his wife and children for allowing him to share with us a precious time that could have been spent with his family or at possibly earning additional income from his work as a professional. I assist him in guiding the women to read some books and to practice their conversation skills, and here my Chinese would again be stretched to its limits because the only way to explain to them what a particular English word or sentence means is by translating it into Chinese. When I run out of my Mandarin, we would all just result to making facial expressions or acting it out to be able to understand one another and share a good laugh. I am not an English teacher at all, but I hope that more than correcting someone’s spelling or
grammar or pronunciation, being with them for at least two hours in a week makes a difference. When we have more relaxed time in class, I also get to know the women and listen to their concerns. I would always hear from the women how boring and depressing it is to stay inside their cells, how they miss their children and how they worry about their families’ financial needs. We end each class by singing a few English songs they like. As I look at their faces when I sing with them, I would always see signs of hope in their eyes and their smiles. Most of them are Muslims, but I never felt I was different from them. We would talk about praying and never stop hoping that soon they would go home. When the class ends, I would always tell them how I desire not to see them again the following week, because that means they have already gone back home. It always amazes me when I’m able to go through the day surviving the different challenges, most especially in dealing with the language. I believe God speaks a very good Chinese through the people I encounter each day because despite not getting fully what they mean, at the end we are still able to understand and relate with one another with love and respect. I look forward to the coming months of more witnessing how God’s love is present and I am excited to share my own experiences of this love to others. CM Originally from the Philippines, Columban lay missionary She Capili lives and works in Taiwan.
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Health Care Costs A Small Stone in an Even Smaller Bile Duct By Fr. Warren Kinne
In the summer I had a bout of what I thought must be food poisoning. It left me with my head down the great white bowl having the proverbial technicolor yawn. The next day I felt poorly and so went the day after that as well. I didn’t eat much but after a few days started to feel a bit better. That evening I had a moderate meal and while I didn’t vomit again, I was in a fair amount of discomfort. The next morning I decided to bite the bullet to go to the Western Clinic. I went there so that I could at the least understand perfectly what the problem was with a minimum of fuss. I had rather hoped for a few pills and some assurance that all would be well in a day or so. It was an eventful day with blood tests and a hand held scan at the first place to a back-up trip to their clinic. There I was given a CAT scan that confirmed a stone in the bile duct. As this clinic could have removed the gall bladder at the cost of $26,000 plus $650 a night stay, I was fortunate that they didn’t have an endoscope. I went about finding a Chinese hospital that was prepared to “take me in.” I was transported by ambulance —which was a bit melodramatic as I was quite capable of walking—to the hospital “Number One People’s Hospital, Shanghai.” 12
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There I was admitted after paying my deposit of $1,627. That day I had already used plastic to pay about $1,000 for the first doctor’s surgery (Western style) and then about $1,500 to the second attached to them where I had the CAT scan. The next day I had what someone later told me was an unnecessary MRI scan. Then I was subjected to a rather painless procedure called
steaks. The suitable diet for people who are gall stone sufferers is a worry. As an aside, I had already lost about eleven pounds in the previous couple of weeks on a diet and exercise regime. Now I see online that rapid weight loss can be a cause of gallstone issues! Oh, and The Number One People’s Hospital cost over $7,000. And incidentally, it is not really
When we are sick we are inclined to do almost anything in order to get well again…For the very poor and marginalized, this can be a situation that results in catastrophe. endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancheatography. During that brief enough time the stone was removed and a tube plugged into the bile duct. The other end came out through my nostril. I stayed at the hospital for five days and was then released. I lost about eleven pounds on the starvation diet they subjected me to with no food nor drink, and then some rice water for a couple of days. It is good to be back home, although I am not yet on healthy
“number one,” just probably the first one set-up by the Peoples Republic from a former Catholic Hospital run by French Religious Sisters. All in all the experience cost around $10,000. While in the hospital I had scores of outside visitors. Actually, I enjoyed seeing them as I wasn’t too sick following the surgery. People were very kind. This stint in the hospital for a minor ailment taught me how frightening it is to see the way that www.columban.org
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the bills rattled up. Most ex-pats have fairly comprehensive health insurance or can afford to pay for their treatment. I too have my back-up support to pay the bills. But it made me think of the millions of people in the city who do not have the ability to pay for adequate health care in time of emergency. When we are sick we are inclined to do almost anything in order to get well again. We are prepared to go to almost any length to seek a remedy. For the very poor and marginalized, this can be a situation that results in catastrophe. Perhaps their child is sick, or the mother or the breadwinner—and yet the family is already in deep debt to their own poor relatives and friends for previous problems. Yet the health issue goes on, and there is nowhere to turn. We consider adequate health care as a right, yet every country to a greater or a lesser extent, finds it hard to meet the expectations of their people. My own sense is that sometimes sophisticated diagnostic equipment is used when not necessary to augment a bill. And there are other dishonest practices in the system for driving the bills upwards such as doubtful medication at inflated www.columban.org
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Fr. Warren Kinne is visited by young friends during his hospital stay.
