The Magazine of the Missionary Society of St. Columban
August/September 2016
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Volume 99 - Number 5 - August/September 2016
Columban Mission
o n t e n t s
Issue Theme – The Role of Laity
Published By The Columban Fathers
Columban Mission (Issn 0095-4438) is published eight times a year. A minimum donation of $10 a year is required to receive a subscription. Send address and other contact information changes by calling our toll-free number, by sending the information to our mailing address or by e-mailing us at MISSIONOFFICE@COLUMBAN.ORG. Mailing Address: Columban Mission PO Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056-0010
Summer in the City
12 The Welcome Sound of Good News
4 Voices of Columban Lay Missionaries
Reflections on Mission
6 Participating in God’s Mission
A Life-Changing and Fulfilling Experience
8 On Being Good News
Pakistani Lay Men, Women and Families on Mission
11 Learning Burmese Can Be Fun!
Something to Celebrate
14 Doctor Takashi Nagai
My Hero
16 Standing Up for What We Believe In
Cultural Mishaps in Myanmar
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Toll-Free Phone: 877/299-1920 Website: WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG Copyright © 2016, The Columban Fathers (Legal Title) PUBLISHER REV. TIMOTHY MULROY, SSC DIRECTORUSA@COLUMBAN.ORG EDITOR KATE KENNY KKENNY@COLUMBAN.ORG EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS MARCI ANDERSON MANDERSON@COLUMBAN.ORG RHONDA FIRNHABER RFIRNHABER@COLUMBAN.ORG GRAPHIC DESIGNER KRISTIN ASHLEY EDITORIAL BOARD DAN EMINGER KATE KENNY ERNIE MAY REV. TIMOTHY MULROY, SSC JEFF NORTON FR. RICHARD STEINHILBER, SSC SCOTT WRIGHT
17 A Spiritual Garden Watering Kachin Lands
St. Luke’s Catechists’ School, Myiktyina, Myanmar
Departments 3 In So Many Words 23 From the Director
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The Missionary Society of St. Columban was founded in 1918 to proclaim and witness to the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Society seeks to establish the Catholic Church where the Gospel has not been preached, help local churches evangelize their laity, promote dialogue with other faiths, and foster among all baptized people an awareness of their missionary responsibility.
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In So Many Words By Kim Balkovec
Rich and Varied Gifts of the Laity
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arlier this year, two Columban Fathers—an Irish farmer by way of decades of mission in Pakistan and an Iowa farmer by way of decades of mission in Korea—and I visited three Columban benefactors on their farm. I was just two months on the job in my lay
role as a member of the benefactor relations team when we went to visit the farm, but I knew it was a mission of gratitude that must take place. Merriam-Webster online defines laity as the people of a religion who are not priests, ministers, etc. Not being of the clergy, our work as lay persons is not always clearly delineated. Working with Columban missionary priests who have dedicated their lives to multifaceted work with justice and peace groups, differently abled people, abused women and children, tribal people, Muslim communities and organic farmers, I constantly seek to answer the open-ended question of how to best enrich mission. I believe my prayers help. I donate the vegetables and herbs I grow in the St. Columban Community Garden to those in our community who may experience food insecurity. I strive to meet as many benefactors as I can to express our gratitude for everything they do, and whenever possible, introduce them to the Columban missionaries in whose work they are partners. Gifts that may be brought to bear in the enhancement of mission are as rich and varied as the individuals comprised by the laity. Overlaying and coloring the capacities and talents of the laity are local culture and customs, geography, political climate, and economic or educational standing in society. As the world changes, the church changes and so does the role of the laity. Perhaps the only universal definition of the role of laity is that we do what we can. All Catholics have the opportunity to fulfill their Baptismal responsibility for sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. As laypersons we may deepen our commitments through prayer, personal sacrifices and gifts for the missions and for missionaries. We can reach out to others less blessed. We can share the Gospel with everyone. We can encourage others to consider their roles as partners in mission by virtue of their Baptism, and express our gratitude to everyone who answers the call in whatever way they are able. My service as a member of the laity has connected me to my brothers and sisters around the world and blessed me in ways I could not have imagined.
Gifts that may be brought to bear in the enhancement of mission are as rich and varied as the individuals comprised by the laity.
Kim Balkovec is a member of the benefactor relations team and works in St. Columbans, Nebraska. WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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Voices of Columban Lay Missionaries Reflections on Mission Irma Cantago I loved what I was doing while on mission in two different countries. For fifteen years I shared my life in Peru, and I know that I have learned and grown a lot. I believe that my presence and my journey with the people as a person and a lay missionary made a difference. It was and is an affirmation that every lay person is a missionary to their own family, neighbors, their own parish and the society. And, it can be an inspiration for others to become involved in lay mission. Some people need others to encourage them, to trust them, and allow them to commit mistakes and the chance to improve themselves. I could say that the Catholic church is alive until now because of the active lay participation. In reality, even if there are a lot of priests and religious Sisters in a parish, if there is no lay participation, then the church will die. Based on my experience, empowering lay people, giving them the space to be a part and be responsible of the life of the church will help it to continue to exist and be alive. I could say that the lay participation in the church is active and alive though some do not frequently attend Mass, but they contribute to the life of the church in other ways. Active lay people never stop inviting and inspiring everybody to participate. Recognizing the presence and the face of God through my experience with the people of different cultures 4
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and ways of celebrating life is a gift. I am evangelized by all who journeyed with me. That is the treasure that is a part of me, and I will be bringing it wherever God wants me to be to continue to tell Christ´s story. The uniqueness and beauty of the different cultures, realities and the people that I encountered and who journeyed with me teach me to appreciate and value my own culture.
Lanieta Tamatawale My commitment to the ministries in working with the poor and marginalized, living among the people, learning their language and culture deepens my call as a lay missionary. Participation in God’s mission is not only for religious and ordained priests. The church is missionary at its very own nature. As lay missionaries, we are called to participate in God’s mission. We participate in God’s mission through prophetic dialogue. We are all called to this way of doing mission in prophetic dialogue joining God. As we dance with God to bring wholeness and healing and peace in the world, we ourselves become whole, healed and graced with peace.
