The Magazine of the Missionary Society of St. Columban
November 2017
Mission in the Parish
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Volume 100 - Number 7 - November 2017
Columban Mission
o n t e n t s
Issue Theme – Mission in the Parish
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
The Chinese Flood of 1931
12 Forever
4 I Have to Take a Risk
A Young Columban Reflects on His Missionary Calling
6 My Brother, Fr. Lynn
Remembering a Fellow Columban Father
8 When Church Means Home Acceptance
10 2017 Columban Anniversaries 10 An Excerpt from a Fiji Diary
The Story of a Cure, May 8, 1996
20 There’s a Kiwi in the House!
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Toll-Free Phone: 877/299-1920 Website: WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG Copyright © 2016, The Columban Fathers (Legal Title) PUBLISHER REV. TIMOTHY MULROY, SSC DIRECTORUSA@COLUMBAN.ORG EDITOR KATE KENNY KKENNY@COLUMBAN.ORG EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS MARCI ANDERSON MANDERSON@COLUMBAN.ORG RHONDA FIRNHABER RFIRNHABER@COLUMBAN.ORG GRAPHIC DESIGNER KRISTIN ASHLEY EDITORIAL BOARD DAN EMINGER KATE KENNY ERNIE MAY REV. TIMOTHY MULROY, SSC JEFF NORTON FR. RICHARD STEINHILBER, SSC SCOTT WRIGHT
An Interview with Columban Fr. Daniel O’Connor
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
The Rough and the Smooth
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n his book, The Road Less Traveled, Scott Peck’s first sentence is the somber observation, “Life is difficult.” Direct and honest, it is a reality worth mulling over because, though we all know and have experienced that life is indeed hard, nevertheless there is a widespread belief that we have a right to be happy and that pain, distress and hurts are to be shunned. We should be free of anxieties and conflicts. We have a right to the good life. How quickly we want to take away the pain, to give the answers, to be distracted. In a culture where very often the only solution to a difficult relationship is to walk away, where the idea is common that stress and conflict have no place in a “normal” life, where at the hint of boredom a job, a home, a friend can be dropped so as to move on to more exciting places, in such a culture pain and darkness have no place. To imagine, even for a moment that trouble and affliction may have something to teach us is beyond the scope of many. Perhaps this attitude is in part a reaction to a time when, in a warped understanding of the Passion of Jesus, suffering was glorified as an end in itself. “The will of God” was the code phrase for all the bad things that befell one, things to be endured stoically and without complaint. This world was a valley of tears to be suffered through until we reached heaven after our death. For many the joy of the Gospel message remained hidden. They felt guilt ridden, concentrating on sins and failures and forgetting the compassionate Father of the prodigal son. Today when our focus is more on pleasure, not sin, the Father is also forgotten. When the prodigal son reached rock bottom he knew something had to be done and he made the wisest decision of his life. “I will get up and go to my Father.” (Luke 15) But how many, no longer knowing the Father, keep on spinning, desperately seeking happiness in one pursuit or another. Frenetic activity becomes a way to escape the pain of life. If we are assaulted on every side by an endless variety of distractions our “inner self ” will never grow strong and, in a very real sense, we will never come to know our true nature. So it is no small grace when we are downsized, so to speak. The jobs, the perks, the distractions are gone, and we are left with what? The prodigal son “came to his senses,” and, by God’s grace, we too will wake up. We will not find it easy; we will not walk on roses. Anger, resentments, and depression at our change of fortune will at times almost drown us. But God is in all this and will bring us through dark and difficult times if we trust Him and learn what the pain has to teach us. In this darkness new insights are born, and we emerge humbler and wiser people. Scott Peck is right, life is difficult. But these very difficulties can be blessings, stepping stones to maturity, means of growth, the beginning of a new and better life.
To imagine, even for a moment
that trouble and affliction have something to teach us is beyond the scope of many.
Columban Sr. Redempta Twomey lives and works in Ireland.
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Fr. Rafael (left) and Fr. Diaz
I Have to Take a Risk A Young Columban Reflects on His Missionary Calling By Fr. Rafael Ramirez
“I have to be in Myanmar. I have to go. I have to take a risk. I know there will be a lot of frustration, difficulties and struggles, yet inside my heart I hear the voice of God gently saying, ‘Go! You must go, you have to go.’” These are the words of recently ordained Chilean Columban priest, Fr. Rafael Ramirez. He spent several weeks in Australia at the end of January on the way from Chile to his mission assignment, Myanmar. In Myanmar, Fr. Rafael will spend 2017 in the capital, Yangon, learning the Burmese language and then will move up to the north of the country to learn the Kachin language. He will then work amongst the Kachin people. They live in an area of civil conflict. “Until I ran into the Columbans by accident, I had never thought of being a priest. A priest, no way, I would have said. Then after meeting Columban missionaries who had come from Fiji to a remote area of Chile and lived amongst marginalized indigenous peoples, I thought to 4
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myself, why not be a priest! Something happened inside. I began to think differently. I was being called by God. I identify very much with the Columban co-founder, Bishop Edward Galvin. Something was calling him to China. Something had touched him deeply. He did not know what China would be like, yet he decided to go, to trust. He did not have an idea what the future would be like. Yet it
Something happened inside. I began to think differently. I was being called by God. was God’s call for Edward Galvin to leave all and go to China. All my university classmates have good jobs, good careers and bright futures. It is hard for them to understand why I am not with them. Why go to a difficult and dangerous place like the north of Myanmar, engaged in a civil war. It seems crazy to them.
Yet the calmness I felt with my classmates at university about my future has all been stirred up and changed. The calm waters of my soul have been stirred up. God has placed his finger into my soul, stirring up my life and nothing will ever be the same again. God is calling me to go to Myanmar. I have free will. I could have refused the call if I wanted to. Yet despite what others feel, I know I have to go, I have to be there. I accept the call. When the apostles were called, they did not know what will happen to them. I do not know what it will be like in Myanmar. I am afraid but not paralysed. Maybe it will be very different from the way I think it will work out, but I have to see what God has installed for me in Myanmar. I will keep trusting in the Lord, keep moving forward.” CM Columban Mission magazine wishes Fr. Rafael all the best for his new mission in Myanmar and will keep him in our prayers. We thank him for his beautiful reflection.
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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.
Your Legacy Gift brings hope and healing into the lives of people mired in poverty and violence, through projects such as: •
Building vibrant faith communities;
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Providing religious education programs for children and faith formation programs for adults;
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Operating vocational and educational centers for developmentally challenged children and adults;
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Overseeing projects for the unemployed, ill and the elderly;
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Providing education and training for seminarians and lay missionaries.
