The Magazine of the Missionary Society of St. Columban
November 2016
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o n t e n t s
Issue Theme –Positive Living
Volume 99 - Number 7 - November 2016
Columban Mission 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
Celebrating St. 16 The Joy of Encountering 12 th God’s Presence Columban’s 1400 Anniversary 4 Columban Mission in the Atacama Desert 5 Bizarre Incidents
Reaching Out to Others
7 Good News Abounds
Celebrating Faith in China
8 Faith Flourishes on Jeju Island, Korea
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
Hallim Parish
GRAPHIC DESIGNER KRISTIN ASHLEY
11 Zootopia
EDITORIAL BOARD DAN EMINGER KATE KENNY ERNIE MAY REV. TIMOTHY MULROY, SSC JEFF NORTON FR. RICHARD STEINHILBER, SSC SCOTT WRIGHT
My Reflections on the Journey
14 Men of the Road
Strange Requests
18 Called to Serve
My First Parish Ministry in Lima
20 The Detour
Better than the Planned Route
21 Like the Lotus
Beauty Rises
Departments 3 In So Many Words 23 From the Director COUMBAN MISSION NOV16.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.
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In So Many Words By Fr. Gary Walker
To Go or Stay
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ver the course of nearly 100 years, Columban missionaries have been caught up in major wars and insurrections in the countries where we live and serve. Columbans and other missionaries have grappled with the question to go or stay in times of crisis.
Columbans had been in the parish of Huasahuasi in the Andes (Peru) for some years; they knew the risks they were
taking by remaining there. The Shining Path Maoist guerrillas operating in that part of the country had threatened to kill the priests. Two Columban priests were in the parish when they were given an ultimatum to leave or die. They chose to stay. Not long afterwards a local woman hurried to one of the priests and told him urgently, “Father, you must leave now. The guerrillas are coming to kill you.” How did she know? Her sister had risked her life to pass on the message; she was a coerced member of the Shining Path. The priest found his companion, they jumped in their truck and left. They never returned, but another Columban did return after a period of time. In 1936 Columbans opened a new mission in Myanmar (formerly Burma). In the post-colonial feeling of the 1950’s the government decided to exclude any foreign priest from returning to the country for any reason. As a result the Columbans did not visit home, and they had no chance to leave for medical treatment. As their numbers dwindled they decided on a ten year plan which ended in a complete withdrawal in 1977. It was a hard decision to make. Myanmar is now, thankfully, emerging from 50 years of isolation and repression. We are pleased that a small group of Columban priests and lay missionaries have been able to return to Myanmar this year. Now that we are back, we hope to stay. All of these decisions were difficult to make. They were heroic decisions affecting and changing the lives of and the people with whom they worked and shared their lives. Today there are many people who make heroic decisions in their lives which affect them and the lives of their families. Like the missionaries in our stories, they too grapple with the consequences of their decisions. The ripples of unintended consequences run out for better or worse. Ultimately, people of faith leave their decisions, once made, in God’s hands. Who knows where the decisions we make will lead
Today there are many people who make heroic decisions in their lives which affect them and the lives of their families.
us? The wind blows where it will…so it is with the Spirit. (Jn 3:8). Fr. Gary Walker is the director of the Australian region of the Missionary Society of St. Columban.
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Columban Mission in the Atacama Desert Korean Priests in Chile By Fr. Donal O’Keefe
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n a September morning in 2014, I arrived in Iquique in northern Chile on a flight from Santiago. I was coming to visit the Korean Associates who work with the Columbans in a parish in the new city of Alto Hospicio which has formed in the hills above Iquique. It has grown from a small town of about 2,000 inhabitants in the early 1990s to a huge city today with over 100,000 inhabitants. At the airport I was met by Fr. Casmir Sung Woo-jin, a Korean associate priest working in Alto Hospicio. His companions are Fr. Albinus Lee Chun-hyung, also an associate from Korea, and Fr. Michael Howe, a Columban from Ireland, with whom I had studied in Navan. They were all working together in the parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus. As we drove in towards Iquique and then turned up the hill to Alto Hospicio the dominant feature was the sand, the desert and the absence of any green vegetation. We were on the coastal line 4
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Large photo, top: The Inca flag flies at the entrance of Alto Hospicio. Below: Mining aftermath