John Din My missionary experience has affirmed the primacy of our Christian identity; laity and priesthood are roles that we assume. These roles are supposed to enhance our Christian identity of service and not debilitate nor succumb
to the temptation of power. In my work experience with the Columbans, I never feel that these roles are a source of tension except when discussions about structures are involved. I have had the privilege of belonging to the Brazil Mission Unit (BMU) and the Region of Peru and can see a lot of differences and similarities. My experience in the BMU has shown how structures can enable and free missionaries to assume their commitment in a more creative way. Smaller numbers encourage visibility and participation while big numbers can nurture anonymity. Columban contribution to the whole church can be summed up in the way ordained Columbans and lay missionaries relate to each other. Ordained Columbans and Columban lay missionaries working together in cross-cultural mission is the Columban gift to the wider church. This relationship of partnership is equally visible in the way Columbans work in their mission. Many times I hear comments from the people we work with about how inspired they are because of the way they are treated with respect, equality and dignity. Columbans’ heart for the poor as expressed in our ministries with the disabled, women, children, interreligious dialogue, care for the environment and commitment to truth and reconciliation, speaks a lot of Gospel values to other groups and the people with whom we work. WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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The challenge of being a lay missionary is to discover who we are, what we are good at and put ourselves at the service of God’s mission. Openness to give and receive support and challenges from co-lay missionaries and from the people we work with continues to be a demand for every lay missionary in order to be faithful to the Gospel. Experience taught me that it is an art of harmonizing our person with the demand of Columban mission to ensure that it is enhancing and life giving for both.
Gracia Kibad The lived-spirituality of the Columban lay missionaries is our key contribution to the life of the church. The key aspects to this spirituality highlights our commitment to working in collaborative partnership with the ordained, fellow lay missionaries, the poor and marginalized and those of other faiths, our sense of calling and need for connection to the source of mission by building a relationship with God, living a simple way of life, the commitment to work as one community of missionaries to live meaningful lives as Christians. With this way of life, living out our WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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spirituality is a counter witness in our contemporary world.
Jhoanna Resari Looking back, I find myself in awe of God’s constant faithfulness and wisdom through all the highs and lows of my journey. I felt a deep gratitude for being blessed with family, friends, companions and mentors who have been with me throughout the years, inspiring and challenging me to grow. Most of all, I humbly thank God for my vocation to serve as a Columban lay missionary, and for giving me the courage to take that very first leap of faith to go on mission. I discovered how God has always been present in my encounters with others. Along the way, God has filled my life with meaning and the purpose to discover the many seeds of love in this life, meant to be sown, nurtured and shared with others.
Beth Sabado My journey as a lay missionary, has led me to an awareness, consciousness and involvement with issues concerning justice, peace and integrity of creation. I understand and appreciate religious and cultural differences due to a complete head-to-heart conversion.
This involved a process of changing my long-held perspective of seeing God as associated with Church and primarily with Christians, to seeing God as a person who is present to all peoples and present in all religions. I firmly believe that our differences must not divide but unite us and therefore must be celebrated. Our differences of beliefs should not be the basis for defining who we are, but, rather should be a space in which to understand and respect one another. This is one of the significant contributions of the Columban lay missionaries in the life of the Church. We offer ourselves by crossing boundaries of cultures, creed and race. We became a bridge connecting the gap caused by ignorance and injustice.
Angie Escarsa Over time I have seen my life unfolding, and I see gratitude and confidence in the continuous inspiration and conviction to my call as a Columban lay missionary. Time and time again I give my life to God as a sign of my trust in His love for me. I am convinced at this point this is where He wants me to be and that I am following the path that He has laid out for me. CM August/September 2016
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Participating in God’s Mission A Life-Changing and Fulfilling Experience By Columban Lay Mission Team Lumen Gentium emphasizes the “universal call to holiness” which applies to all the “people of God”– clergy, religious and lay people, stating that “all Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of love and by this holiness a more humane manner of life is fostered also in earthly society.” It further states that the laity “carries on the mission of the whole Christian people in the church and in the world.” (LG 31) The Missionary Society of St. Columban, having recognized that the missionary vocation is not limited to priests and religious alone, have responded to the Church’s call to bring Catholic lay people to participate fully in the missionary works of the Church by establishing the Columban Lay Missionaries (CLM). With God’s grace, this vision and the mutual efforts of Columbans (ordained and lay) over the years, have made cross-cultural mission for hundreds of lay missionaries (272 to be exact) possible. Last year we celebrated our 25 years of commitment to cross-cultural mission with the Missionary Society of St. Columban. With grateful hearts, we celebrate the gift of vocation 6
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as lay missionaries and for the opportunity to journey with others which has been a life-changing and fulfilling experience. We would like to thank the generous benefactors and supporters of the Missionary Society of St. Columban who make it possible for us to engage in Gods mission in our world today with the Columbans.
Who are the Columban Lay Missionaries? We are an intercultural group of women and men, single, married couples and families with children, who feel called to respond to God’s mission by crossing boundaries of culture, gender, creed and race. With joy, we witness to a new way of being Church by finding and celebrating God’s loving presence as we seek to live a simple way of life and journey in communion with the poor, the marginalized and the exploited earth. In partnership with one another, with the Columban priests, and with local communities, we participate in building bridges of dialogue between peoples of diverse cultures and faiths as we strive to be catalysts of transformation in building God’s kingdom. At present, we have 49 lay missionaries who are from Korea,
Fiji, Tonga, Chile, the Philippines, Ireland, and Peru. We serve in ten regions: Fiji, Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, China, Myanmar, Britain, Ireland, Chile and the U.S./Mexico Border. We live out our spirituality, in the Church and in the secular world we immerse ourselves in, through our engagement in JPIC-related ministries (Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation), inter-religious dialogue, and pastoral and outreach work with the youth, indigenous peoples, parish communities, migrants and immigrants, victims of human trafficking, asylum seekers and refugees.
Invitation to Join Us on Mission We continue to invite lay people to join us. The CLM facilitates lay people interested to participate in cross-cultural mission in the Philippines, Korea, Fiji, Ireland, Britain, U.S. and Chile. CM To learn more about the Columban lay mission program, please visit www.columban.org. WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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Columban Martyrs Memorial Garden Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves. ~ Philippians 2:3 The breathtaking Columban Martyrs memorial garden on the grounds of St. Columbans in Bellevue, Nebraska, memorializes the legacy of twenty-four Columban missionaries who gave their lives for our faith. They believed in something more than self and gave their lives in the same fashion. This special and quiet place of reflection honors their sacrifice. The design of the garden speaks to the fullness of resurrection and life everlasting. It also signifies the unity that you have shared with us in our common missionary calling throughout the years. We joyfully offer you the opportunity to be a part of this lasting place by memorializing or honoring a loved one or special person with the engraving of a paving brick. For a gift of $150, you can honor or memorialize someone and by doing so, become a part of this beautiful place that honors so much about our faith and calling. To place an order for your engraved brick, please contact us at 1-877-299-1920 or visit us online at www.columban.org to fill out an online order form. For more information about our memorial garden and to hear the story of the Columban missionaries who gave so selflessly, please contact us at CM 1-877-2991920 or email us at mission@columban.org. We are forever grateful for the part that you play in our shared missionary journey and we gratefully remember you in our Masses and prayers.