A legacy gift to the Missionary Society of St. Columban makes certain that your material support of our mission of hope and love continues even after your death, while bringing real economic savings to you and your family. An estate gift to the Columban missionaries: •
Eliminates or reduces federal income tax on your estate;
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Is a visible sign of the generosity you have shown throughout your life.
You can choose from among several gift planning opportunities, adjusted according to your financial situation in order to partner with the Columban missionaries, leave a legacy and help others in the future. For a confidential discussion about leaving a legacy gift or to personally discuss various giving opportunities, please contact our Donor Relations staff at: Columban Fathers P.O. Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056-0010 Toll-free: 877-299-1920 Email: donorrelations@columban.org
My Brother, Fr. Lynn Remembering a Fellow Columban Father By Br. Reginald Whitely
Retired Christian Brother, Brother Reginald Whitely, shares memories of his Columban brother, Fr. Lynn Whitely who died from hepatitis in Chile in 1971 at the age of 31.
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r. Lynn’s classmates, Columbans Sean O’Connor and Don Hornsey remember Fr. Lynn as an outstanding sportsman, singer and musician. In Santiago he is not buried in the Columban mausoleum but in a local cemetery, lovingly cared for by his parishioners and ever close to them. Just before mum died, Fr. Lynn gave us a great surprise, when he arrived from Chile at home in Perth, Australia. He just walked into mum’s 6
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room. He wanted to say goodbye to her. When asked by mum about his own illness, he said, “I just want to keep on living at the moment. There is so much to do.” Fr. Lynn had contracted hepatitis from drinking contaminated water in Peru. He died on January 14, 1971, just five months after mum. It was all so sudden and very hard on the family. Considering what happened to some of his friends when the military coup occurred two years later, maybe it was for the better. We were a family of four brothers, one became a diocesan priest, myself a Christian Brother, Fr. Lynn a Columban priest and the fourth a family man. Fr. Lynn had a beautiful singing voice and frequently won first prize at the competitive music festival.
He completed his top A grade piano qualifications while in the seminary. My last memory of Fr. Lynn was when he celebrated Sunday Mass after visiting mum. The text of the homily he preached was from Romans, 12:16, “Be not condescending to the poor.” Fr. Lynn had made a tape for mum before she died. It was such a treasure saying goodbye, “This is the last tape I will be sending, mum.” We used it in the 45 minute radio program we made about Fr. Lynn after he died. This program was repeated three times due to popular interest. In the tape, Fr. Lynn said to mum, “You trust me, mum and that is so important to me. Perhaps you think me a ‘commie’ and that doesn’t worry me but let me tell you about a little family I know in my parish in Chile WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
where this young chap has a wife and a couple of kids. He is a skilled carpenter and got a job making door frames and window frames. Do you know how much he was getting for each door and window frame? Less than a penny! Now he can only buy a little milk for the baby and some bread and tea for everyone else.” After ordination in St Mary’s Cathedral, Perth, in 1964, Fr. Lynn was sent to the Columban parish of San Martin de Porres, Lima, Peru. His name in Spanish was “Padre Lino.” His education really began there. When a parishioner said to him, “You people only come here for two years and leave us. You don’t love us,” Fr. Lynn became determined to stay. Later on in Chile, Fr. Lynn would tell his family he would never come home to work but would spend the rest of his life working there amongst the poor. After two years, Fr. Lynn was sent to the parish of San Marcos, in the southern periphery of Santiago, Chile. He worked there with English Columban Diocesan Associate, Fr. Dick Harding. At that time, the Chilean economy had collapsed and farming families were moving to the city. Hundreds of families squatted in makeshift settlements around the parish. In 1968, the Latin American Bishops met in Medellin in Colombia. The Medellin Document called on the Church to develop a real option for the poor, to form Base Christian Communities, promote biblical reflections and develop a shared ministry between clergy and laity. Frs. Lynn and Dick began sending for tapes on Liberation Theology and any reading coming out of the Medellin Conference. Several Columbans in Chile at that time had made a commitment to combine parish ministry with the WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
idea of working alongside parishioners in voluntary labor. In order to help families in the squatter camp, Fr. Lynn set up a workshop to make slippers. He worked there himself with the families. Fr. Lynn, along with other priests in Santiago, worked in a bicycle repair shop. Fr. Lynn joined the local Fire Brigade and became the driver for the fire engine up until his death. Later the Fire Brigade formed a guard of honor at his funeral. “So you are Padre Lino. All the way down from Lima, I have heard of you. So tell me what you are doing!” With these words, the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal John Heenan, greeted Fr. Lynn, on his pastoral visit to the English priests working in Peru and Chile. He had been appointed to report back to Pope Paul VI about the new theological movements of liberation in Latin America. Fr. Lynn sat with the Cardinal in an old truck outside the presbytery until one o’clock in the morning explaining the need to be close to the
people. He said that some weekday Masses had been replaced by lay led liturgies using Biblical themes. The Cardinal grew alarmed. He asked Fr. Lynn, “Were not your family faithful Mass goers and did they not say the family rosary?” He concluded by saying, “I do admire your zeal however!” Fr. Lynn would often camp out overnight on mountain sides with university students who helped in the parish. Here Fr. Lynn would offer reflections on his favourite piece of scripture, Romans Chapter 8. They would make kites, tie them together to make one giant line and then release it into the mountain air. Fr. Lynn wrote about it, “It just makes you want to live. There is so much joy and happiness in life.” Pope Francis would be proud of one of his priests who got out of the sacristy, to get “the smell of the sheep” on him. Yes, Fr. Lynn made his mistakes, but the Pope says it’s okay to take risks. His life was more powerful in death than when alive. CM
Fr. Lynn’s ordination in Perth, Australia
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When Church Means Home Acceptance By Fr. Kurt Zion Pala
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had just came out of the church after celebrating Mass. An altar server came up to me and told me that one youth decided to leave home and wanted to speak with me. I saw a bag sitting in the guard house and I got nervous thinking, it must really be true. I knew who the kid was and so I asked for him. When I found him, his eyes were red from crying and so I asked him to see me in one of the counseling/confession rooms. He sat down and started to sob. He had a fight with his mother who told him to leave the house unless he stops serving in the church as an altar server. He explained that he has done everything his mother told him to do but he cannot leave the church or stop being an altar server. He then said, “the church is home for me. Home is not home.” The boy explained that the church is like a home for him not like the house he lives in. He feels at home and is free to be himself in the church. I tried my best to calm him down and asked him to go back home. After a little more convincing, he told me he would go home. In May 2015, after my diaconate ordination, I joined the parish team in Malate Catholic Church. As a deacon, I started to assist another priest in the parish youth ministry and later on took over from him accompanying the youth of the parish. Building on what was started and already organized, we continued to conduct monthly general assemblies 8
