The Magazine of the Missionary Society of St. Columban
May 2016
Meaningful Relationships COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 1
3/1/16 3:54 PM
C
Volume 99 - Number 3 - May 2016
Columban Mission
o n t e n t s
Issue Theme – Meaningful Relationships
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
A Short-Term Mission 8 Changed for Good Experience in the Pacific
12
4 Learning to Be a Missionary
Living and Learning in Fiji
5 On Accepting and Being Accepted
On Mission in a Parish in Lahore, Pakistan
7 Cuzco’s Children
Celebrating the Feast Day of St. Columban
14 Responding to the Need
Lending a Hand to the Poor
16 “I Just Want to Share My Story and Know that Someone Cares.”
Working with the Most Vulnerable
17 Small Pentecosts
Gratitude Is the Antidote!
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 REV. TIMOTHY MULROY, SSC JEFF NORTON GREG SIMON FR. RICHARD STEINHILBER, SSC SCOTT WRIGHT
19 Help and Guidance
A Thank You from a Columban Seminarian
20 Weakness and Failure Lead to New Understanding
Shusaku Endo, A Modern Day Prophet
Departments 3 In So Many Words 23 From the Director
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 2
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.
3/1/16 3:54 PM
In So Many Words By Fr. Frank Hoare
Mission to Share with Others We rejoice in the great gift of life. But as we grow older this gift is overshadowed by experiences of illness, pain, and loss. The certainty of an ever-approaching death often makes life itself seem meaningless. God in Jesus Christ has wonderfully answered this prayer. Jesus, moved by the Spirit, inaugurated the Kingdom of God by healing, casting out evil spirits, calling all to conversion and offering forgiveness and the fellowship of love to all who believed his message. He surrendered to God’s will in all things. He endured the opposition of His religious leaders, physical suffering, loneliness and even the sense of being abandoned by His Abba as He was dying. Jesus lived and died in solidarity with all of us humans. He rose above our human nature in forgiving and loving those who killed Him and in being raised from the dead by God. He broke the power of death by enduring it and then conquering it. Jesus was raised to a new and eternal life and offered all who believe this amazing grace too. Women were the first witnesses of this cosmic miracle. Their incredible message caused Peter and John to race to the empty tomb. Mary Magdalen wanted to cling to her beloved Lord. Thomas refused to believe without certain proof. The apostles were paralyzed with fear and doubt until Jesus showed He wasn’t a ghost. Initially some did not recognize Him but the experience of their encounter with the esus was raised to a new resurrected Christ changed them completely. They became new people. They found a new life. and eternal life and offered The Risen Jesus brought peace, forgiveness and a new creation. This was an incredible experience of all who believe this amazing God’s love. It was a new covenant written on the heart. The joy and wonder of it all could only find expression grace too. in a mission to share this hope and love with others.
J
Columban Fr. Frank Hoare lives and works in Fiji. WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 3
May 2016
3 3/1/16 3:54 PM
Learning to Be a Missionary Living and Learning in Fiji By Fr. Nilton Iman
M
y name is Nilton Iman, and I am a priest of the Diocese of Chimbote, a land blessed with the blood of the first martyrs of my country, Peru. These past months, I was meditating during my personal prayer on John 12:24. “I assure you that unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it can only be a single seed. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.” The reason was the ceremony of beatification of the first Peruvian martyrs P. Michael, P. Zbigniew (Polish Franciscans) and P. Sandro (Italian missionary), killed by the terrorist group “Sendero Luminoso,”
4
May 2016
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 4
(the Shining Path) in August 1991. They gave their lives in our Diocese of Chimbote, Peru. I thought about their determination to leave their countries, their cultures, and their families, and to go to a mission. I imagine there were many difficulties. I thanked God for their lives, their generosity and service, even to death. My vocation to the priesthood has been inspired by the testimony and the missionary life of priests from the Missionary Society of Santiago Apostle. They worked for many years in my parish. Their examples of life and service encouraged me to leave all and follow the Lord in the priesthood.
I was ordained priest on March 23, 2008, and after five years of service in the mountains of my diocese, I began a missionary journey with the Columban Fathers. I was appointed to their mission in the Fiji Islands. On September 2014, I arrived in Fiji after a long journey. Now it is time to learn, live, and share. I feel like I’m learning to be a missionary. For me, the first step is to know the mission—learning the language, culture, customs, etc. In Fiji, I am experiencing a new culture and customs very different from mine. The first months were difficult, because I had to adapt to a new climate, time zone, language, etc. After studying the Fijian language, and visiting some communities of Columban mission, I am learning how life is in this part of the world. I’m learning to be a missionary. The Fijian culture is deeply symbolic. The ceremonies are conducted with grandeur and dignity. For example, veiqaravi vakavanua is the traditional ceremony to welcome visitors. Yaqona, a traditional beverage, is drunk in all ceremonies. People present their condolences offering gifts, food, and mats on the occasion of a death, and this is kniown as reguregu. Cobo is the applause done with cupped hands to give thanks when a gift is received, or when you want to say something important in a meeting. People in the Fiji Islands have tremendous respect for the priest. Usually he sits in a place of honor WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
3/1/16 3:54 PM
when visiting the villages, the first glass of yaqona is served to him. He is offered sevusevu (a yaqona plant) and a tabua, (a whale’s tooth) which are the symbol of gratitude for his visit. The people in Fiji live their faith with joy, closeness, and generosity. For the Fijian culture, the family and the people who inhabit the same territory are very important. Tasks such as cleaning, preparing a welcome ceremony, fishing, gardening, and more, are not only individual efforts, but also are done with a sense of brotherhood, that is, people live helping each other. The essence of life in Fiji is respect, joy, generosity, family, neighbors, countrymen, and brotherhood expressed through a symbolic view of the world. In conversations with families, meetings with young people, visiting the sick, interreligious meetings, and the celebration of Mass, I am getting
to know a God close and present in the history, the customs, and in the culture of Fijians. He gives me the strength and courage to continue discovering His presence among the people, to serve Him with joy, passion, and enthusiasm in mission.