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On Being Good News Pakistani Lay Men, Women and Families on Mission By Mushtag Asad
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olumban missionary Fr. Tanvir O’Hanlon invited me to work with the Columbans for the promotion of mission in our local church. He said to me, “We have this gift of mission and we want to give it to the people of Pakistan.” That was in 2007 when I had recently completed a four year contract in a pastoral institute dedicated to the formation of religion teachers. However, the story of my faith journey began about 30 years ago when I was in my early twenties. For two years I trained to be a catechist and then the De La Salle Brothers decided to send me to the Urbaniana University in Rome for further studies. After two years of study I graduated with a licentiate in missiology. One of my favorite authors at the time was Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, and I had the good fortune to spend a three month summer break in his Milan diocesan lay missionary center for Africa. I took part in the program for the lay missionaries and was deeply impressed on seeing whole families preparing to go on mission. Cardinal Martini visited occasionally and even though he did not say much, his presence was the message that stayed with me. I liked the way he commented on the Bible;
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it was as if he did not merely have the mind of the Church but the Church was in him. He would say, “You are not merely in the Church but the Church is in you.” Cardinal Martini and what I experienced at that center for mission became the main sources of my inspiration for subsequent work with laity. On my return from Rome I took up a teaching post at the national catechists’ training center in Faisalabad. The center was run by the De La Salle Brothers for all the dioceses of Pakistan. My life there was one of books, classes, correcting assignments and so on – all that goes with a teaching job in an academic institution. I was happy in my work and in my home life, but then in 1996, ten years after I had begun teaching, tragedy struck. My wife, who was only 28 years of age, died. We had three children, the eldest a boy (8 years), then a girl (6 years) and a boy (4 years). I stopped teaching and did nothing for six months. I grieved and wondered how this fit into God’s plan for me. I felt so broken up and did not understand what God wanted of me. I did not know where my life was headed, and I could not simply return to teaching in the institute for catechists. Then a priest friend, Fr.
Emmanuel Asi, opened a door for me, and I walked through it into a new life. He invited me to coordinate a newly established theological institute for laity – MAKTABA-E-ANAVEEM (School of Thought of the Poor). The name is in Urdu, our common language in Pakistan. The root of the first word is Arabic and the second is Hebrew. The new institute’s work was not done primarily in the classroom. My job put me in direct contact with lay men, women and children in the grassroots of our local church. We promoted the formation of theological groups in every city of the country, forming the groups with the help of parish priests and catechists. I realized that this work with laity was God’s will for me. There was so much opportunity for further study for clergy and religious, but lay men and women were not valued for the work of doing theology. In fact, some priests opposed our work and said that theology was not a suitable topic for the laity, but other priests supported us. My brokenness prepared me to go with people, to be with them in a common search for our way in life. I reflected anew and my reflection was fresh. As I got into the job I came to appreciate the fertility of my pain. WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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Columban Fr. Liam O’Callahan with members of the parish
Our priority was fostering the life of Christian communities, forming laity for mission, and developing a network among the theology groups we formed. I was doing all this under the directorship of Fr. Asi but when he moved on and another person took over he destroyed what we were doing. The church leadership became concerned and our nascent movement of lay theology became dormant. However, there is still a spark there, but it needs someone to breathe air on it. It seems to me the church leaders want the institution of the Church to be a priority in itself. In contrast, we focused on the everyday lives of ordinary lay people. What does the Word of God have to say to what we are living? What is God calling us to in our daily lives? How might we build a more harmonious, inclusive and just society? We worked to give birth to a local contextual theology. Our basic WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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inspiration was the opening lines of Vatican II’s great document, “Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World” (Gaudium et Spes), Promulgated by Pope Paul VI, December 7, 1965: “The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ.” I believe that the mystery of mission is hidden in the words, “the joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men [and women] of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted.” I was totally changed by the task I had taken on. I was no longer preparing and teaching class but rather reflecting and sharing my faith with other lay men and women. I learned to express myself in the language of everyday life, to listen carefully to the reflections of others and I soon
discovered the marvellous mystical depth in so many of the people with whom I was working to build up our network of contextual theology. In fact, I began to realize my potential as I moved more and more into dialogue rather than being the one who knew and explained things to others. We had moved beyond catechetics, the task of communicating the essentials of our Christian faith, to theologizing, the task of reflecting creatively on the implications of the Word of God for our lives and for our planet earth on and with which we give shape to our lives. Many lay members of the network were diocesan catechists who rely on the diocesan salary to support their families. Consequently the network we created could not prosper without the support of church leaders. When the catechists have a national meeting I still sometimes receive an invitation to speak, and I like to go as I know so August/September 2016
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many of them; they were my students and later, collaborators in creating something new among the laity in our local church. Some may have seen my going from one institution to another as failure, but I feel that I have lived my calling in a missionary way. I never became installed. I resigned from Maktaba-e- Anaveem and moved to a pastoral institute run by the Dominican Fathers to work on the formation of religious teachers, so I was again busy with the formation of the laity And so I come to the fourth stage of my missionary adventure, for now with the Columban missionaries. I had come to understand that we do not necessarily see the fruits of our mission, but rather our calling is to die as a seed of mission. We can easily become over absorbed with tangible and verifiable evidence of success. With this in mind, I began to collaborate with Fr. Tanvir in a mission exchange program, in which one parish community in Lahore sent 10
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missionaries to another community in Sindh and the parish in Sindh reciprocated. We had sown the seed of this exchange in Bible study groups that we run every evening in various parish centers. In our culture we are considered “People of the Book,” so we readily discern the will or call of God in our reflection on Bible texts. Once we have chosen those we wish to send we give them an intensive preparation before they go on their two to three week missionary journey. On arrival at their destination our missionaries are welcomed into the homes of the families with whom they will stay. Over the course of their time on mission they share their faith story with their hosts, be it with the family where they are staying or with a parish community. For all missionaries this is a cross cultural experience even though all participating in the program are Pakistanis. On returning to home base our missionaries share with their friends how the experience has changed them. Sometime later
missionaries from a Sindh parish community came to Lahore to enjoy our hospitality and share their faith stories with us. In both cases, on the day of departure the missionary group is given a public send-off at the end of Mass in the presence of the whole community so they have a sense of being sent by the community, not just by the priest. It is a great experience for both sides when grassroots parishioners can recognize and say, “We are missionary.” They had thought that only the foreigner is missionary. As we locals own that same calling, we change our awareness of who we are as Christians. CM Mushtaq Asad is a Columban collaborator in Pakistan.