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for the youth and faith-sharing sessions twice a month. Most of the young people come from difficult family situations, and many of them consider Malate Church as their home. One young girl shared how her mother is addicted to drugs, taking it to help her keep up with work and leaving her siblings to her to care for. Another shared that she finds herself alone because her parents left her with her maternal grandmother since her parents are now separated and have their own families. She envies her friends who
Most of the young people come from difficult family situations, and many of them consider Malate Church as their home. have families to call their own. A young person told me that his mother is angry at him because he reminds her of her father who left her, and he is introduced as a cousin to his stepbrothers. His mother has a family of her own now. A young girl, just 14 years old, comes home late drunk and pretends to be sick. Her mother continues to look after her probably knowing that she is not sick at all but drunk. She continued to share that she does not understand why she is angry at her parents, just angry. There is so much hurt and pain in their stories.But there is hope. Knowing that the parish and the church is there
for them, many of them come home to church to be nourished – to feel accepted and needed. To see them laugh and enjoy being who they are is really heart-warming and life-giving. People noticed that the young people are alive. The church is alive. Working with the youth in Malate has strengthened my conviction like Pope Francis who said in one of his interviews, “This church with which we should be thinking is the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only a small group of selected people. We must not reduce the bosom of the universal church to a nest protecting our mediocrity.” The church is a home particularly to vulnerable groups of people like the youth. Many of them are looking for attention and affection which is often lacking or missing in their family life. Most of them just want to be listened to and to feel they belong and are needed. The parish has been providing opportunities for them to take on responsibilities and to show their talents. In the final month of my stay in the parish, the young people put up a “surprise farewell” for me. It was really a surprise for me to hear from them. As they shared one after the other, I could not help but cry a lot inside and hold back some tears but a few dropped not of sadness but of joy listening to them. I often wondered how was I able to survive a year with these crazy, beautiful inside-out young people? WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
I am called by so many different names from “kuya” which means older brother to “pads” short for “father” to names only they can understand. I learned to speak their language and listened to their stories. Having worked in Fiji as a missionary and spent time with young people there, and now working with Filipino young people has been an inspiring and educational experience for me – disheartening and challenging at times but also joyful and fulfilling. Thank you! You all taught me that it is ok to be me. God calls us to be faithful, not successful, that is what Cardinal Tagle said at a closing of a youth program. It’s true, young people today are trained to be successful in life, to find their value in terms of how they look by the standards of the world or in terms of accomplishments measured in awards and grades. WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
Cardinal Tagle at the Third Philippine Conference on the New Evangelization commented that we are trained to be problem-solvers. We are anxious to find solutions to everything because we make everything a problem. He suggested that instead of seeing everything as a problem we
When young people consider the church a home, I feel we have truly become the church Jesus intended us to be – a home for everyone. must treat them as dilemmas. Life is a dilemma – a reality we live with, not a problem to be solved. In turn we are called to be faithful not successful problem-solvers. Young people are not problems to be solved, not mere objects of the
church. They are the church, too. And when young people consider the church a home, I feel we have truly become the church Jesus intended us to be – a home for everyone. A comment from a young person that continues to stick with me is “God does not always give what we want but God always give what we need.” And I believe the church is God’s response to our need. The comment of the young boy who said, “Ang simbahan po para sa akin ay tahanan hindi tulad sa bahay” meaning, “The church is like a home for me not like the house I live in.” This is a reminder to adults to welcome every young person just like how Jesus welcomed every child who came to Him, a reminder for us to be a home to everyone. CM Columban Fr. Kurt Zion Pala lives and works in Myanmar.
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2017 Columban Anniversaries
Fr. Vic Gaboury (60)
Fr. Paul O’Malley (60)
Fr. Charles O’Rourke (60)
Fr. Francis Royer (60)
Fr. Thomas Walsh (60)
An Excerpt from a Fiji Diary The Story of a Cure, May 8, 1996 By Fr. Frank Hoare
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his evening, I had a good chat with Sukh Deo as we drank yaqona together. Sukh Deo is Hindu, but his wife and children are Catholic. They live in an interior settlement, far from town. He is always pleased when a priest visits the family, and he sits respectfully and meditatively during the prayers. As we chatted about old times, he was reminded of an unusual cure that took place in his village when he was a boy. At that time, there were very few doctors, transport was difficult and money hard to come by. It happened that one day his uncle was very tired and yawned so much that his jaws locked with his mouth wide open. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t close his mouth.
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Neighbors came around with different suggestions—massage, herbs, the sorcerer—but nothing worked. He couldn’t eat solid food and after a few weeks of liquid diet he was losing weight fast. The family was very worried. One evening, a stranger came to the settlement and on hearing of Sukh Deo’s uncle’s predicament he visited the family and announced that he could cure the uncle if the family agreed to do whatever he told them. They hastily agreed. The next morning, he gave instructions for a very hot fire to be kindled beside the porch of the house. He ordered the sick man to sit on the porch beside him. Then he began to heat a branding iron in the fire. He took it out occasionally to
check its heat. As he did, the sick man blanched, shook with fear and tried to move back. Orders were given to hold the sick man firmly in place. Finally, when the branding iron was red hot the stranger pulled it out of the fire and pointing it toward the sick man’s mouth lunged forward to within a few inches of his face. The sick man jumped back with all his strength and at the same time his mouth opened wider with fear. Lo and behold, that freed the locked jaw, and he could close his mouth again. The grateful family gave hospitality and gifts to the stranger. The neighbors were amazed at his boldness and creativity. CM Columban Fr. Frank Hoare lives and works in Fiji.
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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: ______________________________________________
The Chinese Flood of 1931 Columban Response By Fr. Joseph Houston
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n 1932, the Yangste and Han rivers overflowed and flooded vast areas in China. The members of the Missionary Society of St. Columban in Hanyang, China, together with the others, tried to come to the aid of the thousands of people in Hanyang affected by the Great Flood. The relief work under the auspices of Hanyang Vicariate was carried out by different groups within the vicariate working in collaboration. These groups were the Missionary Society of St. Columban, the Columban Sisters, the Loretto Sisters, the Virgins of St. Mary, and lay helpers. Bishop Galvin was the main coordinator of the work.