prices. Health in much of our world has become very much a business. The tasks facing the Chinese Health Delivery Services are enormous because of the population and also the disparity between services in rural areas and in the big cities. Those who are without residential permits in places like Shanghai often have no medical cover at all. Even Shanghai residents, especially those outside the public sector, are minimally
covered for surgical procedures or serious conditions. Most residents pay greatly out-of-pocket for operations, medicines and cancer treatment for example. My compassion especially goes out to those less fortunate such as many of the migrant families we work with who cannot adequately meet their health cost needs. CM Columban Fr. Warren Kinne lives and works in China.
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One Call, Three Vocations Responding Faithfully and Joyously By Rowena D. Cuanico
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hen Joan Yap told me that her mission sending Mass as a Columban lay missionary would be celebrated together with the ordination to the priesthood of Rev. Rex Rocamora and the ordination to the diaconate of seminarian Iroderick Resma, I was really surprised. My initial reaction was fast. My reaction was a request, more of a pleading really. I immediately pleaded with Joan to please ask the Bishop to reconsider the decision! My pleading was founded on my concern and worry that the significance of Joan’s commissioning rite would be diminished because the ordination would naturally take prominence. Joan then explained to me that this decision was reached after Bishop Julius Tonel of the Diocese of Ipil met her, Rev. Rocamora and seminarian Resma. I asked Joan if everyone had agreed to have a three-in-one affair. Joan told me that both had agreed to have the three celebrations in one occasion. Then Joan assured me that Bishop Tonel is a liturgist, and he would be able to prepare a liturgy that would capture the significance of the three occasions. Joan used to work with the Diocese of Ipil and with Bishop Tonel. She could vouch for Bishop Tonel’s gifts. Despite Joan’s assurances and my effort to put my trust in the wisdom 14
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of Bishop Tonel, I still had some reservations about having a threein-one Eucharistic celebration. Despite saying yes to the plan, my mind was even wondering about the flow and length of the whole celebration. After the initial shock, I tried to reflect on the whole idea of having a three-in-one affair. I was simply struck by the openness and bigheartedness of Rev. Rocamora and seminarian Resma. They allowed Joan to share maybe the most important moment in their lives. They were generous to let Joan share the stage that they could have claimed for themselves. When I formally informed the Columban Lay Mission Leadership Team and the regional leadership that Joan’s mission sending Mass would be a three-in-one affair, they were also surprised. But they took it very calmly. This was going to be the first, and maybe the only one of its kind. This was going to be a unique occasion of being able to highlight the different vocations in the Church. We assured ourselves that we should not preempt the work of the Spirit. We were amazed at the openness and generosity of the three people, all called by the same God, who were willing to share the joy and excitement of the occasion among themselves. Joan was one of the three members of 20th group of
Columban lay missionaries from the Philippines who were being sent to Taiwan. Her companions are Sherryl Lou Capili from Silang, Cavite, and Reina Mosqueda from Los Banos, Laguna. When the invitation came out, it was a moment that, by itself, called for a celebration. It was an invitation from the Diocese of Ipil through Bishop Tonel and from the families of the three celebrants. As a Columban lay missionary I felt proud of the importance that the Diocese has placed on Joan’s missioning rite as a lay missionary. At the same time I felt humbled at the generosity of Rev. Rocamora and seminarian Resma. After reading the invitation several times over, I became more and more convinced that it was not simply an invitation. It was making a statement – of giving equal importance to the role that a priest, a deacon and a lay person play in the Church and in God’s scheme of things. It was making a statement on the uniqueness of each vocation and call - that of a priest, of a deacon and of a lay person and if I may add, of a woman. When Columban missionaries in Manila saw the invitation, they were all amazed. The invitation caused a stir and generated a lot of interest. They asked me whose idea was this and who made the decision. They were excited about www.columban.org