of the Atacama Desert, the driest place on earth. Alto Hospicio is just over six miles outside of Iquique and just under one half mile above sea level. The Columbans have worked in Iquique since the 1970s, and they moved up to Alto Hospicio in the 1990s. Over the years they have established three parishes in the city. Local church personnel now run two of the parishes, and the Columbans staff the parish of the Sacred Heart. The house where the three Columbans live is simple as was the fare. They accompany the people in their lives. Fr. Albinus recalled the earthquake of April 1, 2014, when an earthquake measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale struck the city of Iquique at evening time. Several apartments were severely damaged, so the Columbans opened
up one of the chapels as a temporary center. The majority of the people have come from the interior which was originally evangelized by the Spanish Friars who came down from Cusco in Peru. The friars visited only a few times a year, so the faith did not develop around the parish structure with regular Masses and education programs. Rather it is centered on devotion to saints, and shrines are everywhere. There is very low participation at Mass. For Frs. Albinus and Casmir fresh from working in a very different model of Church in Korea this is a huge challenge. In Korea there are big attendances at parish Masses, and the liturgies are very participative – diametrically opposite to the present WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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reality in Alto Hospicio. Fr. Albinus shared his struggle to recognize and accept those differences, and he was very aware of the temptation of believing that his own cultural experience of Church is the only one. In particular in July when the people leave on pilgrimage to the visit the Marian Shrine of Tirana in the desert, no one comes for the Mass! So we took a trip through the desert to visit the shrine. This is an area rich in metallic resources including copper, gold, silver and iron as well as non-metallic minerals like lithium, sodium nitrate and potassium salts. Mining of course was the catalyst for opening up the area. It brought in explorers, entrepreneurs, and of course people came to work in the mines. But it also opened up a new chapter of suffering and violence as workers were exploited in the mines. Fr. Casmir told me of the massacre of 1,000 miners by the police who were demanding better conditions back in 1901. Earlier in the 19th century war erupted between Chile on one side and Peru and Bolivia on the other over these resources–the Pacific War of the Atacama Border Dispute. Today the desert is littered with abandoned
Street side shrine
nitrate mining towns, almost all of which shut down decades after the invention of synthetic nitrate at the turn of the 20th century. Life is harsh in the desert, and the devotion of the people to saints reflects the lives of the people, their history of suffering and struggle in a harsh environment. Everywhere Jesus is depicted with suffering features. In the famous Marian Shrine of Tirana, Mary is seen as a mother standing with and protecting working miners.
Very often all the images are pictured wrapped in the Chilean flag. The challenge now is to give depth and reinterpret the tradition so that it nurtures a faith which can help people in their lives today. In many ways the Korean missionaries come from a background which gifts them, enables them to respond to these needs of the people here. The majority of the Korean martyrs, beatified by Pope Francis during his visit to Korea in 2014, come from Jeonju and Daejeon, the home dioceses of Frs. Albinus and Casmir respectively. The faith in Korea is one which grew in the cauldron of persecution for the first 100 years of the Church, later in the struggle for liberation against Japan and more recently the struggle for democracy at the end of the 20th century. It is an experience of Jesus the liberator, the one who walks with the poor in their daily struggles, the one who cares for the suffering. Sharing this experience of Jesus the liberator, can indeed be a great gift to the people of Alto Hospicio. CM Columban Fr. Donal O’Keefe lives and works in Seoul, South Korea.
Bizarre Incidents Reaching Out to Others By Fr. Charles O’Rourke
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hinking back on my life in South Korea, there was the humdrum of daily living along with surprises and the excitement that went with being part of new things happening and those challenges. I went there about six years after the Korean War was over so the scene in WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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the country was one of devastation, poverty and overcrowded living conditions. Seeing their broken spirits and the suffering in the eyes of the people helped me to realize that this is where God wanted me to be; to empathize with them and help them to experience the presence of God
in the midst of all that was going on in their lives as victims of war and hatred. As in everyone’s life there have been bizarre incidents that have happened; some of them very sad and some of them rather humorous for me as I recall them now. One that comes November 2016
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Upon being asked how he survived that storm he told the story about his strong will to live because of the fact that he was due to be married the following week.
