The Magazine of the Missionary Society of St. Columban
August/September 2017
Compassion
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Volume 100 - Number 5 - August/September 2017
Columban Mission
o n t e n t s
Issue Theme – Compassion
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.
God’s Work
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Mailing Address: Columban Mission PO Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056-0010 Toll-Free Phone: 877/299-1920 Website: WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG Copyright © 2016, The Columban Fathers (Legal Title) PUBLISHER REV. TIMOTHY MULROY, SSC DIRECTORUSA@COLUMBAN.ORG EDITOR KATE KENNY KKENNY@COLUMBAN.ORG
Climbing Over Mountains 4 Who Do You Say I Am?
Sharing My Faith
5 Community Growth
Motivation from the Bottom to the Top
8 Finding God Away From Home
Changed by the Pastoral Experience
14 Seeing What Is Right in Front of Us
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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
Rediscovering a Sense of Home
18 Mission Journey
43 Years on Mission
20 The Homeless of Wakayama
Working in Solidarity
Departments 3 In So Many Words 23 From the Director
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.
In So Many Words By Sr. Redempta Twomey
“What Do You Want Me to Do For You”
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he blind beggar heard the crowd passing him on the road. Feet hurrying, people talking, all moving quickly along. What was going on? “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” It was enough. Immediately the beggar shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” He was making a nuisance of himself. Shut up, they warned him. But this was not a man to be silenced. He had heard of the Nazarene. He knew, beyond a shadow of doubt that he would help him. This was his chance and no one, no crowd was going to stop him. So, he shouted louder, “Son of David, have pity on me!” (Mk 10: 46-52). Jesus stopped. The crowd stopped. The man was still shouting. Jesus ordered that he be brought to Him. And now those very people who wanted to be rid of the noisy beggar had to make way for him to bring him to the Lord. These two men stood on the dusty roadway, face to face. One, the light of the world. The other in darkness. Then, with courtesy, with respect Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” What a question! Today the Lord is asking you this question. He is asking how He can help you. How He can serve you. Of course He knows what you need, just as He knew what the beggar needed. But He wants you to turn to Him believing absolutely that He will hear you and heal you. “The Lord,” the prophet Isaiah said centuries before, “is waiting to show you favor.” (Is 30:18) This is the God who is “full of tenderness and compassion,” who is always ready to help us if we could only believe. Trust is the bottom line. Bartimaeus, the blind beggar, knew what he wanted above all else. “Lord, let me see.” And because he had faith, it was done. How will you answer this question? What is it that you really and truly want above all else? Go deep into ow will you respond? your heart, beyond the chatter of the crowd, beyond the endless distractions of the day and listen. The Lord stands waiting, knocking at your door. (Rev 3:20) He is patient; we too must be patient, and above all have faith. Then, with humility, maybe you can turn the question and ask, “Lord, what do you want me to do for you?” What is He asking of you this day, this year? At the end of the story in St. Mark’s Gospel, Bartimaeus “immediately received his sight and followed him on the way.” How will you respond?
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Columban Sr. Redempta Twomey lives and works in Ireland.
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Who Do You Say I Am? Sharing My Faith By Angelica Escarsa
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ince 2014, St. Joseph’s Parish in Ballymun, Ireland, started to look at ways to respond to the needs of young people in the parish. Parents asked if there was a program that could help them nourish the spiritual aspect of the lives of their teenage sons and daughters. It was through that inquiry that Lifeteen came to be. 4
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Lifeteen is a youth program that started in the United States. It is a program that offers opportunities for young people to come together for fun and play and to be among their peers and friends to pray and talk and share about their faith. One thing I like about this program is that it is not just good for
the teens but also good for adults. It offers opportunity for the core team to practice teamwork and commitment aside from learning more about the faith. In May this year we had a Life Night Series on the controversial Jesus called Censored. It was a four-part series that focuses on various images of Jesus. Here I want to share the learning from this series. Our culture has a particular perception of Jesus. Some see Jesus as judgmental and condemning. Others see Jesus as all-loving and permissive. Still others see Jesus as a character from a fairy tale and others simply as a historical figure, but not God. But this is the real Jesus. Beggar – Jesus identifies with the poor, marginalized and outcast because He was one of them. He was born into the humility of a manger and then exiled. Throughout His ministry He identified with sinners, outcasts and the poor. Challenge: Jesus calls us to embrace poverty; that as we serve the poor and the outsider we are directly serving Him. As missionaries can you follow Jesus if it meant giving up everything you possess? Exorcist – Jesus main ministry consisted of teachings, healings and exorcisms. Faith is necessary for healing. Jesus is the divine physician. He comes to heal and deliver us. Yet we often do not call out to Him in prayers of deliverance and healing. Challenge: We must acknowledge that we live in a spiritual and physical realm and that the name of Jesus Christ has power over those realities. Criminal – Jesus was condemned to die as a criminal. He was executed as an enemy of Rome and handed over by His own people. If we follow Him, we will also encounter persecution and hatred. This should not discourage us; when we are persecuted for our faith, we are really living it well. Challenge: Christian persecution exists today in many parts of the world. We must unite with those that face WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
criminal charges, persecution and even death for their faith with our prayer. King – Jesus is our king and has authority over our lives. We can choose to accept His authority and live in the kingdom of God or reject it. But we cannot over rule it. When we accept Christ’s authority, we become truly free. Obedience to Jesus is not slavery; it is where we will find true fulfilment. Challenge: Jesus will one day come again to judge the living and the dead and to rule in the kingdom of God.