I thought about their determination to leave their countries, their cultures, and their families, and to go to a mission. In conclusion, mission is an invitation to know, to live, and to share our faith with others, wherever we are. Throughout this time in Fiji, with a contemplative sight, I have tried to understand what it means to serve the Lord in mission. I am beginning to understand “something”
and that fills me with wonder and joy. I am learning and living with enthusiasm, because I am sharing with an open heart my priestly ministry building the Kingdom. I am walking every day with joy and gratitude, because it’s worth spending our lives for the Kingdom. I want to thank God for His goodness and love in this time of missionary experience in Fiji. Also, I want to thank the Columban Fathers for giving me the opportunity to mission with them. St. Columban, and the first martyrs P. Miguel, P. Zbigniew and P. Sandro, beatified in our Chimbotana Church of Peru, continue to inspire me in this missionary journey. CM
Originally from Peru, Fr. Nilton Iman is living and working in Fiji as an associate priest with the Columban missionaries.
On Accepting and Being Accepted On Mission in a Parish in Lahore, Pakistan By Paula Matakiviwa
I
n 2007 my father talked to me about the possibility of going overseas as a lay missionary. When I began to attend, with 20 others, the orientation program in Suva I had no idea what being a missionary might be about. I had only seen the priests, Sisters and brothers working in my parish in Fiji. Six of the twenty who attended the class were selected for the one year preparation program in 2008. For me, a significant part of our program was living with a Hindu Indian family in a sugar cane growing area of Fiji about three hours drive WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 5
from Suva. Living and sharing with them I began to realize that being a lay missionary was not merely about preaching the Christian message. I learned that I could also learn from others and do so in an unfolding relationship that would be for my good and theirs. Some evenings I would go to a nearby village to drink yaqona with Fijian friends and would arrive back home late in the night. My Hindu host family always waited up for me; I felt guilty about keeping them up late. I also realized that they genuinely
Living and sharing with them I began to realize that being a lay missionary was not merely about preaching the Christian message. cared for me. One day four Fijian men from the community of the Jehovah’s Witnesses came to the house to talk about their religion. They were saying negative things about the Hindu religion and telling my Hindu host family that they were worshipping May 2016
5 3/1/16 3:54 PM
Whenever I met a certain young man in the parish I would ask him how he was and he would reply, “By the power of your prayers I am still alive.”
Paula (center) with friends in Pakistan
idols. I was so upset and embarrassed. The visitors were my people, Fijians, and even though they were not Catholic, they had come with a Bible. My host family realized that I was upset. That encounter made me really question: “What does it mean to be a lay missionary?” I had no interest in telling people who had welcomed and befriended me that they were worshipping idols. I have come to understand that the missionary’s work happens in the give and take of life. Here I ask myself about what I might learn from those with whom I am involved, how I might offer them some of who I am and in turn grow in this experience. I treat people as I find them, regardless of who they may be. Around Christmas time last year I was riding my motorbike and the clutch cable snapped. I stopped and began walking the bike along the side of the road. I spotted a policeman on duty at an intersection and asked him if there was a service station in the vicinity. He left his post and accompanied me to the service station where I had the cable replaced. As we were saying goodbye, the policeman asked me where I was from and whether I was a Muslim. I told him that I was Fijian and a Christian. He said to 6
May 2016
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 6
me, “Merry Christmas.” I asked him whether he was a Christian. “No”, he replied. “I am a Muslim.” And so, we parted company. Whenever I met a certain young man in the parish I would ask him how he was and he would reply, “By the power of your prayers I am still alive.” The people only asked for my prayers, and yet I hardly pray at all in the traditional way of saying prayers. However, my spiritual director told
I had no interest in telling people who had welcomed and befriended me that they were worshipping idols. me that in doing good I am praying. As regards to what I have to offer, I feel that my main contribution is simply being with others, be they youth, children or families. Last week I went to a wedding in a village just outside the parish. I was feeling a little unwell and really did not want to be there. I thought the ceremony would start at 8:00 p.m. but nothing happened until 11:00 p.m. By the end of it I was feeling even worse. I had wanted to get back to the parish that night, but it was too late and dangerous to ride my bike back to
town. After the wedding I was sitting with friends watching a dancer on YouTube and a small girl came along and began to dance the exact moves I was watching on the screen. I began to cheer up and a smile crept over my face. I noticed the others in the room watching me. They told me that they had seen my unhappiness. They asked the little girl to dance precisely to bring me out of my mood. I realized the importance of happily being with others. It had never occurred to me that my hosts would look for a way to actually make me happy. I participate in the parish programs and, for the most part, I do no more than accompany. I am not a teacher of anything. Three times a week I go to a home for mentally disabled men. I help with their washing, make sure they shower properly and have made friends with them. I have found that they respect and help each other. I spend a lot of my time in the rural villages of the parish so don’t always make it to the meetings in the parish center. However, the man in charge of the parish Bible programs, Mushtaq, insists that I be present. He told me that I give energy to other participants even though I don’t understand all that is being said. Being a lay missionary in Pakistan is for me an enriching experience; I hope that those with whom I share my days are also being enriched in some way. CM Columban lay missionary Paula Matakiviwa lived and worked in Pakistan with the Columban missionaries.
WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
3/1/16 3:54 PM
Cuzco’s Children Celebrating the Feast Day of St. Columban By Fr. YoungIn Kim
Editor’s Note: On Monday, November, 23, 2015, Columban Fr. YoungIn Kim celebrated the Feast Day of St. Columban in Cuzco, Peru. He described the experience in the article below. I have just came back from celebrating thirteen Masses in various distant communities, most of which are a three or four hours’ drive from the main church here in Yanaoca. I was on the road every day during this past week, traveling from village to village to celebrate these Masses because another Columban priest, Fr. Paul Prendergast (who is over 80 years of age), and I are responsible for the pastoral care of 130 communities. Jesus’ words to His followers, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few” are indeed very clear to both Fr. Paul and me, as well as to the people of this province. During this past week, the farmers whom I met in every village are eagerly waiting for the rainy season so that they can begin cultivating their fields. They are also hoping that, with the harsh cold weather behind them, the rainy season will be kind to the lamas, sheep, alpacas and cows. WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 7
My principal purpose in writing, however, is to thank you and all Columban benefactors most sincerely for your generous donations to a new children’s project here in Yanaoca. Since the vast majority of the people here are extremely poor, the children did not have any activities that they could enjoy after school or during weekends. Moreover, there was no public place for them to come together to play and enjoy recreation. For that reason, in March of this year, at the Columban parish here in Yanaoco, we opened a Children’s Home, which is called CHISPITA. The name CHISPITA has a long history for people here. Approximately thirty years ago some religious Sisters initiated a pastoral outreach program to children, which they called CHISPITA –the name of a popular children’s soap opera in Spanish at that time – so it remains a name that evokes many happy memories. Thanks to the recent revival of CHISPITA, twice a week for two hours every Friday and two hours every Sunday, four young adults (three university students and one
other) supervise a recreational program for the children of the surrounding area. And thanks to these young leaders, around 50 children, between the age of 5 and 11 years old, can come together now on a regular basis to enjoy various activities and play games. Your generous donations help us facilitate this program, in particular to buy various materials for arts and crafts, as well as educational games and toys, which these children’s parents would never be able to provide. It is a joy to see the faces of these poor children light up with spontaneity and excitement as they play together in a safe, warm place. Naturally, their parents are also delighted with the blessing CHISPITA brings to this impoverished community. On behalf of those parents and their families, thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and generous gifts. CM Columban Fr. YoungIn Kim lives and works in Peru.
May 2016
7 3/1/16 3:54 PM
A Short-Term Mission Experience in the Pacific A Learning Experience By Patrick O’Dwyer
F
iji for me will always be one of the most wonderful places in the world. I never expected to end up in Fiji, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean surrounded only by a vast expanse of water. It’s almost impossible to get further away from Ireland, my home country. If I could stick a giant needle through the earth at Ireland and pass it through the center of the earth, it would come out pretty close to Fiji! Yet that is where I found myself, living among the Columban Fathers, a kind and
good-humored bunch of priests from Ireland, New Zealand, Peru, and most recently South Korea. My journey really started during my studies the previous year when I met my momo (uncle in Fijian) Fr. Frank Hoare in Ireland. I told him that I wanted to work in development, perhaps in Africa. He was quick to suggest Fiji, yet at the time I knew nothing about the country other than it was a famous honeymoon destination. I took him up on the idea. The following September 2014,
We also learned from Conservation International that Fiji needed to plant trees to prevent flooding and the death of its coral reefs from mud flows.
8
May 2016
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 8
I arrived in Nadi and spent the next four months living in the capital, Suva, occupying the Columban Father’s Bula Suite (the welcome suite in Fijian). My first four months in Fiji were spent helping out in any way I could and learning as much as I could about the social justice and economic development issues facing Fijian society. My momo (Fr. Frank) told me that the Columbans were interested in developing some type of shorter term lay volunteer model, and he was interested in how things with me would play out. In an effort to help me better understand Fijian customs and traditions I was paired up with a prospective Columban seminarian, Meli Nanuku. We worked together over the next four months, visiting NGOs (non-government organizations), researching their focus and activities and writing a report with the intent to inform the Social Justice and Development Commission of the Archdiocese of Suva about the major issues facing the country. This was an extraordinary learning experience for both of us, as well as the beginning of a fruitful friendship. Of course I had to do more than this alone to “earn my keep.” My other duties included fetching fresh bread and making sure there was always bread for breakfast. While in Ireland we put the trash bins out only once a week, in Fiji my other duty was WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
3/1/16 3:54 PM
Honey demand in Fiji is high, yet production is low, so Fiji needs to import much of its honey. This is needless given Fiji’s climate and capacity to produce honey.
to rise early and put the bins out three times per week. I also became the house driver during my four months. I would drive the kitchen staff, Naomi and Sala, home in the evenings, collect the post twice a week, and drive any of the administrative staff on any of their errands. Within days of arriving I felt comfortable there, and by the end of my stay, it felt like family. One unexpected duty came in the form of a good-humored patient. Roughly half-way through my stay, the director of the region, Columban Fr. Donal McIlraith slipped and split a muscle in his leg. After a rather invasive surgical operation he was left unable to walk and in need of care. I then became a live-in nurse and physiotherapist. As he began to heal and strengthen, he took me on visits to the settlements at the edge of the city. These settlements were the equivalent to slums in other countries, where the urban poor lived. We met the Catholics in the community, discovered which families needed their children baptized and organized their WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 9
special day at the church. As Fr. Donal became stronger I assisted him on visits to families seeking counseling, visits to families who had just lost a loved one, different churches to say Mass, and brought him to and fro from his scripture lectures. With all of these unique experiences, it felt like I was becoming a missionary priest’s apprentice! It’s fair to say my volunteering experience in Fiji involved me wearing many hats, and assuming many different roles while coming to a deep and profound understanding of a culture completely different from my own. After staying almost four months, I departed for the Philippines to continue volunteering. Coincidentally I spent the next four months volunteering with an NGO called PREDA which is run by Columban Fr. Shay Cullen. This was also an incredible experience, where I worked alongside some of the most inspirational people I have ever met. I worked with youths in conflict with the law, and I was involved in