to mind is about a young man for whom I was called in the middle of the day to administer the sacrament of the sick. When I arrived, as was the custom in Korea, he was lying on the floor, gasping for air. So I proceeded to anoint him asking God to heal whatever his problem was, thinking that it was possibly a heart attack. As soon as I finished the prayers, an old lady produced a rooster from the corner of that room and and went to the sick man where she cut off the rooster’s head and promptly stuck it in his mouth. When I saw this happen I was out the door like a shot as the blood was spurting everywhere. I peaked in and saw that the man immediately sat up choking on the blood. He was instantly cured! I found out later he had been hit in the Adam’s apple by another man and wasn’t suffering from a heart attack. A few years later I was in a parish very near the seaside in Cheju Island, about 50 yards from the water. Since there had been a storm the night before, the wind and waves were strong. It was a good day to go hunting for ducks who hovered on the coastline on such days. As I walked along the seaside, I came across a 6
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sizable fishing boat on its side in the water, apparently having capsized in the storm the night before. When I arrived back at the rectory I learned that there were fifteen men on the boat and only one survivor who had come to my place for something to eat and some dry clothes. He had taken refuge behind the craggy volcanic rock formation until daylight. Upon being asked how he survived that storm he told the story about his strong will to live because of the fact that he was due to be married the following week. So he threw a gas barrel into the sea to use as a float and hoped for the best since he did not know that the coast line was so near. The rest of the crew felt it was hopeless since they could not see the shore and didn’t even try to survive. This story teaches me that God wants us to live and helps us survive in the midst of the storms in our life. When I was in Pusan, I was asked by the chaplain of the Midway Aircraft carrier to take his place for Mass and confessions the following morning while he stayed on shore. At 7 a.m., I was off with some of the Midway midshipmen to go out to the ship. Upon arriving at the stairway
to go on board we were surprised to see the stairway all bashed because of heavy seas. The only way to board the ship was by rope ladder; three at a time going up this ladder while some of the men held it out from the side of the ship. It was only when I got halfway up did I realize that my legs were made of rubber! It was a feat for monkeys only. Besides the pastoral work in the Korean parishes we were sometimes ask to help the military chaplains if we could. After arriving in Korea and while in language school, I happened to be asked to offer Masses for the Air Force, and so every Sunday had the experience of flying in the different helicopters. It was usually three helicopter rides each Sunday to the different bases. That provided a great opportunity to take some great pictures of villages and countryside from the air. So life was far from boring for me as each day brought new ventures and experiences along with helping people to cope and grow in whatever situation they found themselves. God leads us all in different directions, and it is up to us to try to respond to the call not to be selfish with our lives but to reach out to try to love the way God loves us. CM Fr. Charles O’Rourke lives and works in St. Columbans, Nebraska.
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Good News Abounds Celebrating Faith in China By Fr. Eamonn O’Brien
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t would be a disservice to truth for me not to acknowledge that there have been and are serious challenges for religious and civil society in China from sections of the State as well as the ever increasing lures of consumerism. But my sense is that too much Catholic media time is given to negative stories about China. Hence my purpose here is to advert to, rejoice with and celebrate some of the Good News that can be found everywhere in the Chinese Catholic Church. Yes, the communists confiscated the Church in 1949, but it was returned in 1992. Now, in May 2016, the tallest Church in China was opened by Bishop Joseph Xu Honggan, Suzhou Diocese, under protection of Mary and in the presence of visiting bishops, fifty priests and 6,000 faithful from local WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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and neighboring provinces.More than 3,000 baptisms were celebrated during the Easter period in the Catholic churches of China, with an expected 100,000 for the whole year. The Catholic population has increased from four million to what is believed to be about fifteen million today. The vast majority of these, 30,000, were young adults, many university students. Protestantism has a similar, if not greater intake, and the turn to other religions also is overwhelming. Traveling on a plane one day, I engaged in a stimulating conversation on matters secular with a woman who told me that she was the senior member of the communist party in her home city. At that time, I didn’t share too easily with people who I really was, using the cover of “teacher.” After a lull in the conversation I
decided, for my first time in China with a stranger, to share that I was Catholic missionary priest. There was an ominous silence for a moment and then she turned and said to me: “I wish to share something too with you: I am, as I told you, a senior member of the party, but I am now in the fourth stage of becoming a Buddhist.” The conversation took a new and deeper turn. Scholars in China throughout history have played a very significant role in the state and the Chinese imperial court. Today, a priest in Beijing publishes a yearly journal of Catholic Studies, circulated to about 2,000 individuals and academic institutions. This gives wide distribution to the best of Catholic theological scholarship from abroad but also from that presently developing within China. Each year he convenes about 80 young academics for a three day study on Catholic theology; about one third would be Catholic/Protestant, the remainder young academics, searching for meaning in life, and interested in religions and especially in Catholic faith. Each has to write a paper on November 2016
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some aspect of Catholic theology to be accepted to the course. There are more institutes for the study of religion in China than in all of the U.K. and Ireland. Atheism is being pushed, but a counterforce is also present in these scholars and especially in the thirst among the young for a truth to fulfil their lives in a manner that they know expensive things and fast sports cars cannot. I have about 50 internet correspondents arising from conversations with young people, on trains and buses who speak English, and are aware of my identity. The quality of these conversation on both human and transcendent truth outmatches anything I have ever experienced here in Europe. China, because of its recent history, has become a place of which to be afraid. But as Bishop McMahon reminded us at a recent conference, Pope Francis has set the tone for our relationship with China. Pope Francis
referred to China “…. as a great country. But more than a country, a great culture with inexhaustible wisdom.” The Pope invites us to dialogue with China, not to confront or condemn. He is clear that “dialogue does not mean we end up with compromise.” We have a penchant in Europe for nursing bad news, but not so for many in China who suffered greatly. A very old bishop told me that the peak moment of his ministry came when a young Sister came to him asking to bless her dream for a contemplative monastery. I asked him why he said yes to such an enormous challenge in present circumstances. He replied: “I spent 25 years in jail and 10 in solitary confinement, and had nothing else to do but contemplate. I knew what she was talking about!” Out of what would be described as a “death” situation by many people, for him came a resurrection moment to which
he could not have responded with out his previous experience. Chinese people are no more perfect than we are, but in all the people I have met in China, old and young, the truth of St. Paul is manifest, “I live, no not I but Christ lives in me.” A profound moment of evidence for this truth was when a retired teacher, in an exchange between our visiting British delegation and a group of Catholic women, shared that she suffered greatly during the Cultural revolution. “All I had to do was deny my faith,” she said, “and I could go home.” On being affirmed for her great courage by one of the bishops in our group, she simply said “no, it was not due to me, but to the prayers of the universal Church and the power of God within me.” CM Columban Fr. Eamonn O’Brien lives and works in Britain.