Who Do I Say Jesus Was? Since early this year the house of the Ando family has been the venue for our prayer gathering. Unlike other prayer groups with their logistics, rituals and regulations e.g. Couples for Christ or the Legion of Mary, this group has a sole purpose and that is to pray together around the scripture. That particular afternoon the reading was from the Gospel of Luke 9:18-24. Then He said to them, “But
who do you say I am?” Present at that prayer gathering were some of the teenagers from our Lifeteen in Ballymun. One of the teenagers said that he knows the love of Jesus through the love of his parents. For him it becomes easy to feel that Jesus loves him because of the love he experiences from his mother and father. He is grateful for the sacrifices his parents made for him just to give him a good life. His parents are the reflections of God’s love for him. The other teen shared about how she was grateful to have known Jesus more since she was baptized as an adult during the Easter Vigil Mass at St. Joseph. She grew up with little knowledge of the faith until she joined the Lifeteen group. It has been a help to share her faith with the other teens. My own sharing that afternoon was about my email address: “aonejolas.” It is my first email address and the only one for personal emails. Sixteen
years later, I still have it. What is the significance of my email address? How is this connected to my sharing about who I say Jesus was? The first three letters, “a,” “n,” “e,” are my initials: Angelica Nacar Escarsa, while “jolas” is short for Jojo Lastimosa, a famous Pure foods/ Alaska basketball player in the late 1980s to early 1990s. He was like my whole life, my inspiration and all. My teenage life revolved around him. Then comes the realization that “JOLAS” has a more significant meaning. It is not just the abbreviation of the name of a basketball player. For a long time, I have been using an initials of the most significant person in my life. “JOLAS” is “Jesus Our Life and Savior.” There is no better way to describe who I say Jesus was than to say that He is my life and savior. CM Angelica Escarsa is a Columban lay missionary.
Community Growth Motivation from the Bottom to the Top By Hyein Noh Anna
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clearly remember the first time I visited Julie Santiago. To reach her house, I had to pass by several narrow lanes in the area where I lived. It was daytime, but it was quite dark inside her house because they didn’t have lights. There was a small table at the corner with plates and kitchenware on it. In the dark room, Julie smiled brightly because she had me as her visitor from Korea. Her three daughters were playing beside her. They were lovely. They were smiling sweetly when they saw me. I thought then how their bright smiles WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
contrasted with the darkness of their house. Julie is one of the working mothers in the candle-making livelihood project that I’ve organized in the parish community I was assigned in during my first term on mission. She is in her early 30s. She came to Manila from Bicol ten years ago where she met her husband, Marlon. They were married in 2012. Julie’s husband is a construction worker but his income cannot meet their needs such as food and education for their children. Her husband and daughters often get sick
with skin problems brought about by lack of nourishment or coughs worsened by the smoke from the candles they use every night. Once, two of her daughters contracted tuberculosis (TB). It took a long time to educate her regarding tuberculosis and how it can be contagious to other family members. Fortunately, they were able to recover from the illness. One day, Julie sent me a text message saying that she was pregnant with her fourth baby. She mentioned how she didn’t want her baby and she was blaming the unborn for her August/September 2017
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woes in life. I asked myself, “what made her blame this innocent life in her womb, when in the Philippines, having a child is regarded as a blessing and a gift from God?” Remembering her brilliant welcoming smile that first time I visited her, this reaction towards her baby totally disturbed me. Before she started working in the candlemaking program, she didn’t have any experience working under regular working hours. Other mothers had trouble with Julie because of her problem with punctuality. She would often be late or absent from work, and she wouldn’t notify them in advance if she couldn’t come to work. Her reasons would be that she had slept late or she simply forgot to go to work. Julie is a shy person, and she is a little slow in responding to things at work. Whenever there are gifts for the mothers involved in the project, she would be the last one to take the smallest item left. This is why I used to put her share aside and give it to her quietly afterwards. 6
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Even though she had some problems working with the other mothers, I could not let her leave. Without her income from the livelihood project, her life would be more difficult. Marlon is a good husband to her but cannot work at the same job for a long time. So while he is in between jobs, Julie would be the breadwinner. What was more worrying was her pregnancy. She knew very clearly that she couldn’t afford to take care of the baby. Fortunately, I was able to convince the other mothers to be there for her and help her. Julie was given opportunities to realize her shortcomings, to change and make the necessary adjustments in the community. Surprisingly, Julie’s working habits eventually led the community to reconsider many things. The members drafted rules and policies about good attitudes in the work place. These helped the members to put more effort in being punctual. Furthermore, they learned to understand one
another. They made provisions for members who are pregnant so that young mothers, like Julie, do not have to worry about being dismissed if they become pregnant. Throughout all of this, I was aware that Julie needed proper lighting for her house. So when I read an article about solar light bulbs by an organization called KADASIG, I sent an email to the person in charge. KADASIG is originally from Australia but is now based in Cebu. The solar light bulbs were financially supported by the Columban priests in Australia. In response to my email, KADASIG donated 100 solar light bulbs. Some of the mothers, including Julie, do not have to use candles every night anymore. With the new solar light bulbs, they were given not only brightness for their houses, but also a brighter future for their families. Now, Julie is rarely absent or late for work. Her attitude is much better than before. She is more comfortable to ask for help from others and is happy working harmoniously with the other mothers. With her work, she is assured that she can receive regular income to support her family including her newborn baby. I saw Julie as the weakest person among the mothers involved in the project. But throughout her journey with the community, she was able to significantly influence the community’s physical and spiritual well-being in a meaningful way. The mothers I work with have learned to understand one another and accept someone who is relatively poorer than themselves. I am so proud of Julie’s growth that also led to the growth of the community. With her readiness to learn more, it would not be difficult for her to accept other challenges in her life with her family. CM Originally from South Korea, Hyein Noh Anna is a Columban lay missionary living and working in the Philippines.