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Learning Burmese Can Be Fun! Something to Celebrate By Catherina Son
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ince I joined the Columban lay mission program in 2000, I have learned three different languages: English, Filipino (Tagalog) and Spanish. Since my assignment to Myanmar (formerly Burma) I am learning yet another language – Burmese! Some people tell me that I am so lucky because I can speak four languages. But honestly I don’t have much confidence to speak any of those languages. It seems that all of the languages are mixed up in me! When my Burmese teacher asks me something in English, many times I answer “Si!” (yes in Spanish) since Peru was my last assignment. When I get surprised, I express myself “Ay, naku! Jesus Maria Josef!” as the Filipinos do! Luckily my two companions in our house, Columba and Lenette, speak Tagalog so we don’t have much difficulty among ourselves saying something in Tagalog. From my past experience of learning different languages, I realize that everyone needs some time to get used to speaking a new language. Some people can get the language a little bit faster, and some might need more time to get it. As I see it, WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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I am not a quick learner. So when I arrived in Myanmar, my concern about learning Burmese was not how fast I would get it, but rather how much I could enjoy learning this new language! Burmese is a “very new language’’ for me. In Burmese, they have their own alphabet and characters with four tones including nasal sounds with which I am not familiar. And they use their own characters for numbers as well as using the Arabic numerals (1,2,3…..) so I was not even able to read the bus numbers going to school at the beginning. Their numerals are mostly round shapes that, to me, look like a kind of design, and it took some time for me to discover how different from each other they are! They look very similar, but all are different letters. For example, after my language class, I practice how to draw those letters correctly. One by one, I draw the letters repeatedly in a blank notebook. I feel that I have gone back to when I was a 6-year-old child and had just started learning how to write Korean! Thank God, I found that it’s interesting. I made a joke to my friends that I fell in love with these lovely Burmese letters.
Now that some time has passed, the beautiful designs have now become like letters to me. I can write them more quickly and in a better way without too much confusion. I still need more practice to properly pronounce them, but the Myanmar people can understand what I am trying to say. How smart they are! I remember one TV program in Korea about some elderly women who missed the opportunity, as children, to learn Korean. When they got the chance to study Korean in their later years, they really put their heart into their studying. They drew the letters very carefully but happily with their shaking hands. It was beautiful scene, and I admired them as I saw their smiles. They wrote their first letter in Korean for their beloved families and to say thanks to their husbands, daughters, sons and grandchildren for their support, encouragement and patience. My Burmese is getting into better shape now, and I look forward to writing my first letter in Burmese! That will be something to celebrate. CM Originally from Korea, Catherina Son is a Columban lay missionary living and working in Myanmar (formerly Burma).
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Summer in the City Urban Summer Camps By Fr. Michael Hoban
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rowing up in New York City, summers for me were times for relaxing, recreation and fun. There were family picnics, trips to the beach, baseball games, and books to be read and time to relax with my friends. But, summers for many, if not most, of the children in the poblaciones (housing estates for the poor) of Puente Alto – located in the urban area of Santiago, Chile – are not so enjoyable. They live in the overcrowded apartment blocks which were built during the 1980s to accommodate the poor. There are few parks or recreational activities. Their parents set off for work early in the morning and do not return until late at night which means that many children must wait for their parents to come home to prepare dinner. Days are spent cooped up in the apartment watching television, playing soccer on the streets or playing with a toy which they received for Christmas. Summers are often boring and in some cases dangerous. These housing estates are places where drug trafficking is part of life and where a stray bullet can take the life of an innocent bystander. Last year, we decided to reach out to the children of Puente Alto, especially in the poorest areas of the Maipo Vicariate where I am the
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Episcopal Vicar. The Archdiocese of Santiago had developed a system of working with the children known as colonias urbanas (urban summer camps). A colonia urbana is a recreational program for children who live in our poblaciones and who are not fortunate enough to be able to enjoy the summer taking trips, going to the beach or just getting away. A well-run colonia urbana fulfills five prerequisites: recreation, values formation (taken from the Gospels), handicrafts, excursions and nutrition. It takes a lot of preparation and organization to run a successful colonia urbana. Monitores (volunteers) must be recruited and trained. Donations of food and educational materials are sought. A team of cocineras (cooks – usually mothers or grandmothers of the children) has to be in place in every parish. The colonias provide the children with dinner and an afternoon snack. It is no small job to feed 150 hungry kids! Camila Pastene, a young social worker, came to our vicariate and with great enthusiasm set about the task of organizing and improving our colonias. Camila formed a committee which included several religious Sisters, two priests and several young volunteers. Together they produced a
handbook for values formation. There were training sessions for the young volunteers. Each day of the colonia has to be planned carefully. One of the principal aims of the colonias is to strengthen the formation of Christian and human virtues. A different virtue is presented and practiced every day: friendship, respect for others and for the environment, team work, solidarity, love of God and neighbor, etc. At the center of every colonia is the person of Jesus who loves all children and wants them to draw near to Him. The children are divided up into alliances (red, blue, yellow, green etc.) which compete every day for points in the different activities of the day. The alliances build a sense of belonging and stress the importance of team work. At the end of the colonia, small prizes are distributed. No one is left without a prize! Mornings begin with a reading from the Scriptures and a short prayer which is followed by singing songs and doing some physical exercise. Next there are competitions through various group dynamics. Occasional breaks are scheduled between group dynamics. At the end of the morning, all the alliances will gather to sing a hymn or share about how they lived out a particular virtue. WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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The alliance which accumulated the most points is either applauded or booed, and the other alliances are encouraged to do better tomorrow. Chileans eat their main meal in the middle of the day and at 1:00 p.m., it is time for dinner. A menu is prepared for each day. Like many other countries in the world, hot dogs and French fries are very popular. Less popular are the salads and vegetables. Gallons of fruit juice are consumed. It is a rare sight to see a plate which is not empty. In the afternoon, the children take part in various talleres (workshops): guitar, dancing, cooking, pizza making, mosaics, knitting, painting etc. At least once a week, the children leave their poblaciones and are taken on an excursion. This year, they visited a zoo. We were able to obtain a discount for 700 children in a popular zoo called “Buinzoo.� Other groups were taken to the municipal pool with
no charge for their entrance. One of our pastors organized a trip to the beach! It takes a huge effort to finance these urban summer camps. It requires a collaborative effort on the part of our parishes. In some cases we were able to obtain donations of food from the government while other parishes organized food campaigns and visited the local open air markets soliciting donations. The Archdiocese of Santiago donated some of the materials for arts and crafts. The local municipality agreed to provide several buses to take the children to the zoo and to a municipal swimming pool, but there were so many children that we had to pay for half of the buses. In fact, these donations were insufficient to meet the costs. Without help from Columban benefactors as well as family and friends, we would have had to reduce the number of colonias in our vicariate. Thanks to
this help, we were able to increase the number of colonias! In January 2016, we were able to run seventeen different colonias, three of them in the Columban parish of San MatĂas. Most colonias last for a week or in a few cases ten days. An estimated number of 1,500 children benefit from these efforts to make summer more enjoyable. Our hope is to extend the time for all the colonias to two weeks and to run shorter colonias during the winter holidays. We have made a good beginning, and with our continued efforts and the support of benefactors, the work of the colonias can continue to grow and touch the lives of more children. If we could run a colonia every Saturday in our poblaciones, life would change for so many children! CM
Columban Fr. Michael J. Hoban lives and works in Santiago, Chile.