Faith Flourishes on Jeju Island, Korea Hallim Parish By Fr. P. J. McGlinchey
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he Paris Foreign Mission Society handed over pastoral responsibility for Jeju Island to the Columban Fathers in 1933. At that time it had two small parishes, one in the north and one in the south of the island. The Japanese occupied Korea until 1945 when they were expelled at the end of World War II. During that time they made missionary work almost impossible. Then in 1950 the Korean War broke out, and two million people were killed, and the country was devastated with starvation prevalent everywhere. I
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was appointed to Korea in June 1952 and later, after some delays with visa clearance and language studies, I was appointed by the Columban Fathers to open a third parish on the western side of the island. The name of the new parish was Hallim. This was a township consisting of 26 scattered farm villages with a total population of 20,000 people, all living in small, thatched houses. Of course there was no priest’s house or church or other building. But more importantly, there were 25 baptized Catholics! I gathered them together in one of the Catholic
houses for Mass in Latin! They had been well prepared by a group of St.Paul de Chartres Sisters who had come with thousands of other people to the island as refugees. At that time each Columban Father was given the equivalent of $55.00 a month for living expenses, so there was no money for building of any kind. Then an extraordinary thing happened. One very dark, moonless night in April 1954 a 9,000 ton American freighter, on its way from Vietnam to Japan, had a radar breakdown and ran aground in the WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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middle of the parish. It didn’t topple to one side but remained upright, stuck in the soft volcanic rock of the island. The bow of the ship was lifted high in the air and the stern was in deep water. It would require a number of oceangoing tugs to pull her back afloat. Some of the crew lowered a makeshift elevator from the bow, and I was able to go on board and meet the captain. There were several large holes torn on both sides of the hull, but thanks to the lessons learned from the Titanic disaster, the builders of this freighter had made sure that all of the cargo holds were independently sealed so that water leaking into the ship could not spread to other areas. The captain asked me what I was doing on this remote island in the Yellow Sea. I explained that I was a Columban missionary priest, but that I was only recently arrived and had no priest’s house or church to which I could invite him and his crew. After some quiet thinking the captain said he had a surplus of lumber on board, and he would be happy to give me as much timber as I could unload in four days. Needless to say I regarded this man as a heaven-sent angel. I rushed back to the village with the good news. Among our 25 Catholics we only had half a dozen who could do heavy work. Nevertheless, we decided to gather at the ship at dawn. But much to my surprise, a couple of hundred of able-bodied men turned out as volunteers! Our Catholics had spread the word to their neighbors, and for four days they worked from dawn to dark. We got enough timber to build a church and priest’s house and that is when I came to know something of the caliber of these islanders. Jeju is famous for its abundance of rocks. Just as they did with the timber from the ship, hundreds of volunteers carried rocks on their backs to a piece of ground outside the village. This site had been procured many years before WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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Church at Jeju
I arrived in Hallim. Next we needed sand and gravel. That was available in plenty from the sea shore a few miles away. To move it I approached the Korean army who agreed to lend me a couple of trucks for a week provided I fed the drivers and supplied the gasoline. I approached another military base (Marines), and they gave me the gasoline. I still needed cash to pay for cement and for one professional carpenter and one stone mason. All the other labor was supplied by our volunteers. Here again the good Lord intervened! All Columbans must make an annual retreat. This meant going to Seoul which was a time-consuming and tiresome journey involving ten hours by small wooden boat to the mainland and a further ten hours by train to Seoul. By an extraordinary turn of events I found myself getting a free ride to Seoul on an American bomber which had to stop off for two hours at a large American Air Force base half way to Seoul. There I had the amazing good fortune to meet the Catholic chaplain, Fr. George Gerner. Like the ship captain, he wanted to know what I was doing in Jeju Island.