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Leave a Legacy. Include the Missionary Society of St. Columban in your estate plan. Thanks to the prayers and financial support of our benefactors, Columban missionaries proclaim the Good News in word and deed among peoples throughout the world. The mission of Jesus takes us across the frontiers of culture and language, and moves our supporters to make sure we lack nothing essential for living out this call. Mission is the very purpose of the Church’s existence, and our benefactors have shared in this mission from our founding in 1918.
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Finding God Away From Home Changed by the Pastoral Experience By Henry Amado ServĂĄn Vallejos
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s part of my process of priestly formation, in 2015 I was assigned to Taiwan to perform my First Missionary Assignment (FMA). In Taiwan, after ten months of studying Chinese Mandarin (Taiwan’s official language), I was assigned to the Holy Martyrs Sanctuary parish in Banqiao, near Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. The priest in charge of the parish was Fr. Willy Ollevier, a Belgian priest of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (CICM In the parish, Fr. Willy, speaking of the economic reality of the country, told me that although Taiwan is not considered an independent country, thanks to its large revenues generated by its high-tech companies such as computers, cameras, cameras, tablets, electrical artifacts, television sets, assemblies, etc., it was recognized worldwide as a world power. In our parish there were six of those types of companies. Therefore, it was one of the countries that received the most foreign workers from Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Together with Sister Nelly, a Filipino CICM Sister, he wanted to begin a pastoral care of the faith and, if possible, to celebrate the Eucharist with the workers from the Philippines as he had previously done when in
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charge of another parish. In principle, the idea seemed more unattractive because it meant speaking English (the official language of the Philippines), while my great desire was to put into practice everything I learned in my ten months of Chinese Mandarin study. Even though I began with little spirit, this pastoral ministry gradually became a wonderful experience of being God’s presence to those in need. As we began our pastoral care of Filipino workers, we found two news items, one good and one bad. The good news was that at the six companies within the parish territory, there were many Filipino Catholics (mostly women). The bad news was that of the six companies, only the company head belonged to a Catholic family, and he stated that there would be no difficulty in carrying out this pastoral care with the workers at his company. In relation to the Filipino Catholics working at the other five companies, we would have to see how to accompany them without depriving them of their labor obligations, otherwise they would have serious problems. Thus, knowing that the companies started the work day between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m., we decided that we would do our visits on the weekend.
Our weekly pastoral ministry involved getting up at 5:00 a.m., preparing Sambuhais (Sunday readings), and sometimes preparing sandwiches. We would then go and wait outside the dormitories where the workers stayed. Once the workers were outside, we tried to intersect them to share the Word of God, to make personal intentions, to pray for each one of them and their relatives in the Philippines, to sprinkle them with holy water. We insisted on attending Sunday Mass, receiving the confession and communing the body of Christ. In this way, without an established place, our pastoral accompaniment was carried out in the public way, before the curious eyes of the passersby. We learned to ignore the traffic noise. Little by little, the small pastoral ministry we were doing deeply touched my heart for many reasons. The Filippino workers were, like me, also strangers, from different circumstances, away from their loved ones. In spite of the distance, the only force that moved us was the faith in a Father God who never forsakes those who welcome Him. See, every weekend, the sparkling faces of all those who were opening the doors, the first people they saw were three missionaries with smiles on their faces, sabuhais and sandwiches in their hands, waiting for them. There was a lot to learn from the great example and commitment of faith they had. It was so emotional to see that they were hastening to form circles in order to listen to the Sunday readings, to listen to the reflection and, above all, to receive the blessing of the Father. How anyone not feel challenged to see them running to raise our hands and bring them to their heads in a sign of blessing? And above all, it was very comforting to see some tears emerge from their eyes in gratitude, for, as we were told, despite the infinite adversities of living, far from WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
Little by little, the small pastoral ministry we were doing deeply touched my heart for many reasons. The Filippino workers were, like me, also strangers, from different circumstances, away from their loved ones.
the people they love, in a country of different culture, despite the fatigue and the routine of work, in every moment they felt the accompaniment of God, the one who accompanies with His love, a God who not only listens to them, but also gives them strength to continue. Finally, all these Filipino workers have taught me that there can be sadness, nostalgia, fatigue, anguish, pain, rage, etc., but God is always in our lives. It is up to us to believe and put our trust in Him. That they saw in us a God who came to meet them also represented, for me, the image of a working God, a God who gives His life for all those He loves. These workers, with their charisma and their great strength of faith, they are that close face of the God that I have been looking for so much. Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful pastoral experience. CM Henry Amado Servรกn Vallejos is a Columban seminarian.
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Celebrating Mass
After Mass with Filipino workers
Small group meeting on the street
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Sr. Damien with a mother and child at the Caritas Center in Fanling.