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Doctor Takashi Nagai My Hero By Fr. Barry Cairns
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n my first visit to Nagasaki’s Atomic Bomb Museum, the obscenity of the atomic bomb left me angry and disturbed. Amidst a 3,900C heat carried by a blast equal to 21,000 tons of TNT, 80,000 human beings were obliterated in a millisecond – yes, 80,000 lives. From there, I walked over to the small wooden hut where, injured by the same bomb, Dr. Takashi Nagai spent the last years of his life. There I found healing. There my tidal wave of anger hit the shore and became a yearning to be Christ’s instrument of peace. I wanted to walk in the footsteps of Dr. Nagai who became my hero; I have met both his son and grandson. Through him I received a second call to mission. Born in 1908, Dr. Nagai died in 1951. He started his life in a Japanese country village. In his youth he adopted a fashionable atheism that continued into his years of medical studies. He was at his mother’s bedside as she died and later wrote, “I was so sure that there was no such thing as a soul. But my mother’s eyes told me that the human spirit lives after death. I could not but believe this.” He discovered the writings of Blaise Pascal, a famous scientist who passionately believed in God and prayer. Nagai fretted, “How to pray to a God he thought did not exist?” As a medical student, he found convenient lodging with the Moriyama family who had been Catholics for 300 years. The atmosphere of joy in their home touched him. The Angelus bells from 14
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the nearby Cathedral at Urakami found an echo in his heart. The Moriyama’s had a daughter, Midori, a school teacher who returned home for the holidays. “Come with us to midnight Mass,” she offered. Later Dr. Nagai wrote, “I felt instinctively there was a living presence in the community.” Just before graduation, Nagai was stricken by a severe ear infection that prevented his use of the stethoscope, so he specialized in radiology. As a young physician, Nagai was twice drafted into the Medical Corps of the Japanese Imperial Army (1933 and 1937). Midori said, “I will pray for you,” and later sent him a wool sweater and and a catechism. He was ordered to China and wrote, “I have come to China not to win a war, but to help the wounded both Japanese and Chinese. I do not notice nationality.” He returned to Japan physically and mentally exhausted. Nauseated at the barbarity of war, Nagai visited a priest at the Cathedral, pouring out his desolate heart and then joined a class preparing for Baptism. It shows the caliber of humility of this traditionally educated Japanese professor that his teacher at the church was a janitor at the hospital. He was baptized in 1934, taking the name of St. Paul Miki, one of the 26 Japanese martyrs. A marriage to Miss Moriyama was planned. Before marrying Midori, he warned her, “Remember, radiologists die young.” She accepted nonetheless. Later, a son and daughter were born. They prayed as a family, and he prayed
in his own unique way in which he would take just one line from a psalm or from the New Testament and keep “tasting” it throughout the day. As a member of the parish St. Vincent de Paul group, he organized a team of doctors to go to remote doctorless villages where he found many were ashamed of illness. “Assistance is authentic only when it also restores a person’s dignity.” As the war expanded, food shortages and cramped conditions led to a massive outbreak of tuberculosis in the early 1940s. The X-ray equipment Nagai used leaked dangerous levels of radiation that caused leukemia. Sharing the news with Midori that he had been given three years to live, he knelt in prayer with her. “Midori’s acceptance has freed me. I can now face death because Midori is beside me.” But he was not to have that consolation. On August 9, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped 700 meters from the hospital, killing 80% of patients and staff and leaving Nagai badly bleeding. The hospital was unusable, but the still wounded streamed toward it. To direct people toward an open field where an ad hoc clinic was set up, Nagai raised an improvised Japanese flag on a bamboo pole, a white sheet with a red ball of Nagai’s own blood at its center. Seizing a moment, Nagai went to the site of his own home. He found it totally destroyed and discovered the charred bones of his beloved wife with her rosary. That rosary, a twisted lump, can been seen in the Nagai museum, a testimony to a beautiful person of faith. Having absorbed more radiation from the blast, Nagai’s leukemia worsened. Still he served his patients. Dr. Nagai knew Father (later Saint) Maximilian Kolbe whom he had X-rayed. Once he collapsed and prayed for healing to Kolbe. He WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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“I want to bring life back to this dead place. I want to make it a blooming hill full of children smiling and singing.”
– Dr. Takashi Nagai
regained the strength to carry on and only later learned of St. Kolbe’s heroic death in Auschwitz. On November 23, 1945, Nagai was asked to speak at a requiem Mass for the 8,000 Catholics killed in the atomic blast. As a physician, sensitive to suffering, Nagai realized that survivors had deep wounds of the heart. “The greatest damage inflicted by the atomic bomb was the fact that we were confronted with the ugliness of our own souls and also that of our neighbors. It shattered our hearts and ruined human relationships.” The survivors had guilt about how after the blast they acted selfishly in not responding to desperate calls for water and help from the dying. Conscious of the power of symbols to help, with a few men he located the still-intact Cathedral bell and got it ringing again to give courage and hope. He wrote a best-seller, The Bells of Nagasaki, and with the proceeds WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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planted a row of cherry trees to raise morale. He also founded a library for children. “I want to bring life back to this dead place. I want to make it a blooming hill full of children smiling and singing.” The theme of hope pervades the thirteen books he authored, most of them still in print in Japan. In 1946, Dr. Nagai collapsed and for the remaining five years of his life was confined to bed. “After collapsing, a new beginning. Even though I am flat on my back I have found that my hands, eyes and brain still work. I will earn my living with them.” His last three years were spent in a hut built for him by grateful carpenters. Nagai named it. “As Yourself Hermitage” as in “Love others as yourself.” Lying there with his children at his side, he continued his study of radiation sickness, wrote books, drew sketches, and with classic brush calligraphy wrote thousands of
cards with the Japanese words, “Peace forever,” sending them throughout Japan and the world. He was visited by the Emperor, Cardinal Gilroy, Helen Keller and thousands of people. Takashi Nagai died on May 1, 1951. The “As Yourself ” hut still stands. Nearby is a tasteful museum, staffed by his descendants who carry on his message: “From this atomic wasteland of Nagasaki, we pray to God: Grant that Nagasaki may be the last atomic wilderness in the history of the world.” CM Fr. Barry Cairns lives and works in Japan.