The Yangtse River The Yangtse rises in Qinghai province, and flows down eastwards for a distance of 6,300 kilometers, through eight provinces until it reaches the Yellow Sea. The Yangtse has been a source of flooding from time immemorial. This is because of the volume of water it contains and attracts. There are other factors besides the flow of the river and the number of tributaries which flow into it which explain the propensity of the Yangtse to overflow. One is the very quantity of rain it receives. With the summer heat the snow glaciers on the mountains of western China melt and flow into the Yangtse.
The Yangtse Valley and Its Cities The Yangtse Valley is the drainage area of the Yangtse River, and includes 12
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many important provinces of central China. It has an area of 650,000 square miles and at the beginning of the 20th century had a population of between 170 and 180 million. The most important cities of the middle section, located where the Han River meets the Yangtse, were Hankow, Wuchang and Hanyang.
Political Context of the Flood and Relief Effort The Great Flood of 1931 took place against the background of significant historical developments in China which were, at the same time, a cause of added trauma for the Columbans. Cooperation between the Nationalist and Communist parties had recently broken down, and the Communists were extending their control over large sections of the Columban vicariate just as they were over other areas. Communist bandits had killed great numbers of people. They attacked, robbed, and destroyed many parishes and took several Columban priests hostage. Two priests, Fr. Patrick Laffan and Fr. James Linehan were taken prisoner on April 23, 1930, and held for ransom. They were released on December 1 of the same year after a ransom was paid. Just at the same time as the flood was at its worst, and Bishop Galvin was concerned about the refugees in Hanyang, and was fully occupied in trying to relieve their suffering, he was burdened by a further anxiety. Word came that Fr. Hugh Sands had been captured by Communist bandits on
August 16, 1931, and was being held for ransom. This required constant efforts on Bishop Galvin’s part, first to discover the whereabouts of Fr. Sands and then to try to bring about his release. When a ransom was eventually agreed with the Communists and paid on November 1, 1931, Fr. Sands gave his chance of freedom to an elderly Italian Franciscan priest, Fr. Lazeri, who was being held for ransom with him. Fr. Sands didn’t obtain his release until May, 1932.
Central China Flood, 1931: Overall Extension The Central China Flood of 1931 extended over the whole of the Yangtse Valley and inundated 70,000 square miles and 8.5 million acres of farmland. According to Jonathan Spence (The Search for Modern China, p.434) it flooded an area the size of New York state. Nanjing, the capital of China at the time, was under water for six weeks. The flood affected between 80 and 100 million people, thirty million of whom were made homeless. In the Wuhan Valley alone 250,000 people died by drowning, disease or starvation.
Flooding in Wuhan Early in the morning of August 1, the dyke protecting Hankow broke and the water from the Yangtse swept into the city drowning 5,000 people almost immediately. The water also reached Hanyang, which, up until then, had remained relatively dry. It WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
A small camp of improvised mat shacks after the flood
Black Hill boats with refugees arriving
Columban Sisters in Hanyang providing flood relief
didn’t come with the same rush as in Hankow, but gradually flooded streets and houses. Some streets in Hankow and Hanyang were under nine feet of water, others under twenty feet. In a letter of August 20, probably from Bishop Galvin, we read how “houses, factories, hotels have collapsed burying hundreds of people in the debris beneath the waters.” Wuhan remained awash for four months, and fields nearby, not protected by dykes, were under thirty feet of water. Writing in October, Bishop Galvin described the situation: “From the hill at the rear of the Mission, the whole country as far as the eye can see is one vast sea of water.”
A storehouse separate from the main building, containing foodstuffs, mattresses, and other household goods was also flooded. Good swimmers among the Columban seminarians, who had taken refuge in the headquarters, used their skills to save undamaged goods from the ground floor of the headquarters and from the storeroom. Swimming from the storeroom, they had boxes in tow. In this work they were helped by a few of the priests who were also good swimmers, namely Frs. Chang, Joseph Seng and Fergus Murphy.
In a letter of November 1, 1931, Bishop Galvin described how all these locations were dotted with makeshift shelters made from matting. Scarcely a square foot of ground was unoccupied. A family lived in each of these flimsy shelters, which provided very inadequate protection against the burning heat of summer (when the rain stopped) and equally harsh cold and rain of winter. In these areas there were no sanitary facilities at all. I will leave it to Bishop Galvin himself to give an idea of the conditions: “I simply cannot describe to you the scenes of unspeakable squalor, sickness, and desolation, that everywhere met our eyes as, day by day, we walked through those different camps. On all sides heartbroken people were quietly dying of starvation; all were undernourished and dying from exposure and in a short time malaria, dysentery, typhoid, cholera and smallpox spread like a prairie fire from camp to camp and took their terrible toll. The infants in arms and the children under four years of age were, of course, the first to succumb.” Such was the misery and deprivation on the Black Hill that the people were often driven to desperation. Another writer summed up his reaction to the whole scene, “No words could describe the pitiful desolation of it all.” Bishop Galvin set aside five buildings belonging to the Vicariate as shelters for the refugees. One was the new convent which has just been
Flooding in Columban Headquarters Among the buildings affected by the flooding in Hanyang were the Columban headquarters. Already at the end of July Bishop Galvin informed Fr. Michael O’ Dwyer, the Columban Superior General stationed in Ireland, that there were eight feet of water in the compound of the headquarters. At the gate the water was lapping at the top of the compound wall, part of which had collapsed. Then the waters invaded the main house and rose during August from eight feet to fifteen feet. They covered the ground floor and crept up to the landing at the top of the stairs. They didn’t reach the top storey of the house which could still be used. People entered and left here in small boats, going in through a window. WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
Location of the Refugees The flood brought a huge influx of refugees into the area. Bishop Galvin wrote in a letter of August 31 that there were already 300,000 to 500,000 refugees in Wuhan, and that soldiers had been posted along the banks of the Han River to prevent any more from entering. Most of the refugees were located on hills in the three cities making up Wuhan, namely, Hankow, Wuchang and Hanyang. On the Black Hill in Hanyang there were 60,000. From early on Bishop Galvin realized that many of the refugees would still be there during the winter and feared how the cold of the winter would affect them. Many of the refugees were Catholics from parishes all over the Vicariate. The easing of the flooding didn’t ease the flow of refugees. Many still kept coming to escape the depredations of Communist bandits in the areas where they lived.