God’s Work Memories of a Long Life By Sr. Damien Rooney
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went to China because we used to get The Far East magazine (the magazine of Columban missionaries published in Ireland). I was the eldest of six children: four girls and then two boys. We grew up between Roscommon and Castlerea in Ireland. I read about China in the magazine and decided this is where I would like to end up. I wrote to the Columban Sisters, and I was invited to meet the person in charge of vocations in Dublin when I was seventeen. I had a boyfriend, and would you believe it, he helped in my vocation. 10
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His name was PJ. My mother would ask me in the evening to get two cans of water from the pump. PJ would offer to come with me. He would say, “I’ll go up with Molly, and I’ll help to carry the cans of water.” My mother didn’t refuse. One day PJ said to me, “Will you marry me?” I responded, “If you’d asked me last year maybe I would have, but this year there is somebody...” And he asked me, “Who is the fellow?” and I told him, “Jesus Christ.” He replied, “Not another!” A previous girl in his life had entered
the Presentation Sisters in Galway. She only died a few years ago. The day I entered, October 1, 1940, PJ came to see me that morning to say goodbye. He was a true blue. He did get married to a very nice lady six years after I entered service. They had no family, and he died at 45 from kidney trouble. He was such a good fellow. He is certainly in heaven. It was very hard leaving my father and my mother – very hard. The only thing about it is that God was in it. They told me, “If this is what you choose, we’re all for it.” We said WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
goodbye, and we thought we would never meet again. After I entered and did my postulancy, I was told to do nursing, which took three years, because I was going to China after I was professed. Mother Mary Patrick was our superior general. We travelled to China on an aircraft carrier. It was after the Second World War and there was nothing else available. We left from England. It was hard going and took a month to get there. We went out to China, and we thought we would never see home again. In 1946, I was missioned in Hanyang City. Bishop Edward Galvin, the co-founder of the Columban Fathers, was there (he was the first bishop of Hanyang) and Columban Fr. Dan Fitzgerald. Bishop Galvin was very gentle and very nice. He would come over to the Sisters’ home just across the road to tell us whatever news there was. We liked him very much; he was a very good holy man.
Fr. Dan was always the perfect priest – always. He too was a very good man, and he loved Jesus Christ. He was the same his whole 100 years until the day God took him (August 9, 2016). He is above in heaven now. He was a priest to the day he died. Our life in China was tough, in a way it was much tougher than now. But we had a vocation. I was working in a hospital the Columbans were setting up which dealt with maternity matters as well as general health. It was hard going, but you were doing it for a purpose – you were doing it for God with other Sisters who were of like mind. Learning the Chinese language was a necessity; you had to know the language. It is a difficult language, but we did our best and learnt enough of it to carry on our daily life. Some of our Sisters are excellent at Chinese. Bishop Galvin was a great man and was looked up to by the people as well as the missionaries. He was out there 40 years, and in the end he was Sr. Damien with Hakka people in Fanling.
Sr. Damien visiting the boat people in Aberdeen on Hong Kong Island. WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
expelled (by Chairman Mao). We all had to leave. The Communists had Bishop Galvin there (for interrogation) night, noon and morning. After the expulsions from China we went to Hong Kong. I was based at the tuberculosis sanatorium for ten years looking after the patients, and then I came home for a holiday for a few weeks and I got to see my family; it was lovely. I was in Hong Kong until 1989. Then I was sent to Birmingham in the United Kingdom, to help in the formation of our young Sisters. While there, I used to visit the men in Winston Green Prison every week, a ministry I loved. I am back in Ireland since about 2006. This is my mission now. I am 95 now; life now is so different. But when you look back on the whole thing, it is one continuous line. God was in the whole thing. I believe in religious life absolutely – it is God’s work. I just loved it and the God who directs us. CM [Editor’s Note: Sr. Damien Rooney was the oldest Columban Sister in the world before her passing in December 2016. She shared some of her memories of life before she became a nun and meeting Bishop Edward Galvin in China. Sr. Damien spent most of her missionary life in Asia, China and then Hong Kong. Over the years she held various positions of authority, including Matron of Ruttonjee Sanatorium and superior of the community. She had a wide circle of friends, especially Chinese, with whom she kept in touch while in Ireland. Sr. Damien was a lifelong friend of 70 years to Columban Fr. Dan Fitzgerald. At Fr. Dan’s funeral Mass, Columban Fr. Patrick Raleigh presented Sr. Damien with a Miraculous medal and chain that Fr. Dan had very much cherished. Sr. Damien prayed unceasingly for the missions until she passed away in December 2016.] August/September 2017
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Adai (center, in wheelchair) and views of the TianGou Chapel
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Adai The Missionary Spirit By Fr. Larry Barnett
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dai is a grandmother and faithful member of the Catholic community in TianGou village in the mountains of Taiwan. Like all the residents of the mountain villages along the DaAn River, Adai is a member of the Tayal tribal group. The women are famed for their weaving and the men for hunting and war. The village sits on a flat spur of the mountains at an elevation of 900 meters (2,952 feet) and is made up of about 50 families. The Catholic Church in the village is small by many standards, but Adai regularly attends house prayers every Wednesday evening and Mass on Sunday morning. She was baptized in the church, married in the church, her children and grandchildren were baptized in the church and several years ago her husband was buried from the same church. For many years she also ran a successful restaurant providing meals for local people and lunch boxes for workers on the roads and occasional tourists. Recently, however, her life has not been easy. Diagnosed with diabetes she gradually lost the sensation in her feet and had her right leg amputated. Heart disease followed, and now she must have kidney dialysis three times a week. She is mostly confined to a wheelchair and is cared for by one of her teenage grandsons. Despite these afflictions, Adai continues to attend house prayers and Sunday Mass. If her grandson cannot bring her, another Catholic member of the village makes sure she can attend. If she hasn’t WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