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Standing Up for What We Believe In Cultural Mishaps in Myanmar By Fr. Jehoon Augustine Lee
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lmost six months ago, I arrived in Yangon, Myanmar, to begin my mission assignment. During these past six months, so many things have happened to me, or have happened around me, that I haven’t always been able to understand. My lack of understanding is no doubt due to not being that familiar with the culture, language, and the way of life here in Myanmar. On a daily basis, I still learn new things about the culture and language. Most of these things I learn just come from daily happenings, as well as my own mistakes and misunderstandings. Here, I just want to share one of these experiences, to show how even a simple misunderstanding can be an opportunity to gain some cultural learning. A couple of weeks after I came to Myanmar, I started Burmese language study. In the beginning, the easiest way to get to my classes was by using a taxi. After a few weeks, I had gained a little confidence and
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worked up the courage to try to take a bus, even though I could not speak and read Burmese properly. So, one day, I got on a bus to get back home from school. It was my first time ever taking a bus in this country. Getting on and off the bus wasn’t a problem, thankfully. The process was pretty simple and straight-forward. I continued taking the bus either going to school or getting back home. Even better, as I discovered, taking the bus seemed faster than taking a taxi; on top of that, the price of the bus is almost 15 times cheaper than the taxi! However, this doesn’t mean that everything has always gone smoothly on the buses! I usually take a seat on the bus whenever possible. One day the bus was not particularly packed with people, so I took a seat. After a few more stops and several more people getting on, the bus slowly became a little bit crowded. Since I had a seat, I did not mind whether or not it was packed; I was comfortable enough. The only problem was that
I got the seat right behind the driver, and soon discovered that a young Buddhist monk was standing right next to me. To be honest, I had no idea that the seat I was sitting in was reserved for the Buddhist monks. I saw that there was a small sign written in Burmese near the seat, but since my Burmese was very limited, I did not fully understand it at that time. Thus, I kept on sitting in my seat, reading and looking at my school handouts in Burmese. All of a sudden, people on the bus started talking loudly to each other. I did not realize that they were talking to me. Finally, one man who was standing came to me and said something in Burmese. I did not understand what he was trying to say, but I got some sense that whatever he was saying didn’t seem too pleasant. I sensed that he was insinuating that I had to give up my seat for the young monk. Even though I had that sense, to be honest I did not feel like giving him my seat! I was presuming that even if I stood up, the young monk might not accept my offer, as he seemed too young to take someone’s seat. In addition, I was thinking that he might feel embarrassed if I gave up the seat for him! All of these thoughts came to me at once. So, I made up my mind to just remain in my seat. Unfortunately, this only seemed to outrage the passengers even more. One old lady was even yelling at me. So I spoke to her in my broken Burmese: “I am not Burmese, I do not understand what you are talking about. So please, speak slowly.” All the people were looking at me and became very quiet. Then, I saw that one older WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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man who was sitting finally stood up and dragged the monk to his seat. As it happened it was just about the time that I had to get off the bus, anyway. So I did get off once we reached my stop. When I got off, it seems like all people on the bus were glaring at me with angry looks on their faces. I was a bit embarrassed when I headed out to school. In my class, I talked to my teacher about what happened to me on the bus. My teacher was laughing and then explained this facet of Myanmar culture. She said that Buddhism is of deep importance all throughout Myanmar. It is common courtesy to show monks great respect. If you have a seat on a crowded bus, you must give it up to a monk should one board. And she added that women are never
to touch monks and never sit next to monks in this country. Listening to my teacher, I ended up feeling a little bit bad. I felt that what happened on the bus, perhaps, showed a sign of disrespect to the culture, and this was never my intention. And I have to admit that I also felt some anxiety thinking about what else I did not know about the culture. This led me to do some personal reflection on my own indifference and ignorance of this culture. I know there are always many different kinds of challenges no matter where in the world we are, and we are called to “face the music” wherever we are. Each place we go has its own people, culture, language, food, major religion. What is important to remember, however, is that all challenges ultimately
come from within myself and my emotions…feelings like anxiety, isolation, indifference, ignorance, whatever…come not from the place I am, but from my own reactions to that place. I hope to keep learning about Myanmar and expect to continue to make constant discoveries about the culture. These learnings might even come from making some more mistakes. But the fact is that I live in this culture now, and I am called to face the reality of what that means and demands of me. What’s important is for me to control myself and face these challenges that come ultimately from deep within my own self. CM Columban Fr. Jehoon Augustine Lee lives and works in Myanmar.
A Spiritual Garden Watering Kachin Lands St. Luke’s Catechists’ School, Myiktyina, Myanmar
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ounded by Columban Fr. Bernard Wade in 1939, St. Luke’s can boast of 700 graduates, of whom 417 have worked in remote areas which are often the center of political violence. Despite all these risks, many young people continue to volunteer for this ministry. Five of their number have borne witness to their faith through their blood (all were killed by the Burmese army, as the catechists attempted to protect their people ): Paul Dashi Zau Hkrim (d. 1971 at Tayan Zup village, Tanghpre Parish, Myitkyina WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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diocese); Lamung La (d. 1964 at Nan Hpu village, Tanai parish, Myitkyina); Mali La Awng and Ulam La Awng (d. 1975 at Htingraw village, Kachyi Htu parish, Myitkyina Diocese); and finally Nlum Zau Ra (d.1975 at Maru Kawng village, Kachyi Htu Parish.) Columbans have been helping finance the running of the school since its inception. We would like to offer the following testimonies of three present students of St. Luke’s as why our help is so important to those brave young people.
Theresa
Lazing Theresa Bawk Nan – “A Wounded Healer” “I am from Je Yang, Laiza. My father and mother are famers, and I am the second of four children in the family. I lived in a serene village provided with all natural beauty and resources for our people. Our village had over 60 houses. This was shattered by war between Kachin insurgents and the government of Myanmar, which began in 1962. This time (since 2011), the war has been particularly cruel. It has displaced thousands. I myself have August/September 2016
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come from an Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) camp. Many people have been killed and wounded, and we lost our land, houses and cattle. My father was shot by the Burmese military. He was hit in the legs. He is now handicapped and cannot work well. After fleeing our village to different places, our extended family could contact each other after some time. Now all of us are united at the Je Yang IDP camp, where in the boarding house supported by the Columban Fathers, I passed Grade Ten. Wishing to contribute to my community, I joined the catechetical school last year where I am gaining skills in teaching catechism, arranging liturgical celebrations and imparting the social teaching of the Church. I am happy the Church reopened a catechetical school for our people because I wanted to become a grassroots community faith leader. We will need to help the resettlement of the people, work for peace, healing of trauma and drug addiction.
about the reopening of the St. Luke’s Catechetical school in Myitkyina, I was so excited. I know I am still weak in faith. I need to have formation for myself first. I can see that my family, friends and community need strong faith. We are living risky lives without any guidance for the future. As a people we thirst for spiritual waters.