So I told him, and he agreed to send me the Sunday collection every week thereafter. And that is how we built the Hallim parish church. The parish numbers increased so much that over the years four new parishes were formed out of the original one. The second church, shaped like a Celtic cross, is part of a shrine called the Hill of Grace. It has a life-size Stations of the Cross and a Rosary Walk around a small lake. It also has a retreat house to which about 8,000 adults come every year. Next door is a monastery of eighteen Contemplative Poor Clare Sisters. For young people we have a youth institute to which about 15,000 students come every year for various seminars. The youth institute is run by six Salesian Sisters. The retreat house is run by three Benedictine Sisters. We also have a nursing home for 85 elderly people and a hospice, both run by four Holy Family Sisters. All of these activities are gathered together in the parish of Keum Ak which is one of the four which grew out of Hallim. Keum Ak parish is still run by the Columban Fathers. CM Columban Fr. P.J. McGlinchey lives and works on Jeju Island, Korea.
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Columban Martyrs Memorial Garden Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
The Church gives us this beautiful prayer and it serves to remind us of our responsibility to pray for the faithful departed. We should pray for the dead throughout the year, but in November, the month of the Holy Souls, we make a special effort to pray for those who have died and whom we have loved and missed so dearly. The 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 and speaks to the fullness of resurrection and life everlasting. Now you have the special opportunity to memorialize your loved one and be part of a place where prayer is eternal. For a gift of $150, you can honor or memorialize someone who has been special to you by having a brick engraved with their name and placed in the Columban Martyrs Memorial Garden. 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 1-877-2991920 or email us at mission@columban.org. We are forever grateful for the part that you play in our shared missionary journey and we gratefully remember you in our Masses and prayers.
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Zootopia My Reflections on the Journey By Jung-Hae (Roberta) Kim
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ver since I returned to Korea, people have asked me, “How old are you?” “Why don’t you dye your gray hair?” whether I’m at the market or waiting at a bus station. And my response would be: “It has already been dyed by God, in a natural way, so why do I need to dye it?” But personally, the reason why I stopped dyeing my hair was because I learned to value a more ecological way of living during my second term on mission. It took me some time to adjust to having more gray hair which reminds me of my age. However, my new attitude towards my appearance has also enabled me to think of where I’m at that stage of my life journey with the Columban lay missionaries. That is, taking a position of responsibility for the Society, supporting the younger generation of lay missionaries, and facing the challenges and changes which all of this brings. There is an animated movie I saw recently entitled “Zootopia.” It is the city considered by animals (characters in the movie) as a land of hope where dreams come true. At least, as perceived by one of the main characters in the movie, a small rabbit, whose dream was fulfilled when she became a police officer in the city. The story revolved around the way of life among different species of animals living together in “Zootopia.” I found the movie entertaining and laughed while watching it right up until the happy ending. However, after watching the movie, I couldn’t stop thinking about the lamb in the movie who was the mastermind behind the conspiracy plot which caused problems among WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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the animals. According to her, small animals were more important in the society, and because she despised the predators, she found a drastic way to remove them from the community so that they could live in her own vision of Zootopia, free of predators. The whole story of the movie reminded me of myself in the Columban lay missionary program. When I was still beginning my first term in the region of Japan, I watched carefully and listened patiently to both local and Columban communities, one Japanese-speaking, the other English-speaking. It felt like I was a baby who needed to learn before being able to do anything. As I “grew” and adapted to the culture, especially to the Columban culture, I mistakenly thought that we all understood each other and were on the same page when it came to our ideas of missionary life. Later on I realized that it wasn’t that simple or easy as we all came from different cultural backgrounds and used various images and concepts even just to articulate a word in the same language. I overlooked the fact that each person is from a different background with a different understanding of language and culture. I saw how we needed to continuously develop communication skills and tools to help us have greater clarity and understanding, which ultimately can enable us to build bridges between us. This is why I saw myself like the lamb in the movie wanting to bring about change in my situation. I thought something was not right, and I wanted to take a shortcut rather than
go through the long process of learning about and adjusting to our situation which required time and patience. Since returning to my home region, my work has taught me the importance of listening deeply to my inner voice and to my feelings–especially whenever I face challenges. I’m convinced this process of self-reflection will lead me to the path of building bridges in our community. In the movie, I also relate to the rabbit in her relationship with the fox whom she instinctively distrusted in the beginning. She was able to face her fears and misconceptions about the fox to mend their friendship which was broken because of her mistake which hurt him. Whenever I meet people who tell me to dye my hair, I’d remind myself to look carefully at how I feel about the situation. Rather than following my natural instinct to react strongly or defensively towards them, I choose to be mindful about my thoughts and feelings towards them and the situation. This can help me become a good neighbor to them regardless of what they think or say. As I reflect on my experiences over many years since I joined Columban lay mission, I’m happy to find myself moving forward in my journey, standing at the “starting line” of being on mission in the Korean region. CM Columban lay missionary Jung-Hae (Roberta) Kim lives and works in Korea.