Fr. Larry at Mass
arrived in time for Mass, even the altar servers already in their cassocks have been known to race off to her house to fetch her. The illness of Adai, and the aging of several other members of the congregation, made us confront a significant lack in our church facilities. The church itself was built by Maryknoll Fr. Dan Dolan and is dedicated to the memory of another Maryknoll priest Fr. Vincent Capodanno. Fr. Capodanno did not work in the village, but was on mission in other parts of Miaoli County for several years. When sent to Hong Kong, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps as a chaplain and died in Vietnam while ministering to wounded Marines under mortar fire. He recently was made a Servant of God, and there is an active campaign for his beatification. TianGou Chapel is the only church dedicated to the Servant of God in Taiwan and one of only a few worldwide. The church was extensively renovated two years ago (the roof leaked in heavy rain), and the altar to Fr. Capodanno was made more prominent. It is now just inside the main door to greet the faithful as they enter for Mass. The procession for Mass begins and ends at that altar. The presence of Adai in her wheelchair raised the obvious problem of access. Two concrete steps lead up to the main door and into the church from a terrace which could only be accessed from the street by five, steep, stone steps. Often, her grandson could not get her up the various steps
and more hands were called from the church, often the altar servers and myself. A ramp was needed. I got a loan and Vesu, the catechist, bought materials and various villagers helped to create a cement ramp from the sidestreet through the wall surrounding the church property, around to the front and into the church. A new main gate was installed, and we commissioned a roof over the main door to provide shelter from heavy rain. A new metal sign was put up facing the street. It all cost $1,000 and greatly adds to the beauty of the church. However, the village Catholics struggle to repay the loan. I am sure they would be very grateful for any assistance. Certainly, Adai is grateful that she can now more easily get to church, as are the two other elderly ladies who make their way to Mass on Sunday with the use of their walkers. It also means that they can get to the bathrooms behind the church and to the kitchen where women of the village, on a roster, on Sunday after Mass cook lunch for older parishioners and a Columban missionary. I have known Adai since I came to the parish, and her faithfulness in the face of affliction continues to inspire. She has responded wholeheartedly to everything God has asked of her. In this, she resembles Fr. Capodanno and his sacrifice for others. Could we all not show that same missionary spirit?! CM Columban Fr. Larry Barnett lives and works in Taiwan.
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Seeing What Is Right in Front of Us Rediscovering a Sense of Home By John Din
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had the privilege to visit the Punduha ng (Stopover) Mga Dumagat Center in Norzagaray, Bulacan as part of the elaboration of an eco-spirituality module that the Save Sierra Madre Network Alliance is developing. The module is based on the practices of the Dumagat, a tribal group that lives in the Sierra Madre mountain ranges in the island of Luzon, Philippines. I went with the organization with a concrete program in mind – to conduct a workshop with the indigenous group with a view of drafting a spirituality based on the way of life of the Dumagat. We arrived at our destination on a Friday evening in the middle of torrential rains. Mud was everywhere, even inside the makeshift school and small houses that served as our sleeping area. This sight raised a concern to me as to what would happen the following day. Would there be a suitable place to hold our planned workshop that was free from rain and mud? Would this planned activity be a failure? I slept with this preoccupation in mind in a small nipa house, a typical stopover place of the Dumagat, designed mostly for resting and sleeping. This is an integral part of their nomadic way of life. I was lucky I was offered a sleeping bag to keep me from the cold winds brought about by the rain. I woke up the following 14
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day still with the same preoccupation in mind. While waiting for our activity to start, something happened that just imbued me with a sense of awe and wonder looking at what seemed to be familiar and natural. I saw the Dumagat children walking around as if everything was fine, despite the non-stop rain and mud inside the school caused by the water coming in. After seeing the kids playing in the rain barefoot, I saw, or maybe it was revealed to me, how there was simply an inner homeness in their habitat, not an uneasiness of the natural world. Homeness is not only defined by the walls of the nipa house but extended to the natural world. This is indeed a very different concept compared to our current technocratic paradigm where we shield ourselves from a world that is becoming stranger to us. Our security is based on the walls we build. In contrast, the Dumagat are very at home with the weather, the animals, the trees and everything that surrounds them. There is nothing strange to them. Home for them is everywhere in the Sierra Madre mountain ranges. Their habitat is their home. Thus, defending the Sierra Madre mountain range is to defend and ensure the existence of the Dumagat tribe. Currently, the Sierra Madre is threatened with continuous illegal logging, mining, land grabbing,
road construction and the construction of a dam supposedly to ensure the water supply for metro Manila. Indeed, the mindset that promotes the wanton destruction is alien to the Dumagat people. This experience has taught me that the spirituality of the Dumagat tribe expressed in the reverence and respect towards the natural world is deeply grounded and rooted in their habitat. We were there with the task of putting words to their experience, but we found the limits of the words to describe an inner at-homeness with the natural world. I waited for the Dumagat to tell me how they come to have a way of life that is one and connected with the environment, but instead, they have shown me their innate ease with the natural world. I was grateful for that gift to see what was right in front of me. Indeed, the Dumagat people as well as the different indigenous people around the world, particularly those in Peru and Brazil with whom I had the privilege to meet, have a very important lesson to teach us – to rediscover this sense of at-homeness with the natural world, with creation, because we are a part of it. CM John Din works in the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation ministry for the Missionary Society of St. Columban in the Philippines.