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Another flood picture
Flooding covers all but the roof of a mat house
Flooded houses in Hanyang with people leaving in boats
built for twelve Columban Sisters. It was now made to accommodate over four hundred refugees. Another was the Catechumenate, directed by the Columban Sisters. One hundred and seventy refugees were housed there. A third was in the compound of the Loretto Sisters, where two hundred and fifty refugees were housed. The fourth building was composed of several houses which Bishop Galvin bought to accommodate young girls who had been living on the hillsides. A fifth was a house which had been bought to give shelter to the most wretched refugees from the Black Hill. Ninety people found refuge there.
went out early every morning to carry out the relief work and returned late in the evening. At midday the members survived on a sandwich. Each morning each team collected a basket of medicines, with sections for different kinds of medicines, from the Columban Sisters’ dispensary. On their return in the evening they left the basket at the dispensary to be refilled with medicines for the next day. The members of the teams had received a basic training in the diagnosis of illnesses and administration of the appropriate medicine from three of the helpers who had been trained professionally. One was Fr. Frank McDonald who had qualified as a doctor in the University of Glasgow. Another was Columban Sister Mary Patrick, a trained nurse, who had also done an extended course in tropical medicines at the School of Tropical Medicines in London. A third was Sister Mary Ignatius who had trained as a nurse in St. Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin. Later, the professionally trained staff was augmented by the arrival of a Chinese doctor, Dr. Chen. Because of drinking the polluted water which was all around them there was a grave risk that refugees would contract cholera. With the assistance of Dr. Chen the teams began to inoculate as many as 900 people a day against cholera, typhoid, and paratyphoid. By doing so they were able to save thousands of lives.
In his History of the Diocese of Hanyang (in typescript) Fr. Abraham Shackleton gives us a vignette of the activity of the priests on the hills. He quotes a young missionary: “Father Aedan [McGrath] and I separated for a moment. When I next came upon him he was treating the most pitiful case I have ever witnessed or hope to witness again. An old Chinese woman lay helpless in her mat shed in the burning heat of August. The place was literally black with flies of the worm generating blue headed type. From head to foot she was covered with worms. Her condition does not bear description. Fr. Aedan was bending over her brushing the worms away. At that moment a pagan came to tell me that his daughter was dying. He took me a long way off but we just arrived in time. I baptized her immediately and in less than five minutes she was dead. When I returned half an hour later Fr. Aedan, now joined by Fr. Fisher, was still at his task. In the meantime, the two priests had called some men, and giving them a ticket of admission, had the old lady taken to the hospital. There she received every attention and died some days afterwards, fortified by the rites of the Church. We returned that evening with our hearts as light as our baskets. We had attended over two hundred people and had fifty baptisms to our credit.
Relief Work Relief work fell into different categories. One was the distribution of food. Another was the distribution of medicines and the giving of injections. In some situations the missionaries gave money to the refugees. A very significant aspect of the missionaries’ work was religious, administering the Sacrament of the Sick, and perhaps, more often, the Sacrament of Baptism, especially to dying babies. The priests also administered the Sacrament of Reconciliation. A final service was the burial of the dead.
Relief Work on the Hills Bishop Galvin organized the priests, Sisters, and Virgins, into different teams. Each priest with his team was assigned a refugee camp. Each team 14
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Flooded houses
Flooded street in Hanyang
Homes in the trees after the flood
Other Forms of Relief
McGoldrick anticipated the difficulty of feeding so many refugees during the winter, but he added: Already we have been well paid in advance. Four thousand babies baptized and sent to heaven since June, this is almost the grandest harvest we have reaped since coming to China.
Under the direction of Fr. Francis McDonald, a doctor, Sisters Patrick and Dolores were responsible for looking after the sick. Bishop Galvin wondered at their “quiet thoroughness and efficiency.” Almost half of the people who lived in the convent died, four or five each day. The bodies were carried out for burial in the early hours of the morning accompanied by crying relatives. Every day for two months five carpenters were engaged in making coffins in a corner of the compound. Bishop Galvin wrote: “I could never pass this little shed where they worked without a shudder.”
In addition to providing food and medical care for the refugees, Bishop Galvin on occasion, provided financial aid. Large numbers of people from Mienyang County took refuge on the Black Hill in Hanyang. Many were Catholics, and Bishop Galvin had a special concern for them. Fr. Timothy Leahy who was the Parish Priest of Tsandankow Parish described the situation in an article in the Far East magazine in 1949: “His (Bishop Galvin’s) first concern was for the Catholics ………. From the parish of Tsandankow alone, during the first few weeks of the flood, some 500 of them quietly died of hunger. The bishop decided to save the remainder from extinction, and so, for Tsandankow and the neighbouring parishes he allocated thirty five Chinese cents per person per week. It was, by necessity, a very small sum, yet to destitute people it represented the difference between survival and starvation.”
Spiritual Help Besides their activities at the material level, the priests and Sisters gave spiritual assistance. They heard confessions and gave the Last Rites. In reviewing their work the priests and Sisters were always deeply satisfied at the number of children they had baptized just before death. In a letter to Fr. Michael McCarthy in November 1931, Fr. William WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
Sheltering Refugees in Buildings In addition to the work on the hills, the Vicariate offered shelter to around one thousand people in buildings belonging to it. One of these was the catechumenate normally directed by the Columban Sisters. Here one hundred and seventy women and children were accommodated and fed. Even more found refuge in the new convent being erected for the Columban Sisters. Bishop Galvin asked the Sisters for the use of the convent, and they readily agreed. Eventually 439 refugees were accommodated there, “living like peas in a pod” in a house which was designed for twelve people. In a letter of December to Fr. Hayes in Australia Bishop Galvin gave an idea of conditions in the convent: The refugees had brought with them malaria, dysentery, typhoid and smallpox. In every room and corridor the sick and dying lay huddled together on the floor; the building swarmed with flies and the odor of foul air and sickness was overpowering.
Dispensary In addition to the buildings mentioned above where refugees lived and were given medical attention, the Columban Sisters had a dispensary where refugees were attended on an out-patient basis. It had been opened on October 3, 1930, and during the flood attended around 150 patients each day. During the cholera epidemic it was thronged with people, many of whom also received instruction in the faith and were baptized.
The Effect of the Flood on Priests and Sisters Bishop Galvin had to pay a heavy price emotionally for his involvement in the relief effort. He was deeply moved by the plight of the refugees. “It is dreadful. I have never experienced anything like it in my November 2017
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On the edge of the Yangtse River showing one of the many evacuated mat houses
Our house in Hanyang, looking at our front garden under 12 feet of water
St. Columbans G.H.Q. was flooded
whole life. Poor Hanyang.” This was written in late August 1931, when the flood was at its height; but Galvin was already dreading the suffering which winter would bring: “I tremble to think of the winter to come; the crops are ruined, there will be no foodstuffs and famine will complete the ruin that the floods have begun.” All around him people were dying of starvation. “Poverty is hard, but hunger is terrible,” he commented. And this hunger made the desperate people cling on to Bishop Galvin in the hope of getting relief, so that he sometimes feared even to go out among them. To add to his suffering was the loss of Fr. Tom Quinlan who was transferred to Nancheng, Jiangxi Province, in July (through he was allowed to postpone his departure in order to continue with his relief work). “Tom is a terrible loss,” lamented Bishop Galvin, “I think I will never feel the loss of anyone who may go from here as I feel Tom’s.” During the flood several priests were sick and in the hospital. It is hard to imagine that the stress of living in the midst of such flooding, surrounded by poverty, sickness and death didn’t affect their health. Fr. James Loughran, Fr. Owen McGrath and Fr. Tom O’Rourke were in the hospital in October 1931. Fr. Francis Murray and Fr. John Cowhig had gone to Shanghai for operations. Fr. Bob Galvin returned to Ireland in August.