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The Joy of Encountering God’s Presence A Missionary’s Journey in the Andes By Erl Dylan J. Tabaco
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ince childhood I have been fascinated with geography. At times I would build different islands and mountains on the seashore and imagined myself at the top of them. It was a lifelong dream for me to travel from one place to another, but being in Peru was far beyond my imagination. Flying for almost 40 hours was the longest flight that I had. I crossed every continent, ocean and mountain. The whole experience was breathtaking. Having stayed in Lima for a year, I got used to the busy and sophisticated life of the metropolis. I wondered how other parts of Peru would look like since Lima is just a speck of the whole of Peru. The whole country is big and is divided into three major parts: costa (coastal), sierra (Andes mountains) and the selva (amazon). These three are distinct which makes Peru one of the most beautiful countries in the world. My sense of awe brought me to an experience that will have a significant impact in my first missionary assignment (FMA). In August 2015, Manuel, my FMA companion, and I traveled from Lima to Cusco where we were assigned for a week-long exposure in the high plains region of southern Peru. I was very excited since Cusco is the birthplace of the Inca civilization and famous for being one of the Seven Wonders of the World, Machu Pichu. Finally, we
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Erl at Machu Pichu
arrived in Cusco, and the first thing that I felt was faintness which came as no surprise since we were told that the place is 4,400 meters above sea-level. We were accompanied by Fr. Gregory Kim Young-In, a Korean Columban who was assigned in Parroquia Santiago Apostol de Yanaoca (St. James the Apostle Parish). We spent the whole night in Cusco to acclimatize ourselves to the altitude of the place since the next destination we were heading to was higher than Cusco. I was so delighted with what I saw in the central part of Cusco. One can witness the remnants of the empire that was once considered the most influential civilization in South America, that is, it is the birthplace of the Incan civilization. The architectural designs stood out, and the whole place was very magical. It was a night filled with awe and wonder as we prepared ourselves physically for the continuation of the journey. Early in the morning on the next day we continued our journey and after two and a half hours of driving we arrived at the Parish of St. James the Apostle of Yanaoca. On behalf of the community, we were welcomed by Fr. Paul Prendegast, a Columban from New Zealand, with their traditional tea made of cocoa leaves that was helpful in alleviating altitude sickness. The serenity of the place and the
simplicity of the locals amazed me. It was very cold, and the air penetrated my bones. Despite the cold weather I was mesmerized by the beauty of God’s creation. It was my first time to see snow in my life. The thrill took away my dizziness. The inner child in me has manifested my actions which took away the attention of the people who surrounded me. I was roaming around the place feeling excited about the experiences that I would encounter. I had the opportunity to talk with the people. At times I struggled to understand them since a majority of the locals spoke in their native tongue, which is called “Quechua.” The presence of the Columbans had been a great help in the area. Aside from the main parish, there were several chapels and far-away communities where Columbans administered the Sacraments to the people. It is customary that once a year, holy Mass has to be celebrated in honor of their feast-saint. At that time we visited “Machucayo A,” which is a far-flung community 90 kilometers away from the main parish. While we were driving, I was reminded of what Fr. Paul Prendegast shared with me during his early years as a priest where most of the time he walked or rode a horse to reach far-flung areas. He spent most of his life building friendships with people. WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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Local parishioners and Erl at the chapel
As a missionary, bringing God’s love and building friendships with the locals are inseparable. We can only be effective in our ministry once we value the dignity of every person that we encounter. His love of his ministry transcends time. He is almost 80, but his passion in doing his ministry was an inspiration for me. It is his love of the people and his care for them that gave him reasons to look forward to every single moment that he has with his community. When we arrived at the chapel, people slowly began to arrive. Most of them walked for a long distance just to attend the Mass. I had a chance to talk to one of the ladies who was catching her breath as she laid down her basket full of fruits and vegetables. She told me that they walked for almost five hours in order to attend the Holy Mass in honor of the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The chapel looks like a shack. It was very old and empty except the little altar in front of the chapel. As we commenced the celebration, the whole community sung wholeheartedly the hymns of the Masses. I was amazed by the participation of the people. I didn’t understand any word since the Mass was in Quechua. Their gestures showed their reverence to the celebration of the Mass. I’ve been to different Masses, but my experience in that community was WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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Erl in the Andes
totally different. I felt the importance of the Mass in the lives of everyone who was present there. Not a single moment was wasted. They offered everything to God: their time, presence, family and the works of their hands. While I was reflecting on what I’ve experienced, I had a glimpse of what a heavenly banquet looks like. That moment of grace seems that the heavenly banquet had taken place on earth. I was moved to tears, and it was a life-changing experience for me. Through that experience, I’ve realized that sometimes those people who had ample time and opportunity to attend Masses often missed those opportunities, while those who hardly had time cherished every moment of the Mass. These people who walked five to six hours were mostly mothers who made a tremendous effort in order to thank the Lord through the celebration of the Eucharist. I believe in my heart that God has revealed Himself unto me through the faith of the local people who have touched me deeply. After the Mass, we were invited by the head catechist of the community to have lunch in their house. He lived in a very small house with his ailing mother. In spite of his mother’s health he still offered his generosity for us as he prepared us a delicious meal, a traditional Andean delicacy. Their