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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: ______________________________________________
Climbing Our Mountains All Things Are Possible with God By Fr. Kurt Zion Pala
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grew up with nothing but fear and distance from my father. It seems there was a mountain between us. I envied my friends who had great relationships with their fathers. But this changed. I grew up. One of the last few things we did was climb the highest peak in Iligan City. Together with my sister we crossed the bridge and walked for about an hour or less and reached the peak of Mount Agadagad. On the way up we had to wait for my father who was getting tired and out of breath. Finally we reached the peak and sat down on the bench. That was the first and last time we climbed mountains together. My father died on the feast of the Transfiguration, August 6, 2009. My father was proud, and his pride was his children. At his wake, people would come up to me and tell me how proud he was of us his children, how proud he was of his son who was studying to become a priest. He was not physically there for the rest of my journey into priesthood, but his presence felt even more real for me. Our God is a loving and merciful Father. The mountains are signs of God’s goodness, creativity and mercy. His love and mercy are as high as mountains and as deep as the oceans. 16
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God the Father loves his Son and loves us exactly how He loves His Son. In the Gospel we hear God the Father exclaim the words, “This is my Son, the chosen. Listen to him.” Earlier at the baptism of Jesus a voice was also heard saying, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased.” God affirms and lifts up His Son all the time, speaks about Him before people, showing everyone His love for Jesus. That is exactly how God the Father loves you. Our earthly fathers may have fallen short of this.
Our earthly fathers may have fallen short of this. Yet no matter how many times human beings fail, God the Father is faithful and good. Yet no matter how many times human beings fail, God the Father is faithful and good. He pours His love into us. Imagine the image of a father seeing his child for the first time, embracing the child close to his heart that the child could hear the heartbeat of the father. Imagine yourself to be that child. Allow God to embrace you. Listen to His heartbeat. It beats with your name.
What can we learn from mountains and mountain-climbing? Listen, know and be transfigured. Listen. An important aspect in mountain-climbing is listening. When one climbs a mountain it is important to listen and be attentive to what is happening around you. Listen to yourself. If you think you can do it, then you can. But more than listening to yourself, listen to God more. In the Bible many encounters of people with God happened on top of the mountain. It is where God reveals Himself. The Ten Commandments were given to Moses on Mount Sinai, and Jesus taught his Sermon on the Mount. Mountains are special places of encounter with God. In the Gospel, God the Father spoke to the three apostles, Peter, James and John, “This is my chosen Son, Listen to him.” Do you hear Jesus Christ calling you? What do you hear? Pope Francis reminds us. “Do not be afraid! Ask Jesus what he wants from you?” Listen to Jesus. Know. When climbing a mountain, it is important to know and study the mountain. There could be obstacles along the way that require you to go up and down in order to reach the peak. Our faith journey WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
requires us to know and study Jesus. It requires us to pass through and face temptations just like Jesus did. We will fail at times and fall just like in climbing a mountain. When we hold on to nothing but ourselves we will surely fall. But what is important is that we know where we are heading in life, towards Jesus Christ. Reaching the top is only half of the battle, half the journey. The view from the top is magical and intimidatingly awesome. It must be the same thing the three apostles felt at the top of the mountain when they saw more than what they imagined. They saw the glory of God, a glimpse of the things to come. They wanted to stay and put up tents so they can forever stay with the experience. Peter, James and John, I imagined must be taking selfies of themselves already. Our experience on the mountaintop is momentary but truly wonderfully life-giving and fills us with hope that life can go on with all the heartaches and pains. We all need to go down and move on. Life is a journey. One priest puts it that the Transfiguration was the mountaintop experience of the apostles that prepared them for the coming trials. WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
Fr. Kurt and his father
My father died on the feast of the Transfiguration, August 6, 2009. My father was proud, and his pride was his children. For us today, the celebration of the Holy Eucharist is our mountaintop experience which prepares us for our own daily trials. At Mass, the transfiguration happens at the transubstantiation when the bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ the Risen Lord. Some attend Mass just for that experience of peace and feeling good. We want to only get that feeling and stay with it. But at the end of the Mass, the priest challenges us, “The Mass is ended. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” Go, we continue on with the journey and pick up our Cross. Transfigured. It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves
asserted Sir Edmund Hillary, an explorer and philanthropist from New Zealand. We do not change the mountain but we become changed. On the mountaintop Jesus was transfigured. His face and clothes dazzled with light unlike anything they had seen. The apostles had a glimpse of the glory to come when Jesus will change our lowly body to be like His glorious body. When we climb mountains, we are never the same coming down. Hopefully we are never the same after this journey. Let us climb the mountain together. Let us listen to Jesus, know and understand Him more and be transformed. Let us day after day grow in our love and knowledge of Jesus as we also grow in understanding what Jesus is asking of us. Now I have two fathers in heaven. Now I learned to trust like a child. Trust in our God the Father. Imagine a father throwing his child into the air and catching him or her. The child laughs with joy as he flies into the air and returns to the father’s arms. We can do the same thing with God. CM Fr. Kurt Zion Pala lives and works in Myanmar.
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A Missionary Journey 43 Years on Mission By Fr. Gerry Neylon
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was born in County Clare, Ireland, the eldest of seven children, four girls and three boys. I have thirteen nieces and nephews. As a young man I felt that God was calling me to be a missionary, and I entered the Columban seminary training program in 1965 at Dalgan Park, County Meath, Ireland. I was one of sixteen who were ordained priests on Easter Sunday, 1973, at Dalgan Park. Four of us were appointed to South Korea soon after.