Though the priests and Sisters were active among the cholera victims, only one of them contracted cholera. That was Columban Sister Ignatius, who succumbed on November 1. Eventually, she reached the hospital, where Sr. Patrick broke down in tears after the ordeal of the trip. Sr. Ignatius eventually recovered.
When a complete list was drawn up it was found that no fewer than 60,000 people were seeking admission into the Church, and in two years after the flood, 10,000 people were received into the Church.
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Effect of the Flood on Evangelization Reflecting on the experience of the flood, Fr. Timothy Leahy commented in an article in the Far East of June 1949: “The people fled from their homes to the Hanyang district where our priests and Sisters took care of them. During our daily visitation among them we were able, in six months, to get more intimately acquainted with them than we would in several years of ordinary mission work. This new familiarity with the priests and Sisters plus their gratitude for what these had done for them led many people from the villages of the Vicariate to take an interest in the Church after they had returned home. Bishop Galvin expressed it like this: gThis work of ours has endeared our priests and Sisters not merely to the Catholics but to numberless pagans as well.’” As a result many pagans began to have an interest in the Church. As Fr. McGoldrick wrote: Villages which had never known a Christian inhabitant came to ask the priest to send them a catechist.
Source of Money and Funds for the Relief Effort Bishop Galvin made various appeals which he was convinced would meet with a good response. Meantime, he used what he referred to as old famine money (presumably left over from previous emergencies). The Superior General, Fr. Dwyer, said he would send three hundred pounds if it were necessary or useful and would be ready to contribute more later. The Loretto Sisters used all the profits from the embroidery school to buy food and clothes for the refugees. Bishop Galvin had previously received a thousand pounds from the Bishop of Cork which he hoped to put into some project that the bishop would be pleased with, but was prepared to use it for famine relief. Even though the flooding had subsided it became clear as winter 1931 approached that there would still be a lot of refugees on the hills and in the parish buildings. At the same time the money which had been contributed for relief was running out. Fr. McGoldrick, reflected: “As usual the mission was short of funds. Still, every other consideration had to go and every available cent was put into WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
St. Columbans’ entrance was covered in 12 feet of water
Servant’s house in St. Columbans
Another view of flood in Ko Jabzae Parish
the relief....How the money came seems almost a miracle—though, of course, most of it came from America.”
threat had passed and the Sisters had returned to Hanyang, Bishop Galvin decided it was time to encourage the refugees to leave. On February 20, they began to leave the catechumenate and the new convent, though some homeless widows were allowed to stay on, and continued to be fed. There were still many people left on the hills, and some people considered them a menace to Hanyang because the relief program had come to an end, and these people were starving. The Sisters continued to visit these refugees and to administer the Sacrament of Baptism to both dying children and adults. A sign that normality was returning was that by June 1932, stalls with fresh food and vegetables were beginning to appear again in the streets. Another sign of returning normality was the blessing by Bishop Galvin of the Columban Sisters new convent on October 1, 1932. Until a few months previously over four hundred refugees had found shelter there. After the blessing ceremony, Bishop Galvin offered Mass in the convent chapel. In the autumn of 1932, 200,000 refugees returned to Mienyang. By this time the relief program had come to an end, as there were no more goods nor money to distribute.
Conclusion
and expected to be faced with many challenges. Some years before they arrived there was a major political revolution when the imperial system which had lasted for several thousand years came to an end to be replaced by a presidential system. However, they couldn’t have foreseen that the country would be embroiled in an ongoing conflict between competing warlords or a bitter struggle between the Nationalist Party and the newly formed Communist Party. All of these conflicts brought an element of danger into the lives of the missionaries. They led to the deaths of some of the missionaries and to several of them being held hostage for the payment of a ransom. During their first years in China some at least of the priests had to deal with floods in their local areas. However, none of them could have imagined the apocalyptic dimensions of the flooding of 1931 which covered the whole of the central Yangste valley. Bishop Galvin believed that no other missionary Society had to meet such an enormous challenge in its earliest years. I think we can agree with him in his admiration for the way the priests and Sisters responded to this challenge, and conclude that they met the challenge admirably, inspired by their love for God, and their devotion to the people. CM
We can well imagine that when the missionaries came to China in 1920, they were filled with idealism
Columban Fr. Joe Houston lives and works in China.