Columban WoHtong Hkawng Lum – “In The Footsteps of the Columban Missionaries”
Joseph
Joseph Nhkum Tang Gun – “Thirsting for Spiritual Waters” I am Joseph. Originally I come from Nam San Yang Parish. At present my family is living in the Je Yang IDP camp. We are nine in my family, and I am the fifth son. I always wanted to serve my church. This dream was fulfilled last year. As soon as I heard 18
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My name is Columban. I am named after the great Columban missionaries who evangelized our land. I have four brothers and two sisters. I am the oldest son in my family. I have my own family too - two daughters, two sons and my wife. I am from Wai Maw Parish. When I was young I wanted to become a famous singer. Later on,
I saw the reality of my people so my desire changed, and I wanted to become a priest. But I knew that was not my vocation. In 2003 I became inspired to attend the catechetical school, but I did not have any opportunity. I had to wait for God’s plan for me. I thank God! Now I am a Catechetical student at St. Luke’s. I cannot be a priest, but I can serve God as a community faith leader. St. Luke’s is like a garden for the Kachin people of Myitkyina, Banmaw and Lashio. I have improved a lot in this garden in my life and thinking. Day by day I have become more mature and have gained skills to combat the social evil in my country. The flowers and fruit formed in St. Luke’s garden are going to decorate the world for the glory of God. CM The article and photos were provided by the Columban Myanmar team.
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God depends on you to carry out His plan for the world. Please consider becoming a Columban Mission sponsor today! As a Columban Mission Sponsor, you play a vital and important role in bringing Christ to the people of the Pacific Rim, South and Central America. You may not be able to go where our Columban missionaries go, and you may not be able to do what we do, but together we can bring Christ, in word and in sacrament to the people of the world. What Columban missionaries achieve is as much your work as theirs. When you choose to make sustaining gifts as a Columban Mission Sponsor, you help secure the future of mission!
What does being a Columban Mission Sponsor involve? Daily Prayer Columban Mission Sponsors pray daily for the success of our missionaries. The Gospel is spread through the power of God, not merely by human effort. For mission efforts to be fruitful, they must be accompanied by prayer. Sacrifice Offer whatever crosses, suffering and pain you experience each day for the success of our mission activities. Sacrifice is the inseparable compliment to prayer. A Monthly Offering Columban Mission sponsors give a specific amount that they choose each month for the work of the missions. These sustaining gifts live up to their name by maximizing giving over the long term and provide a secure future for vital programs and ministries.
What are the personal benefits for you? Becoming a Columban Mission Sponsor is one way of saying “Thank You, Lord” for all of God’s goodness to you, especially for the gift of Faith. You can be sure that, in return, God will never be outdone in generosity toward you or your loved ones. By helping bring Christ to others, you will find your own faith immensely enriched. To start your monthly giving today, visit us online at: www.columban.org/sponsors. Or, for your convenience, fill out the form below and use the postage-paid envelope in the center of this magazine. _____ I would like to learn more about giving via automatic bank withdrawal. Please call me. _____ I would like to begin my monthly giving by check. Enclosed is my gift of $____________ (We will send a reminder each month unless you direct us otherwise) Name: ____________________________________________________________________________________ Address: __________________________________________________________________________________ City: _______________________________________________________________ State: ___ Zip: __________ Phone: ________________________________ Email: ______________________________________________
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The Welcome Sound of Good News Fijian Catechists By Fr. Charles Duster ”I couldn’t manage without them.” That is a phrase one often hears in a discussion between the parish priests in Fiji, whether indigenous or foreign born. They are speaking of the male catechists who serve in both rural and urban areas. These are not highly trained “professional” (and usually paid) religious educators which are found in some mission countries. A better description might be “dedicated village prayer leaders” who, along with their wives, have received some training. While there were catechists earlier in the nearly 200 year history of the Catholic Church in Fiji, the present system was inaugurated some forty years ago by Columban Fr. Jim Gavigan, now retired in Ireland. The system works like this. Parishes in Fiji, particularly in rural areas, are composed of small villages ranging from just a few houses up to perhaps one hundred. The houses are close together, usually around a central grass square which is often times the site of the local chief ’s house and in some cases, a small chapel. The residents then go to their surrounding small plots of root crops, vegetable, cocoanut harvesting or other cash crop like kava or yaqona, the national nonalcoholic drink in Fiji made from the roots and lower branches of shrubs that take some years to mature which is used widely both in ceremonies and recreation. Usually this work is done individually, but often tasks are undertaken on a community basis. In consultation with the parish priest, the villagers select a man 20
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from their village to begin training as their catechist. Those so selected will begin training at the Navesi Catechetical Center near the capital city of Suva. The men, their wives and their small children live at the Center for three months a year for three successive years of participation in the preparation program. Meanwhile, back in the village, if the system is working as designed, their fellow villages are looking after the candidates’ root crops and gardens and care for their older children during their absence at the Center. If possible, villagers try to bring in food from time to time to the Center as well to help defray expenses. The candidates themselves engage in various courses: basic theology, scripture, liturgy, church history, communications and ongoing spiritual formation. They also participate in some hours of manual work each day to tend to the gardens of the Center. Their wives are involved in various courses and selected home making skills. If all goes well, at the end of the three year program, the candidates will be commissioned as catechists by the Archbishop and given their official signs of office: a small crucifix to hang around their necks and a blue sash waistband. When functioning officially in their new ministries, the men wear those items and are dressed in a white shirt and white sulu, the skirt like apparel with pockets which is worn by Fijian men on formal occasions. Once they return home, depending on the circumstances, the newly
commissioned catechists are engaged in many various functions within the village and surrounding areas. The most important is conducting the Sunday para-liturgical celebrations, as many villages because of location only have Mass celebrated in them perhaps once a month or in some more isolated places just a few times a year. The service is comprised of the basic components of the first part of the Mass: the official prayer of the day, the Scripture readings for that Sunday or Feast Day, a homily given by the catechist followed by the Profession of Faith, the Prayers of the Faithful, and a Communion service if the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in the village. Of course the entire service is punctuated by hymns in Fijian, Hindi or English, depending on the area, which are sung with great enthusiasm and in four part harmony which seems to come so natural to the Fijian people. Besides the Sunday service, the catechist will be involved in a wide range of spiritual activities, again depending on the area. These usually would include calling together the village residents for morning and night prayers, home visitation, assisting parents and godparents to prepare for the baptism of their children, helping in Confirmation and First Holy Communion preparation as well as assisting in the preparation of young couples for marriage. In general, they are the liaison or contact person between the Catholics of the area and their parish priest. Ideally all the catechists in a parish will meet with their pastors monthly to review WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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upcoming activities in the parish and spend time in prayer and reflection together, “recharging their spiritual batteries,” so to speak, for another month. Villagers are encouraged to select their candidates carefully. While the pastor and assistant priests are transferred to different parishes from time to time, their catechist normally will be serving them until retirement, a virtual lifetime appointment. Before the new system was introduced around 1972, the few catechists in Fiji could be assigned to any parish in the country. As such, they had no direct connection with the people they were serving. The genius of the present system lies in the fact that the catechists are members of their local sub-tribal groupings, speak the local dialect, and are familiar with the relationships, the history and traditions of the people to whom they minister. It is strictly a volunteer