Mission to South Korea I arrived in Korea in August 1973, just over four months after ordination. At that time, there was tremendous interest in the Church. Because the Korean government of the 1970s treated the workers very harshly, the 18
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Catholic Church along with other Churches stood up for the human rights of workers and criticized their appalling working conditions. As a result, many workers and their families became interested in the Christian faith and many entered the Church. It was a very busy time for the Church and us as missionaries; it was challenging but very exciting to be involved with such vibrant, mostly youthful parishioners. I would gladly have spent my life in Korea, but after five years my life changed dramatically.
Mission to Taiwan In 1978, the Columbans decided to open new missions in Taiwan and Pakistan, and I was asked to leave South Korea to join a new team of
five missionaries going to Taiwan. We arrived in 1979, and I remained there 18 years until 1997. Taiwan presented us with an entirely different missionary challenge. Unlike South Korea, there was very little interest in the Catholic church, or indeed any church, in Taiwan. In fact, the people were so busy working around the clock that they did not have time to go to church or to get involved in parish activities. For us young Columbans, the obvious question became, “How can we make the Gospel relevant to the lives of the people of Taiwan?� In discussion with experienced missionaries, we identified a number of areas where we could reach out to the most oppressed people around us. WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
As there was little respect for mentally challenged persons, Fr. Thomas Murphy and I decided to set up centers to work to change attitudes towards such persons in society. We established two worker’s centers to help industrial workers fight for their human rights and began a ministry to Taiwanese prisoners, trying to bring the light of the Gospel into their lives. We also set up advocacy centers for the rights of foreign migrant workers, who often suffer exploitation and abuse. Once again, I envisaged spending the rest of my life in this very satisfying and enriching apostolate, but suddenly my life took another remarkable turn.
Mission to China In 1997, I was asked to join the Columban team in China. A big part
of my life here has been connected with the recruitment and placement of teachers in China. During the 1980s the Columbans wondered how they could help from a Gospel point of view in the modernization of the new China. They knew, of course, that as nonChinese, they could not be involved in any public religious activities in the China of today. They consulted widely with Chinese people and were assured that Columbans could make a considerable contribution through recruiting teachers, particularly native speakers of English and sending them to China. In 1988, Columban Fr. Edward Kelly set up the AITECE program which provides foreign teachers to Chinese universities across the entire nation. AITECE stands for “The Association of International Teaching,
Educational and Curriculum Exchange.” It has the registration number 001 with the Chinese government in Beijing, as it was the very first foreign group of English teachers to register. AITECE is highly regarded by the Chinese Government for its reliability, professionalism and the fact that it screens its teachers very thoroughly. While AITECE is an independent organization, the Columbans have always played a leading role in supporting it. The present AITECE manager is Fr. Joseph Houston, a Columban from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Since 1988, AITECE has sponsored almost 400 foreign teachers and experts, working in over 90 universities across China, in thirteen provinces, two municipalities and one autonomous region. Many of the AITECE teachers have come from New Zealand and Australia as well as Ireland, Britain, Canada, the Philippines and the United States. Chinese universities are desperately looking for teachers and warmly welcome them. I am delighted to be involved with the AITECE program. The teachers are making a tremendous contribution to China by their very lives. They must not engage in any form of religious activities, but they witness to Jesus Christ by their very lives as teachers. Their life, like mine, is about forming relations and interacting with their students in as deep and intimate way as possible and letting them see for themselves what a Christian is. CM Columban Fr. Gerry Neylon lives and works in China.
An AITECE volunteer and her students WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
Are you interested in teaching in China for a year or more? If so, please contact Fr. Joseph Houston in Hong Kong at: www.aitece.com August/September 2017
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The Homeless of Wakayama Working in Solidarity By Fr. Joe Broderick
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n 2005 I went to work in the Yakatamachi parish where a group of Brothers and priests, inspired by Charles de Foucald, lived simply and worked among the homeless. They went to the public parks and other places where the homeless lived, looked after them and put pressure on the local government to play their part. When I arrived they were holding their monthly meetings in the church hall, where they shared a big meal with 60 to 80 homeless individuals (mainly men) and offered haircuts, medical attention and clothes. Initially I was not involved but had ample opportunity to meet the De Foucald Brothers and Priests. I soon began to go to the monthly meetings and one of my roles became to accompany those who wished to get cigarettes to the local Seven 11 store, where of course I paid. 20
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Fr. Ota Masaru is the leader of the De Foucald community, and he coordinated all the activities with the homeless. He, like his companions, worked a day job, which was their way of both supporting their community and living close to the people of the local community. Fr. Ota went to the best schools and a top university and could have had a career in the upper circles of Japanese society. He, like all the members of his religious community, has chosen to put his talents at the service of the poorest of the poor. Their priests do not staff parishes but serve their own religious community and may help in the parish when necessary. They and the Brothers come to Mass like any other parishioner and maintain an unobtrusive presence in our parish community. Most Christian families in our city come from low caste
families as, for centuries, this part of Japan was home to a huge tannery center and those who engaged in this work were relegated by an ancient government decree to the lowest caste in society. While the caste system is no longer officially recognized in Japan many families continue to be aware of their caste origin and, in general, prefer to avoid social contact with those they consider beneath them. There was a period when many low caste families in the Wakayama area entered the Church but not all members of the community were happy with this. They unsuccessfully requested a parish for themselves apart from the low caste Catholics. In due course I came to admire the work being done by Fr. Ota and his companions. I decided to do what I could to support their work. So, at a meeting of the group (made up of Christians and non-Christians) that worked with the homeless I proposed using the church hall for