End of the Flood and Flood Relief In a letter of September 9, Bishop Galvin said that there was still six feet of water in the Columban compound. In general, the floods began to recede in the second half of September. It was a slow process and continued into October. Fr. Seamus O’Rourke gives a vivid picture of how it was experienced in the Columban compound. On October 25 he wrote, “We were using a boat in the compound on this day last week and it is now dry—the boys are hurling (playing a ball game) on it.” Fr. O’Rourke was already planning the necessary repairs to the headquarters. However, it took much longer before all the refugees had left. In a letter of mid-November, Fr. McGoldrick quoted Bishop Galvin as saying, “There will be thousands of flood refugees to be fed by the mission right through the winter.” Indeed, new refugees kept arriving, fleeing from the Communists. Realizing how difficult it would be for many of the refugees to return home, the Columban Sisters decided to let them stay on in their new convent until the end of winter. In January 1932, the Sisters themselves had to take refuge in Hankow because of the threat of the imminent arrival of Communists in Hanyang. In early February, when the WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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Forever The Marriage of My Sister By Fr. Kurt Zion Pala
T
oday I officiated the wedding of my sister Karen, who is a talented nurse, to her forever Dodo, who is who is a mechanical engineer. In all the eight years they were together before the wedding, I only met the groom on the day of their wedding! I told him that I would listen to his confession before the wedding. The day was filled with love from both families. Marriage in the Philippines does not just bring two individuals, but two families are brought together. 18
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I saw my beautiful sister step out of the car in her long white gown. She is beautiful, and I saw my father smiling over us that moment. With our mother, I walked my sister down the aisle. Today id did not lose a sister to a stranger, but I gained a brother. At a time when relationships and commitments are taken for granted, at a time when people seem to measure relationships like we tend to value things – it was emotional to see my sister’s and Dodo’s desire to witness to the world that love and commitment
still matters. In Pope Francis’ “Amoris Laetitia” on the “Joy of Love,” he said that, “The Joy of Love experienced by families is also the joy of the Church. As the Synod Fathers noted, for all the many signs of crisis in the institution of marriage, the desire to marry and form a family remains vibrant, especially among young people, and this is an inspiration to the Church.” That joy was evident at my sister’s wedding! Pope Francis said in the same letter, “I think, for example, of the speed with which people move from one affective relationship to another. They believe, along the lines of social networks, that love can be connected or disconnected at a whim of the consumer, and the relationship quickly ‘blocked’… We treat affective relationships the way we treat material objects and the environment: everything is disposable; everyone uses and throws away, takes and breaks, exploits and squeezes to the last drop. Then, goodbye.” [39] In the Joy of Love, Pope Francis said, “Few human joys are as deep and thrilling as those experienced by two people who love one another and have achieved something as the result of a great, shared effort.” He also wrote, “Young love needs to keep dancing towards the future with immense hope.” My parents also made that commitment to each other. They danced together until my father’s death. Faithfully, as married couples and singles, every one of us is called to be faithful just as Jesus has been faithful to God the Father. Here I share the homily I prepared for my sister’s wedding:
Homily for a Sister’s Wedding My father rarely says “I love you.” He rarely expresses his feelings except for anger. But it turns out when he does say, “I love you,” he really meant it. WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
He chose to love. Love is more than a feeling; it is a decision. Today I am the happiest brother, the happiest sibling to witness the realization of a decision my sister Karen and Dodo made more than five years ago to be each other’s forever. Love is more than a romantic relationship; love is more than a feeling but a commitment to each other. Finally today they are making this commitment before us and before God. I am sure that dad is watching us. That is why marriage is never meant to be a happy ending. It is only the beginning of a life-long journey of discovering, accepting and growing into the persons you are meant to be and not what you want the other person to be but what God meant you to be. In this journey expect not only the joys but also the pains of marriage. The language of love is sacrifice. There will be many opportunities for you, Karen and Dodo, to speak that language – a language perfected by Jesus Christ upon the cross. But what is love? St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians and said that, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” Henri Nouwen a priest and writer mentioned that “Marriage is not a lifelong attraction of two individuals to each other, but a call for two people to witness together to God’s love… [The] intimacy of marriage itself is an intimacy that is based on the common participation in a love greater than the love two people can offer each other. The real mystery of marriage is not that husband and wife love each other so much that they can find God in each other’s lives, but that God loves them so much that they can discover WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
“Few human joys are as deep and thrilling as those experienced by two people who love one another and have achieved something as the result of a great, shared effort.” – Pope Francis, The Joy of Love each other more and more as living reminders of God’s divine presence. They are brought together, indeed, as two prayerful hands extended toward God and forming in this way a home for God in this world.” The Gospel today speaks of the intimate relationship of Jesus and God the Father. Your joy in marriage does not depend on the things you gain or the properties you buy or the money
you earn, but joy is found in being able to keep the commandments of God and stay in God’s love. Jesus said, “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” And Jesus adds, “This is my commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you.” Love not just with any kind of love but love with the love Jesus loved you. In the Gospel of John, Jesus once said that I no longer call you slaves but friends. There is no greater love than to give one’s life for a friend. You are not slaves to each other but friends. Henri Nouwen reminds us that “The same is true for friendship. Deep and mature friendship does not mean that we keep looking each other in the eyes and are constantly impressed or enraptured by each other’s beauty, talents, and gifts, but it means that together we look at Him who calls us to His service.” Today I did not lose a sister to a stranger. Instead a stranger turned into a brother. I thank you for loving and caring for my sister. For accepting her and us her family as your family. Thank you God for uniting Karen and Dodo. With You, they will be happy and successful in marriage. CM Columban Fr. Kurt Zion Pala lives and works in Myanmar.
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There’s a Kiwi in the House! An Interview with Columban Fr. Daniel O’Connor By Ellen Teague
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hen Dan O’Connor first arrived at the Columban House in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1983, he was greeted with “There’s a Kiwi in the house!” And indeed he was a “Kiwi” hailing from Hokitika on New Zealand’s South Island. He had been posted to Pakistan for two years on the Columban Overseas Training Program. Dan’s family were dairy farmers, and he describes himself as being “a farmer at heart, working close to the land and so close to God.” Yet he was feeling the call to leave his beautiful valley to join the Columbans. The family used to receive the Columban magazine, “The Far East,” and his father would read stories to his children from it. “Why do you have to go to another country?” inquired his mother when Dan sounded his parents out about joining, but they were supportive when, at the age of 26, he first contacted the Columbans. Dan’s life path could have gone in several directions. He worked in a hospital for a time, but even more
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important to him was his running. In 1977 he ran in the New Zealand cross country and marathon championships for the Canterbury Center. However, he did not pursue it as seriously as his sister Mary O’Connor, who secured a coach and went on to run in the Los Angeles Olympics. She placed second, twice, in the London Marathon. Dan moved to Australia for his Columban training and says he “had a deeper peace that wasn’t there before.” In the beginning he found classes difficult enough, compared to his outdoor life working on the land and milking cows, but “they had a tractor and an orchard, and I joined a local running club.” In 1983 he found himself in Lahore, northern Pakistan, for eight months learning the Urdu language followed by a further four months in the town of Murree in the foothills of the Himalayas. After six months he was able to communicate to some extent with the locals. He enjoyed sharing the life with the local culture and the hustle and bustle
of city life. At times it was not so easy to enjoy the pollution and loud tooting of the erratic traffic as well as the fierce summer’s heat. While in the mountains he trained at seven thousand feet altitude. There he won a race with the support team of Sultan (language teacher), and Rasheed (cook). Back on the plains he represented the Punjab Team in the 42.2 kilometer marathon race at the “Pakistan Olympic National Games.” Dan placed second to a runner from Nepal. A protest was lodged as Dan had won points for the Punjab Team. “He is not a Punjabi,” they complained and despite gaining second position he was disqualified from winning points although delighted to be presented with the large silver medal. He loved the parish work which included a stint in the southern Sindh Province, with the Parkari Kholi tribal people. After ordination in 1986, he was assigned to Pakistan, where he spent many years in the Lahore Diocese before moving south to Hyderabad Diocese in the Sindh. He likes to wear the local loose-fitting dress called shalwar kameze with a Sindhi shawl as a protection from the hot sun and dusty desert. On special occasions, such as Christmas and weddings, the locals love to have a large drum beating loudly, and Dan enjoys joining in the lively dancing. The Columbans have a strong commitment to interfaith dialogue and this is a key mission for Dan. “Much interfaith happens at grassroots level in the ordinary everyday happenings such as drinking tea, WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
Columban Fr. Daniel O’Connor and friends
shopping, public transport, talking about cricket, etc. It also takes place in a most profound way in the health clinic in the Badin Church Compound. Here the sick and poor come for medical treatment. Many of these are tuberculosis patients and are Muslim, Hindu and Christian. Doctor Zakir is a Muslim, and the other staff are Christian. Schools in Badin parish have Christian, Muslim and Hindu students. The teachers are Christian, Hindu and Muslim. During the Holy Month of Ramadan an “Iftari Party” consisting of prayer and a shared meal is hosted in the parish. “This facilitates Muslim, Christians and Hindus to be good friends” he states. Columbans also support poor rural workers who work for wealthy landlords in somewhat slave-like working conditions focusing on the human rights of illiterate farm workers. “It is great to be in a country where the culture and language are so different from my own” says Dan. He loves the hospitality of the people, the experience of the rural villages and singles out the wedding season as a particular delight. Most wedding services he conducts are inculturated, meaning that aspects of the local WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
Pakistani children present the Christmas story.