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how the liturgy would look like. Somebody even advised me to have a very good breakfast as it would certainly be a “long liturgy.” We Columban missionaries – priests, lay missionaries, former lay missionaries, lay mission candidates, co-workers and seminarians — all arrived in Ipil the day before the celebration. Fr. Jude Genovia was the official representative of the regional leadership. Joan ran us through the liturgy. It was so beautiful. I was so overwhelmed at how each one was given equal importance, without diminishing the other. The liturgy could certainly be described as a work of art and of the Spirit. We had dinner at Joan’s house the evening before the celebration. We were a very noisy group, enjoying the welcome and hospitality of Joan’s family and the food that was prepared for us. We came from different places - from Manila, Pagadian, Ozamis and Cagayan de Oro. Joan’s relatives from both her father’s and mother’s side came for the occasion. And we all came in solidarity to Joan’s family and her missionary vocation. Joan was the third Columban lay missionary from her family. Her two older sisters, Jennifer and Jasmine, were both lay missionaries. Jennifer and I were part of the ninth group from the Philippines, and together with four others, served in Fiji. Her other sister Jasmine was part of the twelfth group and served in Taiwan. Even if it could be said that the family is already used to this kind of celebration, there was a different sense of excitement and thrill of Joan’s missioning Mass. My trip to Ipil for Joan’s mission sending Mass was extra special for me. After eight years, I finally got the chance to be reunited www.columban.org
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Joan Yap missioning Mass
with Jenny. And I got to meet her husband and two kids for the first time. Her eldest, Andi, is my inaanak (godchild). And so the day finally came! With the vocations team of Mindanao and the Mission Awareness Ministry, we put up a Mission and Vocation Booth at the front door of the Cathedral. We distributed prayer cards, bookmarks, vocation flyers, and the Columban mission newsletter. We also distributed a one-page story of Joan’s missionary journey written by Joan herself. We felt that it was important for the people to come to know Joan and appreciate her response to God’s call. People then started to come. There were delegations from each parish. Members of religious congregations also came. The Cathedral was full. Father Jude and I were given final instructions by the Master of Ceremonies. We had to position ourselves near the Master of Ceremonies at a particular point of the Eucharistic celebration. This would ensure the quick and smooth flow of the liturgy.
Joan’s mom and I were part of the procession. I had to be quickly introduced to Bishop Tonel before the procession. Bishop Tonel was very warm in his welcome. He even knew that I had to miss the mission sending Mass of Joan’s companion, Reina Mosqueda. Reina had her Mass in Los Banos the day before but I wasn’t able to attend it, because I had to travel to Ipil. Columban Fathers Rex Rocamora and Cireneo Matulac who are both from the Diocese of Ipil as well as Fr. Jude who is also from Mindanao were all enjoying the company of the priests from the diocese. I felt mixed emotions during the procession as I was walking towards the altar with Joan and her mom. I remember Joan’s dad who passed away about seven years ago. I met Joan’s dad when Jennifer and our group were in the orientation program. He would have been walking down the aisle with Joan and Mrs. Yap. The choir was singing the gathering hymn so beautifully. I remembered with gratitude the people who were part of Joan’s journey from the vocation animator of the lay November 2013
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mission program in Mindanao, Zosima Mecasio, to the facilitators of various modules during their orientation program in Manila and immersion in Mindanao. And having accompanied Joan during the program, I felt extra grateful to the Lord for the moment. All these were overwhelming. And so the celebration finally began. Bishop Tonel acknowledged the three celebrants and paid tribute to the role that their families played in deepening their vocations. He expressed his gratitude to their generosity, faith and courage as they try to respond to God’s call. Bishop Tonel was able to creatively give equal importance to the uniqueness of each vocation. Joan’s missioning rite was the first of the three rites. My role was to vouch that Joan has successfully completed the requirements of the orientation program and found her suitable to be sent as a lay missionary to Taiwan. Fr. Jude then accepted Joan to the Columban missionaries and asked that the Church commissions Joan as a lay missionary for Taiwan. On behalf of the Church and of the local faith community, Bishop Tonel presented Joan with symbols – the candle, the Holy Bible and the Cross to mark and remind her of Christ’s mission which has become hers too. It was a very poignant moment. Seminarian Resma was then ordained to the Sacred Order of the Deaconate. Then Rev. Rocamora was ordained to the Sacred Order of the Priesthood. I have witnessed so many ordinations, but each one would always be distinct and special. There would always be something different in the flavor and texture of each ordination. We were seated with the family of seminarian Resma. I was struck by the simplicity of his family. I felt 16
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Celebrating the commissioning!