jail visits aiming to find youths as young as eleven or twelve years old behind bars. PREDA, among other activities, rescues youths from prison cells which at times could hold up to twenty teenagers in one large room, then it offers a diversion program where they can continue their education, practice sports and have their legal cases supported. Following my time at PREDA, I volunteered as a laborer with an NGO called All Hands Volunteers building houses in Tacloban, a city devastated by two consecutive hurricanes. I volunteered there for two months. Luckily I was given a free volunteer visa, as well as free food and accommodation by the NGO in exchange for a six day work week. Heavy duty laboring was tough work but allowed me to lose some pounds I had put on in Fiji! After seven months in the Philippines I returned to Fiji to begin a little project Columban seminarian Meli and I had been planning. During our time researching NGOs, we had learned some very interesting things in the area of income generation. Honey demand in Fiji is high, yet production is low, so Fiji needs to import much of its honey. This is needless given Fiji’s climate and capacity to produce honey. From an NGO called FRIEND we learned that an investment of 3,000 Fiji dollars ($1,388.00 U.S.) could give an annual return of 5,0006,000 Fiji dollars ($2,314-$2,777.00 U.S.) annually. This is substantial given that minimum wage is roughly 80 Fiji dollars ($37.00 U.S.) per week. We also learned from Conservation International that Fiji needed to plant trees to prevent flooding and the death of its coral reefs from mud flows. One of the trees they encouraged people to plant was called sandalwood or in Fijian, yasi. We discovered that a twenty-year-old tree could be sold for anything between 5,000 Fiji dollars May 2016
9 3/1/16 3:54 PM
($2,314.00 U.S.) and 15,000 Fiji dollars ($6,943.00 U.S.). We planned to create a type of Ireland-Fiji partnership where some capital from Ireland (my family and friends) could initiate some income generation that could bring a return. This plan brought me back to Fiji and up to Namataveikai, a beautiful village in the province of Ra. Here I was given a taste of the reality of village life. I stayed in the village for two weeks and bought four doubleset bee boxes, with bees included, along with some training from a local company called McKenzie Beeline. This company also offered to buy our honey which brought our business model to completion. While we were there, we talked a lot about sandalwood, how it’s grown and its income potential. Meli’s family constructed a nursery made solely from bamboo and coconut leaves. Now, once we start to see profits from the beehives, they plan to buy seeds for the sandalwood nursery. We divide the beehive profits 50-50, and I hope to save my share to buy a honey extractor, which will double the value of the honey we produce. Meli plans to put his 50% share into a fund to build a Catholic church for his village.
Jokingly he told me he’ll name it St. Patrick’s. The last part of my return visit to Fiji included a week-long visit to the Tutu Rural Training Center, run by the Marists Fathers, in the island of Taveuni. This visit has to be one of my favorite experiences during my time in Fiji. At Tutu I witnessed how the strong bonds and relationships between the people are the cornerstones of their culture. I began to understand that while we in the west emphasize the need to accumulate wealth and expertise in order to be viewed as successful and thus respected, Fijians generally don’t have the same drives because they receive respect and esteem by simply being and becoming older. As a hierarchical society, men become respected, influential elders not by virtue of the wealth they have accumulated but by simply being an elder and a decision-maker in their family. I believe this to be one of the reasons a capitalist mindset has found it so difficult to take hold of the indigenous Fijian’s mindset. However in Tutu, farmers are encouraged to become responsible members of greater Fijian society and not only responsible for their immediate family
At Tutu young farmers must plant a set number of yangona plants (which is much in demand as a non-alcoholic social drink) each year.
Patrick O’Dwyer (in the light colored shirt) in Fiji
and village. Being responsible for greater Fiji encourages these young farmers to reach their potential and make their farms productive enterprises. Farmers learn to manage their time, treat their farms like a business and have goals such as a five year plan. When they do this they can do very well and produce the food to feed a nation. At Tutu young farmers must plant a set number of yangona plants (which is much in demand as a non-alcoholic social drink) each year in order to be enrolled. At the end of their three-year course they can harvest their plants and sell them from anything between 20,000 Fiji dollars ($9,257.00 U.S) to 40,000+ Fiji dollars ($18,514.00 U.S.). This capital gives them the start they need to build a house, buy machinery and attract a wife. At present I’m living in rural Guatemala, volunteering with an educational organization. It’s a different culture, different language and a different feeling, but like my other homes, the mosquitoes are as annoying as ever. CM Patrick O’Dwyer is the nephew of Columban Fr. Frank Hoare.
10
May 2016
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 10
WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
3/1/16 3:54 PM
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: ______________________________________________
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 11
3/1/16 3:54 PM
Changed for Good A Seminarian in Peru By Emmanuel Trocino as told to Stephen Awre
Editor’s note: Emmanuel Trocino, a Columban seminarian from the Philippines, shares his experiences of life and faith in Peru, his first missionary assignment in another country, with Columban employee Stephen Awre. Welcome to Peru, Land of the Incas (Land of the Kings). Many would say that you’ve never really been to this resplendent country until you’ve set foot in the majestic and incomparable Machu Picchu. I was able to visit this Incan legacy. However, there’s much more to Peru than just visiting its archaeological sites, being amazed at its mountains, jungles and deserts, and enjoying the local delicacies. If you stay awhile in Peru you will fall in love with its culture, its tradition, its faith and its people. I am a Columban seminarian from Pulupandan, Negros Occidental, Philippines, on my First Missionary Assignment (FMA) in Peru. FMA is part of our formation as future Columban priests. We leave our homeland to taste what it’s like to
be a missionary in a foreign land, crossing boundaries, experiencing an unfamiliar culture and encountering God in a new face and language.
On Mission What is missionary work like? Basically, you accompany different communities in the parish in their weekly schedule, do some apostolic work, and help in facilitating various parish ministries. If you are a priest, you celebrate Mass and preach on important feast days. A common notion is that missionaries do all the teaching and the people do the learning. In reality it’s mainly the other way around. It’s the missionary who learns from the people: how to speak their language, how to adjust to their way of living, how to perceive and understand things from their point of view, how to recognize and experience God in their culture (this reminds me of the experience of Jake Sully with the Na’vi tribe in the movie Avatar). It feels as if Peruvians have ministered
to me more than I have ministered to them. Being a missionary is very humbling. Like Moses, you step on sacred ground, remove your sandals, and encounter the Divine. Lately, I’ve been having that “Moses experience:” setting foot on the grounds of Guadalupe chapel, “emptying myself ” to our adultos mayores (older adults) and learning the virtues of patience, humility, and perseverance.