culture are in the liturgy service. “The bride leads the groom slowly around a candle and crucifix three times after which this is repeated three times with the groom leading the bride.” Within the minority Christian community, there are initiatives to build up the local church. Empowerment of women is promoted by the parish team, including religious Sisters. International Womens’ Day is celebrated with great gusto. Local women make beautiful Christmas and Resurrection banners, and many of these are sold in New Zealand. The monies raised help with such things as school fees, clothes, Christmas shopping and in the installation of hand water pumps in villages. In line with Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si,” the Columbans work to raise awareness of ecological issues collaborating with environmental and development groups. Columban mission in Pakistan is close to the people, and the people are close to the land. “Although the people do not own the land, they are close to it. We share life and hope with visitation and Mass in the many villages where our parishioners eke out a living in the scattered villages.” Dan reports that
the salinization by sea water in the Sindh is a growing issue, negatively affecting agricultural output and food production. Villages are supported in the planting of trees. Dan has run marathons in under two and a half hours, but his most impressive skill is his energy for Columban mission in Pakistan over the past three decades. He has truly entered into the life and culture of the country. “The Christian community though small and often marginalized have a great zeal for life with Jesus as their Savior and friend” says Dan. They identify with the cross because of all the crosses in their lives, but they have a tremendous zest for life.” Christmas in the villages reveals to him what the scene at the birth of Christ must have been – single room mud hut homes, straw to lie on, goats, sheep and shepherds under bright shining stars. Visitors coming to Badin Parish comment that what they experience and see must be similar to that of the first Christian communities. CM Columban co-worker Ellen Teague interviewed Fr. Dan O’Connor for this report.
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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 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.
A Faithful Companion
I
n February of this year Fr. Charlie Duster was admitted to the hospital where he was informed a short time later that he was terminally ill. During the following weeks, with the same zeal with which he had lived his missionary life, he prepared himself to meet God face to face. He also bid farewell to family and friends, and took care of important personal matters. Among his treasured possessions was a chalice and paten that had been given to him as a gift by his parents, Charles and Cleo Duster, on the occasion of his ordination and first Mass in December 1961. These precious gifts had travelled with him on his various missionary journeys around the world during his fifty-five years of priesthood. In fidelity to the command of Jesus at the Last Supper, “Do this in memory of me,” Fr. Duster used them in the celebration of Mass, while also cherishing the blessing of his beloved
FROM THE DIRECTOR By Fr. Tim Mulroy
parents, other family members, and friends in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. These were the people who had nurtured his vocation and whose prayerful support he could count on throughout the various chapters of his missionary life in Japan, Italy and Fiji. Now, however, as Fr. Duster approached the closing chapter of his life, he expressed the wish that his chalice and paten have a sequel: that they be given to a young Columban priest who would continue to celebrate Mass with them.
Fr. Visanti’s future missionary life is likely to be just as adventurous as Fr. Duster’s. Later this month, on the feast of St. Columban, his wish will be granted: Fr. Pat Visanti will receive Fr. Duster’s precious inheritance on the occasion of his ordination to Columban missionary priesthood in Fiji. Fr. Pat grew up in the capitol city, Suva, and later worked in a bank there. A gifted musician, he was also a member of the cathedral choir. Thanks to an encounter with Columban priest, Fr. Pat Colgan, he became interested in mission and, after a period of personal reflection, decided to become a Columban missionary priest. During these past eight years, in addition to his seminary training in Fiji, he spent two years with the Columban team in Pakistan. After his ordination, he hopes to return there, taking with him Fr. Duster’s gifts. Fr. Visanti’s future missionary life is likely to be just as adventurous as Fr. Duster’s. Like Fr. Duster, wherever he goes, he believes that Christ accompanies him in the celebration of the Mass. However, since he also believes that Fr. Duster is united with Christ, every time he raises the chalice and paten during the consecration, he can also be confident that he has a faithful Columban companion by his side.
Columban Fathers PO Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056
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Transform the Lives of Others…Enrich the World…Give Hope Columban Mission magazine is published eight times each year and tells the stories of our missionaries and the people they are called to serve. Columban missionaries live in solidarity with their people and, together, they move forward to improve their social, economic and spiritual lives, always with Our Savior as their guide and their eyes on God’s Kingdom. For a $10 donation or more, you or a friend or loved one can share in our baptismal call to mission and the Columban Father’s mission work around the world through Columban Mission magazine. To begin receiving your Columban Mission magazine or to provide a gift to a loved one, simply visit our website at www.columban.org, call our toll-free number 877-299-1920 or write to us at: Columban Mission Magazine Subscription Missionary Society of St. Columban P.O. Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056
“If I your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” — John 13:14 All of us are called to Christian service. But some are called to a lifetime of service to the poor. If you feel attracted to such a life, we are waiting to hear from you.
We invite you to join this new generation by becoming a Columban Father or Columban Sister. If you are interested in the missionary priesthood, write or call… Fr. Bill Morton National Vocation Director Columban Fathers St. Columbans, NE 68056 877-299-1920 Email: vocations@columban.org Website: www.columban.org
If you are interested in becoming a Columban Sister, write or call… Sr. Carmen Maldonado 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