generosity moved me. As the mother served the food for us, she spoke in low tone: “La casa es chiquita pero el Corazon es grande (the house is small but the heart is big). Reflecting on those words I’ve learned that encountering the presence of God doesn’t have to be extraordinary. Experiencing Him doesn’t have to be mystical. Even in the most ordinary of days, you will encounter Him, so long as your heart is open to encountering Him. The beauty of the place and the goodness of the locals has prepared me for that unforgettable encounter of the God who is always at the side of the lowly. Those people may be deprived of material things, but their faith of a loving God as expressed in their daily lives was very rich. In their simple lives the God of encounter is being manifested. As I bade farewell to the locals, I was reminded of a beautiful song that was always sung during the mission sending: “I’ll shout it from the mountain top, I want the world to know. The Lord of love has come to me; I want to pass it on.” As I continue my journey in becoming a future missionary, I want to retell the story of this encounter of a God whom I encountered in the Andes. CM Erl Dylan J. Tabaco is a Columban seminarian.
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Men of the Road
Strange Requests By Fr. Noel Doyle
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call this article “men of the road” because in all my years in Japan, only one woman came to me looking for a handout. I was once advised to refuse all such requests for three months after I went into a new parish, or I would end up with an endless stream of petitioners asking for money. The requests were generally for money for travel and not for food. Since the islands of Japan stretch for about 1,500 miles the requests were generally not for small but large amounts. The one request from a woman was also for travel money. There was a kindergarten in my parish at the time with over 200 pupils (and fortunately for me) run by two nuns. I was just trotted out for big occasions to give a talk for opening or closing the
school year or some special ceremony. However, if the pupils got a chance they would be climbing all over me as a “strange foreigner.” The woman was very insistent that I not tell the nuns anything about her request to me which was very strange as she was a complete stranger to me. One of my “men of the road” told me that he belonged to the Yakuza (local mafia) and that he had done something to upset the boss, and needed to get out of the gang territory and beyond Osaka which was over three hundred miles away. The usual penalty for displeasing the boss is that he/they chop off one of his little fingers. He kept putting his hand in his pocket as if he had a knife in it. I was not worried as I am fairly big and I know some karate moves that would have taken care of him. I suggested WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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It was only when I lifted his two bags to help him on his way that I realized that all that was in them was paper, and that I had been taken once again. Some of these “men of the road” could publish or act out their stories on stage and make money! that we go to the police and right the wrong that he was worried about, but he was not agreeable to that. One old man who seemed to be in his eighties told me that he had being contemplating suicide, and that he had travelled down to the sea on the opposite side of the peninsula to commit suicide in the sea. Then he had decided to travel back to the part of Japan that he had originated from as he still had relatives there, but unfortunately he did not have the money to get there. I thought his story was genuine and gave him the money. It was only when I lifted his two bags to help him on his way that I realized that all that was in them was paper, and that I had been taken once again. Some of these “men of the road” could publish or act out their stories on stage and make money! One parish that I was in had a bicycle racing track that attracted
many punters to the several meetings held there every year. The profits it made helped to keep the city going in various ways. If someone claimed they were broke the police would give them a ticket–not money–for the train to the next town. I had a policy of refusing these punters who came to me as I knew that they were gamblers who would spend any money that they got from me on gambling machines near the station. Most of the punters were just out for a day of fun, but there was a small number who were compulsive gamblers. Another regular was known as “hachimaki-san.” This means that he wore a kind of head towel. He only wanted a small amount of money as after visiting the Catholic church he had eleven Protestant churches to visit before travelling along to the next town. Time was literally money for him.
In another parish I had another exception in the case of a young man of about 19 or 20 years old. All he ever wanted was some food which I gave him. His was a sad case as the marriage of his parents had broken up, and his mother and two sisters had gone back to the northern island of Hokkaido. He was living with his father who worked in a factory. After work each day the father went to a pub to drink. He would not give his son a key to the apartment, and the son had to wait outside the apartment until his father came home or he would not be let in that night. Some of the men in the church decided to get the young man into some kind of institution in Tokyo. They took him up on a Sunday, but he was back again on Tuesday. He came to me one day looking for money which was very unusual, and when I asked him what he wanted it for he told me that he had fallen in love with a girl who worked in a department store and that he wanted to buy her flowers. He told me that he did not know her name, nor had he spoken to her. I told him that if he gave her flowers that he would embarrass her, and he should not do so. He disappeared after that. Some weeks later a policeman came to me with a picture of him and asked me if I knew him. I just told him that he used to come around the church at times. When I asked him why he wanted to know he refused to give me any answer. I only hope and pray is that he got into some institution that was able to help him. CM After many years in Japan, Columban Fr. Noel Doyle now resides in Ireland.