Serving the Little Ones Aside from parish work, I also volunteer at a home for children who have been sexually abused. Sometimes I am their companion in play, sometimes their tutor, sometimes their artist drawing for their school projects and, occasionally, making birthday cards for their parents and teachers. With the passage of time, I have become their friend and big brother. Their happiness has become my happiness, their pain my pain. As I watch them playing in all their innocence I wonder how those
I came to Peru with an idealistic dream of bringing change. But it’s Peru that has changed me. It has taught me to see, experience, and celebrate life and God in a different way.
12
May 2016
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 12
WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
3/1/16 3:54 PM
who abused them could have done such to these gentle souls. Instead of loving and protecting them, these people violated them and taught them to distrust the world around them. I want the children to be healed. I want them to love and trust again. I want them to live in a safe place where they can just be themselves as children. So in my own small way, I help in producing materials for the advocacy campaign of the home against child abuse. With the use of art, I hope that we can prevent such crimes and provide a secure home for the children and help them see that there are still bright colors in life.
Encountering the Moreno God One of the interesting things about being in a different culture is that you get to observe, experience, and participate in the way the people celebrate their Christian faith. You get to see God the way they see Him. It’s no surprise that popular devotions occupy a special place for Peruvians since they have five canonized saints. The devotions in honor of St. Rosa de Lima – a secondary patroness of the Philippines – on August 23 and of St. Martin de Porres on November 3 are two examples. And just as the Philippines has the devotion to the Black Nazarene every January, Peruvians observe October as the month of Señor de los Milagros de Nazarenas, the Lord of Miracles. The mural of Señor de los Milagros is in the Santuario de las Nazarenas in Lima. It remained standing after the deadly earthquake of 1655 that destroyed Lima. It was painted by WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 13
Christ came for everyone, not only foar a selected few. He is the God and Savior of people with skin of any color. a slave from Angola, Africa, who despite the repeated requests of the parish priest to show Christ as white, continued to paint the Lord as moreno (brown). Peruvians of both African and Andean descent have always had a particularly strong devotion to the image. Through this painting the people were able, for the first time, to encounter the Lord as like them – moreno – and were able to identify themselves with God in a personal and intimate way. Very often we tend to see Christ as having blue eyes, brown hair, and white skin, almost like a ‘perfect model’ endorsing some product. This can become a barrier for us in identifying ourselves with Him, in seeing Him as one of us. Whether Jesus looks exactly like his image in
the painting in Lima, I don’t know. But I do know that the God who came among us 2,000 years ago as a Jewish man who loved and saved the people of Israel is the same God who came to save and love all of us. Christ came for everyone, not only for a selected few. He is the God and Savior of people with skin of any color. I’ve been here for only a little more than a year, but it seems that many years have already passed. I came to Peru with an idealistic dream of bringing change. But it’s Peru that has changed me. It has taught me to see, experience, and celebrate life and God in a different way. It has changed my life in a way that I will never be my old self again. And for that I will always be thankful to the people of Peru and to the One who brought me to them. And with this thought, I can’t help but remember a beautiful line from the musical “Wicked” that expresses this sentiment: “Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better? But, because I knew you, I have been changed…for good.” CM Columban seminarian Emmanuel Trocino (pictured below) lives, works and studies in Peru. Stephen Awre works with Columban missionaries in Britain.
May 2016
13 3/1/16 3:54 PM
The Columbans responded immediately and that is what got me involved. I looked after sick children. I helped children with problems at school. I helped families when women were giving birth. I, along with others, was there to lend a hand to those in need.
Responding to the Need Lending a Hand to the Poor By Saeko Yamaguchi
I
came to live in Fujisawa after getting married 58 years ago. I have been fortunate with my health. I have never even had a cold, and last year I had my first visit to a hospital. I feel that I’m a healthy 83-year-old and still drive my small car around the local suburbs, but do not drive into Tokyo. My son became a priest and was the first member of this parish, which was founded after World War II. I remember Columban Fr. Jim Morahan as he baptized my son and also Fr. Paddy Clarke who was very kind to my son. In those days much of Tokyo was still in ruins from the bombing of World War II. Our parish is located southwest of the city along a beautiful beach coast but this area too was 14
May 2016
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 14
largely in ruins. I remember Fr. Paddy riding around the neighborhood on his bicycle. There were few cars around in those days. At age 45, I joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society in our parish. Mr. Takahashi was our president for many years, and he retired last year, aged 90 years. I also retired last year, and our branch disbanded. However, I manage to continue St. Vincent de Paul work with migrant workers even though the hardships of today are not like those of years past. Starting in 1976, many Vietnamese refugees arrived here, and the parish did a lot for them. Most had not come to stay; they wanted to continue on their way to U.S., Canada or Europe. Our government had no legal framework within which to receive
refugees. Today at least we have such a legal framework, but we accept very few refugees in comparison with other countries. However, the Catholic Church responded in a major way. The Columbans responded immediately and that is what got me involved. I looked after sick children. I helped children with problems at school. I helped families when women were giving birth. I, along with others, was there to lend a hand to those in need. While I saw quite a few Vietnamese off at the airport as they left for other countries, I also made friends with many who stayed. There are about 250 Vietnamese who have made their lives in this area and are Japanese residents. Most who have settled here are now grandparents, and they welcome me as perhaps the great grandmother. I live alone since my husband died a few years ago, and my Vietnamese friends regularly check to see how I’m doing. Columbans Frs. Cathal Gallagher and Fr. Jim Mulroney created this opportunity for me. When some of the mothers were ill in the hospital, Fr. Cathal and I used to take turns to WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
3/1/16 3:54 PM
feed their babies, and I bathed them. Columban Fr. Brian Vale was here too for a time. In fact, on one occasion he seemed quite shocked after taking a woman in labor to the hospital. I suppose he was wondering what he would do if the baby came before they arrived at the hospital. I was 50 at the time and found this amusing. At the time it seemed that only the Church found ways to respond. The government was definitely totally unprepared. The convent in this parish offered to receive 50 refugees, and 80 were sent to them. Our parish community took to the streets to raise money. Fr. Cathal was out there with the rest of us, with the youth group and many others.
WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 15
I used to go to the refugee camp almost every day to help out in whatever way I could. We ran a bazaar to raise money for the refugees and used it to fix all the windows in the abandoned school building where we eventually housed 100 refugees. Since 2007, we have done our best to help migrant workers who have lost their jobs due to industry cutbacks. In times of recession, migrants, who are the most vulnerable economically, are laid off first. These people have no other source of income, no social benefits of any kind so they rely on our goodwill. We cannot solve their problem, so we offer them emergency food relief. A Peruvian woman and I deliver food to refugees almost every day.
We have a Spanish Mass once a month, and we know of about 12 Spanish-speaking families who are having difficulties. I go to the Mass and check to see how each family is managing. They used to work for large companies like Nissan, National and Isuzu. There are also many South Americans here since the government has offered three year work visas for those with Japanese ancestry. Still, when a man loses his job, he cannot renew his visa, and I cannot find work for the people. CM Saeko Yamaguchi is a friend of the Columban missionaries living and working in Japan.
May 2016
15 3/1/16 3:54 PM
“I Just Want to Share My Story and Know that Someone Cares.” Working with the Most Vulnerable By Sr. Abbie O’Sullivan
I
t has been nine years since I started working as a personal counsellor in a Boy’s Secondary School in Dublin, Ireland, and also nine years since I started working in The Capuchin Day Center for Homeless People in Dublin. As regards to the school I can see a great improvement over the years. Unfortunately, the Homeless Center needs are far greater now. While the economic recovery in Ireland and the surge in technology and science may be impacting and benefitting many people, others are left with minimal comforts and many also live in abject deprivation. Last week a student “Leo,” who is twelve years old, was referred to me. He is a very nice quiet, gentle lad and well dressed in his school uniform but socially deprived. I was told he finds it hard to remember things, and he is usually quite late for school even though he lives nearby. Ask him what his previous class was, and he has forgotten. Ask him what his next class will be, and he doesn’t know. He is very interested in school and wants to learn as much as he can and is never bored. In the course of our time together I asked him why he is always late for school. He said, “We have nine in our family and only one bathroom. In the morning my parents use the bathroom first. Then my two older sisters and then my two older brothers. Then I can go, and after that my two younger brothers. They are in primary school, but they start later than I do so they are usually on time.” It didn’t take 16
May 2016
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 16
much stretch of imagination for me to visualize the early morning scene in that house. I felt uncomfortable when I thought of two bathrooms in my house of four and a sink in every room. I asked Leo what he would do for lunch – would he go home or would he have his lunch in school. He said “there was no bread left at home this morning so I couldn’t make a sandwich.” O.K., so why not go to the supermarket down the road? He said “My Ma had no money to give me to buy something today.” I know that today means every day. And here am I trying to eat less and lose weight! In the Capuchin Center for Homeless People, 280 full breakfasts are served every morning. Over 500 sit-down dinners are served every day. Every Wednesday 1,700 bags of groceries are handed out. The Center depends on donations, and somehow there is always enough. All kinds of people come to the Center, and no questions are asked or judgments made. There are homeless Irish men and women. There are people from Europe, Africa and other places. We have drug addicts, drop-outs, gypsies, men who have lost their homes or businesses. We have women of the street, women who have been badly hurt, women whose children have been taken from them and who are pregnant again. These are the poor and the vulnerable of the earth. They have little except their stories, and each story is the stuff of a bestseller. Recently, an elderly man called me. He said, “Sister, I have a tent where I usually sleep at night. I carry it around
with me and pitch it where I find a suitable and safe place. But last night was warm and I slept out in the park under a tree. When I woke my mobile phone and my last 20Euro were gone from my pocket. I have nothing now except my tent.” The man stood there with a red, crumpled face, tears on his cheeks and a torn backpack over his shoulder. I stood beside him and felt uncomfortable in my security. He said “Sister, I’m not asking for anything. I just want to share my story and know that someone cares.” I never saw him again. Most days as I leave the Center I question the way I live – all the things I take for granted, the demands I can make when I need something, the dissatisfaction I feel when I can’t get exactly what I want. My sins are often before me, and the only reparation I can make is to utter a prayer for all who are deprived and hope that someday somehow they will get what they deserve and are entitled to. These people surely are the salt of the earth. CM Columban Sr. Abbie O’Sullivan was missioned in the Philippines, Hong Kong and Britain and is presently missioned in Ireland.
WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
3/1/16 3:54 PM
Small Pentecosts Gratitude Is the Antitode! By Fr. Barry Cairns
Y
ou might call me a slow learner. I am 84 years old, and about 40 years ago a colleague recommended a book called “The Forgotten Spirit.” The title seemed only mildly interesting to me. I admit that at the time the Holy Spirit did not occupy the place of honor in my spirituality. I considered myself a Jesus man. God the Father was a far distant figure. I did attend some prayer meetings of the Catholic charismatic renewal. I admired and was envious of their enthusiasm, but it did not appeal to me. As I was coming into my 70s and 80s, I noticed my memory was not as good as it had been. People’s names and Japanese words would often make it almost to the tip of my tongue and no further. I could recall details about a person, but not his or her actual name. In trying to recall Japanese words, I would come up with a word like the word I was trying to retrieve from my memory, but not the exact word. To give an example, imagine my recalling “violet” instead of “violent.” It was about that time that the scripture readings for the Pentecost season struck me in a new way. The readings described how the Holy Spirit gave those still-frightened Apostles the words to “speak out boldly for the Lord,” (Acts 14:3). And we are told in Romans 8:16 that it is by the gift of the spirit of adoption that we can call God “Abba.” At long last something stirred in my heart and in my memory. WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 17
Thirty years ago I was on the staff of the Columban Seminary in Sydney, Australia. I used to coach the deacons about the delivery of their homilies. I asked an actress of long experience to help. I remember what she said, “Even after all these years I still get nervous going out on stage, even in repeat performances. I use my nervousness as an impetus to ask the Holy Spirit to guide me.” Now after all these years, her words come back to me. I can still see her vividly as she stood in front of us. I can even remember what she was wearing. But I cannot remember her NAME. But like her, even after 60 years of preaching, I still get nervous. Before Sunday’s homily, my Saturday night is always restless. Will the content I have prepared be relevant to the people who will be listening? Do I have an adequate Japanese vocabulary to express that content? So my prayer on Saturday nights is something like this, “Jesus, I want to be your instrument in getting your message across to your people. Please ask the Father, Abba, to send the Holy Spirit upon me and the people in the pews. Mary, spouse of the Holy Spirit, please pray for me.” It works. Often I step down from the pulpit and ask myself, “Where did I get that phrase? Where did that Japanese word that I have not
used in years come from?” There can be only one answer, from the Holy Spirit. That acknowledgement leads to gratitude. I find that gratitude is an antidote to pride in thinking that any success is all due to my own effort. My belated education did not end there. I now ask the Holy Spirit’s guidance in making decisions. I do sometimes think that it would have been better to have chosen another alternative, but even then I can be at peace and remind myself, “No, with due human consideration and the Holy Spirit’s help, I chose this.” And I can be happy with the choice and have no regrets. Another place I find myself asking the Holy Spirit’s guidance is in my small woodworking shop. There at long last I came to the realization that the Spirit’s help is not just for “holy” things and occasions like priests’ sermons, the Holy Spirit is with all of us in our humdrum everyday doings. Try it. It works! CM Columban Fr. Barry Cairns lives and works in Japan.