grateful for the generosity of their families, to share the gift of their sons for the work of the Church. As the Liturgy of the Saints was being sung, I felt overwhelmed by the amazing work of God in calling two young men and a woman, in all their joys and pains, in their hopes and in their fears, to love and be bearers of God’s love. And this is the same call and invitation that God made to all the saints whose intercessions that we, the faith community, were asking for these three celebrants. The three-in-one Eucharistic celebration was one poignant moment after another. During the Communion, Joan was invited to the altar by Bishop Tonel. She partook of the bread and of the wine at the altar together with now Father Rocamora and Deacon Resma. What a blessed moment. But it did not end there. During the final blessing, Joan was again invited to the altar. Bishop Tonel on behalf of the Church and of the local faith community gave Joan a special blessing as a lay missionary being sent by the Diocese of Ipil to share life and love with the people of Taiwan with the Columban missionaries. It was another beautiful moment.
When our Columban family gathered outside the Cathedral after the Eucharistic celebration, we were all in high spirits. We were all amazed and in awe at how beautiful the liturgy was. We couldn’t believe that such a three-in-one celebration could actually happen, each rite given equal prominence and significance and each vocation given special attention and interest. We were overwhelmed at how the liturgy flowed and moved from one part to another so smoothly. In the midst of all the laughter and the conversations, I whispered to Joan, yes Joan, I now believe that Bishop Tonel is truly a liturgist! We were again a noisy group during the reception at Marian College. When our presence was acknowledged, we all felt proud to stand up as Columban missionaries. And when Joan spoke to share her vocation story and say thank you, we were delighted at how Joan narrated her faith and missionary journey so beautifully with the congregation. In the evening during Joan’s thanksgiving Mass at their house, we were singing and dancing to our hearts’ content. For we have every reason to be thankful for the gifts of family and friends. We have every reason to rejoice at the generosity of God. We have every reason to be humbled by the amazing grace of faith and vocation. We have every reason to celebrate for who we are as a Church – one community, sharing many different gifts, but responding faithfully to one call, that is, to love. CM Rowena D. Cuanico was a Columban Lay Missionary from 2000 to 2011. She served in the Fiji Islands for nearly eight years. She was the Regional Lay Mission Coordinator of the Columban Lay Missionaries Philippine Region from 2008-2011.
www.columban.org
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Human and Spiritual Renewal Program Natioona Seminary, Beijing, China By Fr. Eamonn O’Brien
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hirty eight participants – 24 priests and sixteen Sisters – recently completed the second annual renewal program at the national seminary of China in Beijing. The focus of the program is Human and Spiritual Growth, and it is a seven week program. The China Formation Committee of the Missionary Society of St. Columban coordinates and staffs the program. The first year’s program was exclusively priests, but sixteen Sisters joined for the second program which made a qualitative difference to the whole process of the program. The primary task of the course is to provide an opportunity for its participants to gain a greater
understanding of the intra-personal or “human heart” factors in their own human and vocational growth and that of others. Program participants are introduced to theoretical and practical aspects of the growth and development of the human personality as they relate to vocation and Christian discipleship. Space and accompaniment is provided to reflect on some of the participant’s own intrapersonal, spiritual, vocational and psychological dynamics as they relate or hinder their formation and accompaniment role in parishes. The course facilitates the practice in listening, and in recognizing and handling growth and blocks in human maturity,
prayer and the spiritual life. Thus it can help participants in their own human, vocational and prayer journey in the cultural context of China today. It will also help them in their role of accompaniment of people in parish settings. The participants come from all over China and portray a vast array of pastoral work that gets rare mention in the media disputes between the Vatican and the government of China. The challenges being faced are huge, and I have the greatest admiration for the tenacity and commitment of these Sisters and priests. A participant in his early 40s who faced the challenge of a five day directed retreat as part of the program observed, “how much I have missed out on and been unaware of over the past fifteen years of priesthood, there was a hole there, but I never knew what it was, but now I have got a new direction and focus and really look forward to being the new me anchored on the Lord back to my parish.” CM Fr. Eamonn O’Brien lives and works in China and is the spiritual renewal program coordinator.
WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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Strength through Prayer Working with HIV/AIDS Patients in South Korea By Maria Rosa Vuniivi
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t’s been five years since I arrived here in Korea as a Columban lay missionary from the Philippines. After nine months of language study I started my missionary work with an AIDS community. I remember my first day in the community as a mixture of excitement and fear. I felt excited because it was my first time meeting people living with HIV, and I was curious to know how they cope after they learned that they are HIV positive. Fear because at the back of my mind I’m thinking I might get the HIV virus through them since we eat at the same table, use the same toilet, talk to each other and so on. But throughout the years my thinking and feelings changed, not only about them but also about life, about people, about myself and about my God. My experience of being a missionary involved in AIDS ministry helped me to grow as a woman who is called by God to be a part of His mission. And throughout my journey the prayer that helped me a lot and has a new personal meaning to me is the “Lord’s Prayer.”
Our Father, in Heaven, Holy be Your Name…
I grew up in an environment where most people were Catholics. But when I came to Korea most people have a different religion 18
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and also most of them have no idea what a lay missionary is. I remember there was a time I chose not to say that I’m a lay missionary not because I have a problem with it, but because I had a hard time trying to explain it. Not only did the Koreans have difficulties understanding the word “lay missionary” but so did most of the Filipino migrants that I met. The first thing that comes to their mind is that either I’m a nun or I’m a migrant worker that uses a missionary title in my visa! At first this kind of thinking made me sad; I felt that lay missionaries have no identity of their own, and it really
My experience of being a missionary involved in AIDS ministry helped me to grow as a woman who is called by God to be a part of His mission. frustrated me. When I began to ask myself about my frustration, I found deep in my heart I have this tendency to be attached to a title that can put me on a pedestal. This awareness helped me to always remind myself that every time I think of myself as a lay missionary it is through God’s grace and trust
that I became an instrument of His love and because of this it is He who is to be glorified. And whenever someone calls me “missionary” it is not me they recognize but the ONE who called me on mission.
Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven...
I remember during my first year in the community, I experienced confusion because I was doing the same chores cleaning, cooking, and attending to the needs of the patients every day. There was a time I asked myself: “what am I doing here? I’m a missionary, not a migrant worker, so why am I cleaning toilets?” Time goes by and nothing changes, I’m still cleaning toilets and doing household chores or doing the laundry. I asked myself again “what am I doing here?” Then I realized that’s where God helps me to grow. Some of the people living in the community that I accompanied have passed away. But some of them are still alive, living their lives to the best of their abilities. I remember when a HIV positive mother with a newly born baby stayed in the community there was a different dynamic. The presence of the baby gave more life to the community. We were so thankful when the www.columban.org
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baby’s test result was negative; it meant that he was HIV free. Then another woman with a baby joined the community, but this time the baby was HIV positive. I was so happy when the baby arrived. I didn’t felt sorry for him when I first heard that he’s HIV positive, because I could only see a beautiful healthy baby. But then when his mother started to give him medicine everyday he would struggle and cry a lot. It was then that I felt sorry for him, his tiny body was receiving a lot of strong medicine that he has to take for the rest of his life. I asked God “if you love your children so much why do you let this one have HIV?” God didn’t answer me back. But it reminds that I’m only a human being who is frustrated to know all the things that are hidden away from me; I have no control over things that happen to other people, and I have no idea of what God’s plan for them is either. Even though He hasn’t answered me back, because of all the past experiences I had in life, there is one truth I always keep in my heart: God never abandons His children.