service and catechists receive no salary or stipend although they may be reimbursed for expenses associated with their activities like travel. I can personally witness both the necessity and value of a good team of catechist in a parish. In one of the parishes to which I was assigned, which is rather remote at the end of Fiji’s second largest island of Vanua Levu, there were twelve catechists (a strong Scriptural number) as several of the villages served were remote and transportation was difficult. When I left there after seven years, it was like leaving twelve brothers. Similar deep relationships and friendships with catechists developed as well in the other parishes in which I served. The longer I was in Fiji, the more I realized how dependent I was on them. In looking back at those years, I am reminded that Jesus told His apostles before returning to His Father that they were to “go into the
whole world and teach all nations.” The Catholic Church was brought to Fiji by men and woman over the decades and centuries who heeded that call. In a sense, the catechists in Fiji continue that response. The only difference is that their “whole world” is more circumscribed. Their lives and generous service are a great example of lay people responding to the missionary dimension of every Christian’s baptismal call. As St. Paul says in writing to the Romans, “the footsteps of those who bring Good News is a welcome sound.” These catechists are not crossing boundaries of language, distance and culture like the foreign missionaries who brought them the faith, but their footsteps indeed are welcome sounds amid the hills and valleys of Fiji. CM Columban Fr. Charles Duster lives and works in St. Columbans, NE.
Fiji Chapel
Fr. Charles Duster and the Fiji team WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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Catechist Gyan Watt
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Bring Christ to the World! When you partner with Columban missionaries, you bring Christ to the people. By virtue of our Baptism, we are called to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you� ~ (Matt 28:19) Although you may not be able to go where Columban missionaries go, and you may not be able to do what we do, TOGETHER we can bring Christ in word and sacrament to our sisters and brothers in mission lands. Friends like you make all that we do possible! For more information on how you can support Columban missionaries, contact: mission@columban.org. Or to make a gift of support online go to: www.columban.org/donate. Missionary Society of St. Columban P.O. Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056 Toll Free: 877-299-1920 www.columban.org Columban Mission AS16 final.indd 22
Give Prayer is as vital for the spread of the Gospel as rain is for the growing of things. Financial sacrifice is the inseparable compliment to prayer and is all the more effective when accepted generously and offered in union with the suffering Christ. Receive Your sacrifices mean so such to those whom we serve. You can be sure that God will never be outdone in His generosity towards you, your family and loved ones. Enrich By helping bring Christ to others you will find your own faith immensely enriched.
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Different Kinds of Service
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rom our earliest days, almost a century ago, Columban missionaries have employed people to assist us in a variety of roles to support our mission. A few did housekeeping; some maintained buildings and grounds, while others assisted with office work. Thanks to their efforts behind the scenes, our priests were able to devote more time and energy to promoting mission in the public arena. As times changed, so also has the contribution of our employees or co-workers. We still highly value the services of those who cook and clean, as well as those who mow the lawns and fix the leaks, but today Columbans also require coworkers who are able to harness the rapid advances in technology in order to promote our mission. While we continue to depend on Columban missionaries in various countries across the globe to provide us with stories of their lives and ministries, we also depend on professional co-workers to present
From the Director By Fr. Tim Mulroy these stories through our magazines, websites and social media. In order to reach the minds and hearts of younger generations, we have to preach the Good News to them online as well as from the sanctuary, and befriend them on Facebook as well as face to face. On the other hand, in recent years we have come to depend more on co-workers to provide care for our growing number of sick and elderly priests who have returned home after a lifetime of service in our mission countries. Like most
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Our co-workers provide valuable professional services, while our priests ensure that our mission always remains at the forefront. families who have an aging parent, we try hard to ensure that our elderly priests remain living with their Columban family for as long as is reasonably possible. However, due to the large number of priests with increasing infirmities, we rely heavily on co-workers to assist us with this, and are greatly saddened when one of our priest colleagues has to move eventually to a care facility. Both in our retirement home and in our mission office, our co-workers work alongside Columban priests. Our co-workers provide valuable professional services, while our priests ensure that our mission always remains at the forefront. Moreover, we provide our co-workers with opportunities to learn about our mission so that they find their work both personally and professionally rewarding. Whether in far flung mission fields, or here in the U.S., Columban missionaries and our coworkers realize that “there are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of activities, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.� (1 Corinthians 12:4-6)
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Columban Fathers PO Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056
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Transform the Lives of Others…Enrich the World…Give Hope Columban Mission magazine is published eight times each year and tells the stories of our missionaries and the people they are called to serve. Columban missionaries live in solidarity with their people and, together, they move forward to improve their social, economic and spiritual lives, always with Our Savior as their guide and their eyes on God’s Kingdom. For a $10 donation or more, you or a friend or loved one can share in our baptismal call to mission and the Columban Father’s mission work around the world through Columban Mission magazine. To begin receiving your Columban Mission magazine or to provide a gift to a loved one, simply visit our website at www.columban.org, call our toll-free number 877-299-1920 or write to us at: Columban Mission Magazine Subscription Missionary Society of St. Columban P.O. Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056
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“If I your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” — John 13:14 All of us are called to Christian service. But some are called to a lifetime of service to the poor. If you feel attracted to such a life, we are waiting to hear from you.
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… Sr. Carmen Maldonado Columban Sisters 2546 Lake Road Silver Creek NY, 14136 716-934-4515 Websites: www.columbansisters.org www.columbansistersusa.com
Japan + Korea + Peru + Hong Kong + Philippines + Pakistan + Chile + Fiji + Taiwan + North America
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