May 2016
17 3/1/16 3:54 PM
On Holy Ground Our first task in approaching another people, another culture, another religion, is to take off our shoes – for the ground we are approaching is holy…
Loving God, We believe you live among us And the place where you are Is Holy Ground We know you love All peoples And that means their ways And lands are also Holy.
Help us discover All your wonders in their faith Their lives and stories. Send us your Spirit, And we will listen, learn And meet you in Your Holy Ground. Amen.
Columban benefactors are called to participate in God’s mission, crossing boundaries in communion for the life of the world. When you offer your prayerful and financial support of Columban missionaries, you are in solidarity with the poor, the exploited earth and the unevangelized. Won’t you offer your support today? To make a gift use the postage paid envelope in the center of this magazine or go online at www.columban.org/ donate P.O. Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056 Toll Free: 1-877-299-1920 Email: mission@columban.org
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 18
3/1/16 3:54 PM
Help and Guidance A Thank You from a Columban Seminarian By Teakare Betero
M
y name is Teakare Betero, age 28, and I have been with the Columbans for five years now. At the moment I am studying at the Pacific Regional Seminary. This seminary is the only place for theological study for the priesthood in Oceania (South Pacific). Being with the Columbans for five years is similar to sailors who leave their families for five years working in the fishing boats until their contracts finish. Unlike the sailors, there are times during the school break I get to visit my family. My similar experienc to the sailors is that life in the formation house has some of the same challenges that sailors face at sea. There are times that the sea is so calm and pleasing, and there are also times when the sea is rough. My five years with the Columbans has been both smooth and rough sailing! There are times that I feel that this is a right place for me, and there are also moments when I wonder. There are also times when I feel that becoming a priest is not my call. This happened when I was faced with hardships, challenges and struggles. WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 19
I believe that what helped me through these five years is neither my strength nor my prayers alone. I have a strong feeling that my family’s prayers and also the Columban family’s prayers helped me. Without the support from my family and all Columban benefactors I would not have madeit this far. I come from an extended family of ten siblings. For the youngest in the family, everything is provided to them. Here I have to learn to live my life as an elder son or a provider. And for this I would like to thank the Columbans for all that they offer me in so many ways. Both ships and seminarians need people to help guide them! I would like to thank all the Columban benefactors for all that they have
contributed to the Society. Without your support I won’t be able to attend all the programs that are needed for my studies. God Bless… CM Teakare Betero (pictured below) is a Columban seminarian.
May 2016
19 3/1/16 3:54 PM
Weakness and Failure Lead to New Understanding Shusaku Endo, A Modern Day Prophet By Columban Fr. Barry Cairns
S
husaku Endo, a Japanese novelist, died in 1996–almost 20 years ago. In Japan he is still featured regularly in television programs, magazine articles and exhibitions. Every bookstore still has an Endo section. In Hollywood, Martin Scorsese’s Silence, to be released in 2016, is based on Endo’s most famous novel. Before going any further, let me first say a few words about Endo himself. Born in 1923, he was eleven when he was baptized with his mother after her divorce. After World War II, Endo went to France to study for three years. There he experienced discrimination, loneliness and doubts about his faith. He later wrote, “Many times I felt I wanted to get rid of my Catholicism but was unable to; it had penetrated so deeply in my youth and had become part of me. I was struck once again by its grandeur. To me Catholicism is not a solo but a symphony, the full symphony of humanity.” After his return to Japan, Endo was hospitalized for a few years with tuberculosis, pleurisy and diabetes. He was supported by his wife Junko. Especially in his sickness, Endo experienced great desolation which he called “the silence of God.” That silence was not nothingness, as he somehow felt the presence of Jesus suffering in Gethsemane and on Calvary crying out, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?”