Give us today our daily bread...
Every morning when I open my eyes, the first thought I always have is “I’m not dead!” Then I will say “thank you God I’m still alive” followed by the question “but why?” Then little by little I started to understand that in His grace I always wake up in the morning and receive so many gifts. I am able to witness the life of the patient in the community and see the hope in their eyes. I see the www.columban.org
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beautiful smile of our beautiful baby. I receive snack foods from the patients that are so willing to share. I receive help from the patients who have energy to participate in the household chores. I am given beautiful compliments from the patients who never get tired of
The presence of the baby gave more life to the community. We were so thankful when the baby’s test result was negative; it meant that he was HIV free. saying positive things about me. Then I consider the patients and how do they feel when they first wake up; I wonder how they react to knowing that they are alive for another day. I’m happy every time I see them in the community
gaining their health and energy. But sometimes I felt sorry for them because they need to always take their HIV medicine. Sometimes because of depression they just stay in their room sleeping or they hardly talk. I said to myself “they have a hard life but they still choose not to give up on life.” And every time I witness this it nurtures me and gives me new strength to face the new day that awaits me. Sometimes, seeing them in their lowest point made me feel so helpless because there is nothing I can do to ease their suffering. And it reminds me that all of us have hunger in our soul that cannot be satisfied. Yes, the community can provide them with a place to stay, food to ease their physical hunger, friendship that can make them feel welcome, but it is still not enough to ease the pain of their suffering. This helped me to acknowledge the importance of letting other people experience their own pain. It helps November 2013
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them discover in their own heart a hope that is continuously flowing from the strength of their own soul. This is the most important grace any person can receive.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us, do not bring us to the test but deliver us from evil…
A continual struggle for me was accepting gifts from the patients in the community. Not because I’m not comfortable with receiving, but because I’m thinking about the other patients who have no means to buy things. And also at the back of my mind I wonder if the patient expects something in return. When they really insist, I received their small offerings but there was always some hesitation on my part. However sometimes I said “no” and it resulted in misunderstandings. If they kept insisting I felt hurt and angry because I felt that they had crossed a line. But every time I felt like this I didn’t say anything. I just asked another person to be a mediator so that the patient will know what I felt, because I can’t say to their face that I’m angry. So I learned not only to forgive them for hurting my feelings but also forgive myself for not being brave enough to tell them personally. And I’m continually learning from it. I think forgiveness means having my principles and beliefs about life but also being willing to learn from others.
Amen.
Psalm 16:5.
2013 Jubilarians The Missionary Society of St. Columban extends their gratitude and good wishes to all Columbans celebrating ordination anniversaries in 2013. May the days ahead be filled with many blessings.
50th Jubilarians Fr. Michael Donnelly Fr. Francis Grady Fr. Otto Imholte
60th Jubilarians Fr. Daniel McGinn Fr. Alban Sueper
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Columban lay missionary Maria Rosa Vuniivi lives and works in South Korea.
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The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup.