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accommodation during the winter months. Some Christians present wondered whether the parish council would go along with this proposal but that was not a problem. However, they did request that first, all drinking and smoking be outside; second, one member of the organization group stay with the homeless in the church hall at night. Fr. Ota stayed with them the first night and assured us that all would be fine after that. There were around eight men (after a while it was down to four) who came along regularly, and they themselves eventually decided that they would come in after Christmas and leave the first day of Holy Week. I feared they would make a mess, but each day they cleaned up and showed a great respect for the church. Often one would say to me: “We like that guy on the cross; he’s one of us.” Fr. Ota and his companions would help them get a small apartment funded by the City and so, once they had an address, they were able to access the financial help offered by the City. However, there are always some who don’t like to be confined to a single room; they prefer the freedom WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
of the streets. Part of that freedom is the sharing that is so common among people on the streets, which might be difficult to come by if living independently in a small apartment. One man I met, Mr. Tanaka, lived under a bridge and slept in a cardboard box that he had made himself; it was like a drawer, sliding in and out. Even in winter he slept in his box with five pairs of socks on and a number of layers on the rest of his body. He stored his clothes and other belongings in the girders of the bridge. Then, one day he and his bicycle and all his clothes and things disappeared. No one knew what had become of him. He seemed to have left no trace. About a month later I was at the church at around 6:00 a.m. and I heard a quiet voice: “Fr. Joe, it has been a long time since I saw you.” Mr. Tanaka was standing under a bush. “What happened to you? We’ve been worried about you.” I said to him. Then he began to tell me the whole story. “I decided to kill myself because I was just a nuisance to everyone. I got rid of all my belongings. I jumped
into the river but every time I jumped I came up again. So, I went to the sea but every time I went out the sea brought me back. I tried to hang myself but the rope broke. [He was probably using second hand rope!] I decided that I’m not meant to die. I have to live. I thought of you Joe Chan [familiar form of address] so that’s why I’m here.” He went on to say to me: “Joe, I’d love to be homeless again because when we found something we’d share it.” The homeless have never caused me any trouble. I’m now in another parish a few hours away but, whenever possible, I return to Wakayama for the monthly meal and gathering of the homeless. Afterwards we head to the local Seven 11 for cigarettes and, as a friend said to me on a recent visit: “These trips to Wakayama can be quite costly for you!” I left that parish six months ago, and the homeless took up a collection for me. It was the most joyous collection I have ever received. CM Columban Fr. Joe Broderick lives and works in Japan.
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Columban Martyrs Memorial Garden Do nothing out of selďŹ shness 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 reection 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 selessly, 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.
Boys Town Japan
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n late 1917, Fr. Edward Galvin landed in New York and began a long trek across the country in search of a suitable location for the U.S. headquarters of the Missionary Society of St. Columban. At the same time, another Irish priest, Fr. Edward Flanagan, who had already ministered for several years in Nebraska, began earnestly searching for a suitable residence for poor and homeless boys. Within six months both priests were to find a home for their fledgling organizations in Omaha. During the following decades the story of Columban missionaries and the story of Boys Town would intersect not only in Omaha, but also in Kumamoto, Japan. In 1947 Fr. Flanagan visited Japan where he witnessed the devastation caused by World War II. There he was moved with pity in particular for the many children who had been left orphaned or destitute. At that same time, moved also by the great suffering of their people, some Japanese
FROM THE DIRECTOR By Fr. Tim Mulroy
bishops invited Columban missionaries to come and minister to them. Among the Columbans who arrived in Japan soon afterwards was Fr. George Bellas. A native of New Jersey, he had attended the Columban seminary outside Omaha, where he had become familiar with Boys Town. Like many of his fellow countrymen who were U.S. servicemen in Japan at that time, the sight of so many boys who had been orphaned or left homeless by the war saddened him greatly. Some of these servicemen pooled their personal resources and used their military positions to
This year, as Boys Town celebrates its centennial, we give thanks to God for the abundant fruit that grew from the seed sown by Fr. Flanagan in Omaha in 1917. obtain a site and construct a Boys Town facility in the city of Kumamoto. In May 1955, with Fr. Bellas as the director, the facility opened its doors to thirty-two boys. During the following two decades, Fr. Bellas devoted himself tirelessly to hundreds of Boys Town residents. His firm yet kind approach earned him the love and respect of those in his care. Thanks to the continuing generosity of U.S. servicemen in Japan as well as Columban supporters back home, he was able to provide them not only with a safe place to live, but also equip them with trades and skills so that one day they would be able to contribute to the rebuilding of their country. In 1976 Boys Town in Kumamoto was taken over by the Chauffailles Sisters, who changed the name to Garden Of Angels. However, when Fr. Bellas died in 1990, the Sisters facilitated part of his cremains being buried in the cemetery there, close to his extended Boys Town family that is scattered across the surrounding district. This year, as Boys Town celebrates its centennial, we give thanks to God for the abundant fruit that grew from the seed sown by Fr. Flanagan in Omaha in 1917.
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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
“If you knew the gift of God and who it is who is saying to you ‘give me a drink,’ you would have asked and he would have given you living water.” — John 4:10
If you feel a thirst to spread the word of Jesus, we would love to discuss missionary life with 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 National Vocation Director Columban Sisters 2546 Lake Road Silver Creek, NY 14136 716-934-4515 Email: sscusvocations@yahoo.com Websites: www.columbansisters.org www.columbansistersusa.com
Japan + Korea + Peru + Hong Kong + Philippines + Pakistan + Chile + Fiji + Taiwan + North America