20
May 2016
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 20
Only with the eyes of faith can we experience the paradox of God’s silence, yet also the accompaniment of the suffering God-man Jesus. Endo’s own experience of weakness, failure, suffering and doubt influenced his writing. In the novel Silence the 16th century Portuguese missionary,
“To me Catholicism is not a solo but a symphony, the full symphony of humanity.” – Shusaku Endo Rodrigues, seems to apostatize on the surface, but actually meets Jesus in a deeper way in his failure as did St. Peter. Endo maintains that it is the human experience the weakness and failure in our lives that can give us new depth in understanding Jesus and Christianity. In Silence Rodrigues is interrogated with the much quoted question, “Can Christianity survive in the muddy swamp that is Japan?” meaning that it will inevitably rot and die. Endo was greatly hurt by the adverse comments of some Bishops at the time the book was published. What Endo was saying was that the Church, to flourish in Japan, must divest itself of its Western trappings and become truly Japanese with an in-depth enculturation. The true Christian message, the kerygma, needs now to be clothed in a Japanese cultural context or as the Japanese
bishops succinctly said twenty years later, “We need to present Jesus with a Japanese face.” Endo also wrote many articles and books based on the Gospels, for example “Women Who Met Jesus.” Over the course of 22 years he wrote four books on the life of Jesus. He portrayed Jesus as someone intensely human who experiences joy, sorrow, suffering and apparent failure who showed us the love of God and the God of love. When we meet the human Jesus we taste the love and compassion of the true God. When speaking of Jesus, Endo frequently used two particular Japanese words. One is kyokan which means to feel with a person. The second word is dohansha, someone who walks the path of life with us. For Endo the Gospels have an eternal present tense. Jesus is alive and with us today. When we consider the miracles of Jesus, Endo asks us to look not so at the miraculous events of 2,000 years ago, but rather at the compassion of Jesus that caused Him to perform those miracles. We can taste the same compassion today. Jesus Himself experienced human weakness, emptiness, betrayal, bullying and misunderstanding. He accepted His frail human disciples in their failure and betrayal. Jesus is the same today. Like Rodrigues, his chief character in Silence Endo asks, “Did Judas too in his last second experience and respond to Jesus’ WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
3/1/16 3:54 PM
He portrayed Jesus as someone intensely human who experiences joy, sorrow, suffering and apparent failure who showed us the love of God and the God of love.
tender compassion?” Endo trusts he did. Endo summed up his work, “I have tried to depict the kind hearted maternal aspect of God revealed to us in the personality of Jesus.” Endo’s perspective on the Scriptures was brought home to me when I saw his own Bible at an exhibition. The margins were full of notes written at different times in different inks. He understood Jesus’ complexity; in addition to a compassionate suffering Jesus, he loved and depicted a joyful Jesus. I use the Gospels and Endo’s life of Jesus with people preparing for baptism at the point in the course when I am introducing them to the person of Jesus. I give each a copy of a small ink brush sketch of “the smiling Jesus” which Endo displayed in his writing studio. Endo had a practical love for those who suffered. He founded a WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 21
movement called “Warm Hearted Hospital Treatment.” Members are taught to listen carefully to patients’ words, those spoken and unspoken. They were also always to sit at eye level with the patients, never towering over them. With the guidance of doctors and staff, these volunteers were trained to broadly explain what the patients’ medicines were for. They would gently ask why a patient might be experiencing sleeplessness rather than having him rely on sleeping pills. In 1985 California’s Santa Clara University awarded Endo an honorary Doctor of Letters degree. The presentation scroll reads “…where faith often seems to be drowned in a sea of technology, you have re-awoken in us the knowledge that God still walks among us in unexpected ways.” On a similar occasion at John Carroll University in Cleveland, the citation
read, “You trace for us the earthly life of Jesus, that man who shares our needs and sorrows, allows for our weakness and shows us God’s maternal face.” Fr. Yoji Inoue, a life-long friend of Endo, preached the funeral homily. He said, “Endo was a man who was captured by the sad eyes of Christ who shares the sorrow, the misery of each and every person. Endo received many prizes in his life, but now he receives the crown of glory from the same gentle Christ.” CM Columban Fr. Barry Cairns lives and works in Japan.
Editor’s note: “Silence” is an upcoming historic-drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, based upon the novel of the same name. It is anticipated to be released in 2016. May 2016
21 3/1/16 3:54 PM
Columban Missionaries Memorial Garden Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves. ~ Philippians 2:3 The new and breathtaking Columban Missionaries 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.
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 22
3/1/16 3:54 PM
Meaningful Relationships
M
y first experience of engaging in pastoral ministry in Japan was at a residential center, run by the Daughters of Charity of
St. Vincent de Paul, for adults who had various physical and intellectual disabilities. Having had no previous experience in this field, I was very anxious about this place of assignment. My unease was intensified by the fact that I was keenly aware of my own inability to communicate well in Japanese. I feared greatly that this initial experiment in ministry would be stressful, dissatisfying and might possibly end in failure. However, summoning all my courage and determination, I headed to the center on the appointed day. My initial shock was even greater than what I had anticipated! I was dumbstruck at finding that the residents were welcoming, spontaneous and joyful. I was in disbelief at how eagerly they included me in their arts and crafts
I feared greatly that this initial experiment in ministry would be stressful, dissatisfying and might possibly end in failure. a newcomer and outsider in Japan. They helped me realize that there was no need for me to perform, to accomplish, or to impress in order to be accepted as their companion. There are several Columban missionaries around the world who have become companions to people with physical and intellectual disabilities. One of them is Fr. Noel O’Neill who has spent these past thirtyfive years engaged in this ministry in Gwangju, South Korea. During that period, he has accompanied many
activities. My feelings of
people with intellectual disabilities in their search for
From the Director
active participation in the larger society, and suitable
By Fr. Tim Mulroy being awkward and helpless quickly melted away as they remained attentive to my presence, and included me in everything that happened throughout the day. As I left the center that evening I was amazed at the inner peace I had come to feel in that community. From then on, returning there became one of my weekly joys. In fact, I so much enjoyed going there that I became unsure if it really counted as ministry! Moreover, unknown to the residents, they were
meaningful relationships within the wider community, employment. I can only imagine how much joy Fr. Noel’s ministry has contributed to the lives of so many people with intellectual disabilities, as well as to their families and communities. However, I am certain of the joy that they have given him, a joy that he radiates so readily. This year, as Fr. Noel celebrates sixty years of Columban priesthood, he continues his mission in Korea with an unquenchable enthusiasm to help people realize God’s dream of including all his children around the same table.
ministering to me by helping me accept the sense of inadequacy and disability that I felt so keenly as
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 23
3/1/16 3:54 PM
Columban Fathers PO Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056
NON PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID COLUMBAN FATHERS
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
COLUMBAN MISSION MAY16.indd 24
“I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, and revealed them to the little children.” — Matthew 11:25 God makes what appears to us to be unlikely choices. He may even be calling you to mission. We would be happy to discuss it 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 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
3/1/16 3:54 PM