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70th Jubilarian Fr. Bernard Toal
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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Dear Columban Friend, Many years ago when I was still on mission in South Korea working in the YCW Movement among young workers in the textile industry I presented a project to the Columban Fathers Regional Superior in Korea for a sizeable amount of financial aid to help remodel and expand the Workers’ Center where I resided with a group of young workers. Living was very basic there, and I thought it deserved an upgrade to make it a more habitable place both for the workers and for myself. For instance there was no running water in the two-story building – all water came from a cold water spigot located outside the back door. It leaked, and it also froze in winter. I recall being very upset and feeling quite disillusioned by the response from my superior to my budget submission – I was granted less than 30% of what I had thoughtfully budgeted for the project. With that amount of allocated funding there was really nothing of substance I could hope to accomplish. I repaired some of the lighting, fixed windows and doors and added another gas outlet to our common kitchen – that was about it. Fast forward several years and I found myself appointed as the Regional Superior of our Korea mission. Then I began to understand that funding for our missionary projects—laudable as they all were—does not grow on trees. It is not found under the proverbial mattress, and I have yet to discover the leprechaun with the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. But what I did surprisingly discover was that donations from our generous donors here in the U.S. were the principal source of income that sustained our missionary efforts, not just in Korea but in many other countries as well. I gained a new understanding of how mission is supported. Fast forward another few years, and I found myself at St. Columbans, Nebraska, engaging in the fundraising efforts that supply the many needs of our missionaries at the coalface. Interacting with you, our generous donors, has become a whole new piece of experiential learning for me. I have come to understand and admire the generosity of our many donors who have unflinchingly and, in many cases, with great sacrifice faithfully support our efforts to bring the Good News to the ends of the earth. Some donors have been with us for 40+ years. If partnership can be expressed in action then we have a profound example in our relationship with all of you. I have written to you, called you on the phone, emailed you and visited with you mostly to say thank you for your loyalty to our missionary efforts. I have become friends with many of you. Now with a heavy heart, but with gratitude to you for your trust and confidence in me and my brother and sister Columban missionaries and for your friendship, I am returning to Ireland to be closer to my aging and ailing siblings and also involve myself on a part time basis in the fundraising ministry of the Columbans over there. I’m aging, too – 77 on my next birthday. You will continue to be remembered in my masses and prayers; my location is irrelevant. Lastly may the road rise up to meet you and I as we continue our respective journeys in faith, hope and love of the God Who gives us life in abundance. Gratefully yours in Christ, Father Michael J. Dodd, Planned Giving Officer
Father Dodd Ordination Photo
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Father Dodd 2013
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Bonds of Love Remain Unbroken
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he celebration of Halloween stretches back into the mists of Celtic history, back to an era when November 1 was New Year’s Day. In those ancient days, Halloween was a farewell celebration of the year that was dying as well as an anticipatory festival of the year that was about to dawn. For the Celts, such revelry was an occasion for people to come together from mountaintop and valley, from places far and near, from this world and the next! Since they believed that the web of life encompassed not only this world and its peoples, but also the next world and its inhabitants, the joy of those on earth was enhanced by the attendance of loved ones from the otherworld in the celebration of this annual festival. It is no surprise, therefore, that when the Celtic people of Ireland became Christian around the fifth century, the belief in the “communion of saints” resonated deeply with their traditional conviction regarding the bond of love that exists between the living and the deceased. Over the succeeding centuries,
FROM THE DIRECTOR By Fr. Tim Mulroy through the lens of their Christian faith, they continued to cherish that bond during Halloween and Celtic New Year festivities until those celebrations came to be recognized as All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day in the universal Church. Today, in our Catholic tradition we remember in a special way all the deceased not only during those early days of November, but also throughout the entire month. We recall with gratitude the many ways in which we have been blessed by God through those who have gone on ahead of us to the next life; we renew our confidence in their ability to intercede
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Today, in our Catholic tradition we remember in a special way all the deceased not only during those early days of November, but also throughout the entire month. before God for us as we continue our pilgrim path on earth; and we pray that all of us will be led into full communion with one another and with God one day. St. Ambrose eloquently expresses our belief in the communion of the saints: “Those who have died in grace have gone no further from us than God, and God is very near.” Frequently, the death of a loved one can sharpen our awareness of this mysterious bond. Soon after the death of my father, one of my sisters and her three-year-old daughter returned to their car laden with bags after having completed the weekly shopping, only to realize that the key was nowhere to be found. In desperation, my sister paused and said to her daughter, “Let’s pray to St. Anthony.” To her surprise, her little daughter – who had been very fond of her recently deceased grandfather – responded immediately, “No, let’s ask granddad.” This small child realized in a mysterious way – not unlike the intuition of her ancient Celtic ancestors during their celebration of Halloween – that the precious bond of love between her and her granddad had not been broken by death, but rather that they remain united with one another in the communion of the saints.
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“Lord, you know everything, You know I love you…then feed my lambs.” — John 21:17 Perhaps you are someone whose love of God is leading you to want to serve His hungry people. We are waiting to listen to your story and answer your questions about mission life.
We invite you to join this new generation by becoming a Columban Father or Columban Sister.
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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