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Celebrating St. Columban’s 1400th Anniversary Celebrating in Fiji Style By Fr. Frank Hoare
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t. Columban, a great Irish missionary monk, died in 615 A.D. in Bobbio, Italy. Columban missionaries (who have St. Columban as their patron) have worked in Fiji since 1952. But being a Society of Apostolic Life rather than a religious congregation, they identified themselves mainly as diocesan priests and did not make a fuss about their patron. However, led by the Regional Director, Fr. Donal McIlraith, and inspired by the program of celebration planned in other Regions of the Society, Columbans in Fiji and their local lay Companions in Mission decided to promote mission in Fiji by
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organizing a number of events for the 1400th anniversary of St Columban’s death in 2015. On one Sunday of each month during 2015, Columban priests, lay missionaries, seminarians and companions in mission visited a parish in Fiji where Columbans had previously worked. The Columban priest celebrated Mass with the parish priest, gave the homily, explained the intention of the visiting group and prayed for any current missionaries from that parish. At the end of the Mass, one of the companions in mission presented a large mission candle and candle holder to the parish priest. After Mass, the
group gave a presentation to those parishioners on the life and work of St Columban. A lay missionary and Columban seminarian shared how they discovered their call to mission. Two all-night youth prayer vigils were organized during the year, one each on the two main islands – Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. These were attended by a large number of youths and they responded very well to the talks, prayers, opportunity for confession and Mass during the twelve-hour vigil. The culmination of the commemorations was a three-day celebration leading up to the feast of St. Columban. On the Thursday WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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meke (dance) about St. Columban
before the feast, lay missionaries–both past and present–gave a presentation in the crypt of the Cathedral in Suva of their experience of mission over the 25 years of Columban lay mission. On the following evening, the Cathedral itself was the venue for a Mass and a prayer vigil lasting a few hours during which there were two talks on St. Columban. On Saturday, November 21, 2015, the final celebration was held in the hall and grounds of a Catholic secondary school in Suva. Archbishop Peter Loy Chong was the main celebrant at the Commemorative Mass and Fr. Iowane Gukibau, the first Fijian Columban, gave an inspiring homily. After morning tea for the guests, the children of St. Columban’s Church in Votua village on the western side of Viti Levu acted a drama in the Fijian language about the life of St. Columban. They performed so well that many in the audience shed tears, WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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Columban lay missionary Haiti Muller singing a hymn
Columban lay missionary Marjorie Engcoy singing a hymn
Korean ladies at the celebration
Columban Fr. Iowana Gukibau (in the green shirt) at the celebration
especially at the reconciliation of St. Columban and St. Gall. The much-awaited meke (traditional Fijian dance) was then performed outside. The dance was about the work of St. Columban, and was specially composed for the occasion. This dance consisted of four different forms of dance movements being done together to the same chant. One group of men did a spear dance, another did a fan dance. One group of women did a fan dance while another group danced using hand movements only. The participants had practiced for weeks beforehand under the leadership of the composer, Mr. Damiano Logaivau. With about 80 participants in the dance and another twenty sitting and chanting the words, it could only be done outside on a large flat area. Luckily the weather, which had been very wild and wet in the early morning, improved so that the dancers and the audience could be
accommodated comfortably outside. When the dance finished, three Columban lay missionaries walked forward through the ranks of the dancers singing, in turn, a newly composed hymn to St. Columban. The singers, Marjorie Engcoy from the Philippines, Haiti Muller from Tonga, and Vasamaca Ratu from Fiji each wore her national costume. They sang with deep feeling the new hymn, also composed by Damiano, and in that setting it was very powerful. After the formal presentations everyone relaxed in groups, sharing the Fiji national drink of yaqona. Food was provided for all and afterwards there was some free form dancing, clowning and socializing. The celebrations reminded all present of the great missionary work of St. Columban which we are called to imitate in our own way and our own situations. CM Fr. Frank Hoare lives and works in Fiji.
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Called to Serve My First Parish Ministry in Lima By Erl Dylan J. Tabaco Erl (in the peach colored shirt) and friends in Lima
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ne of the greatest contributions of Columbans in the local church of Peru is its involvement of parish ministry in the Diocese of Carabayllo located in the central part of Lima. There are four Columban parishes, and one of those is Nuestra Senora de las Misiones (Our Lady of the Missions) where I did my ministry for a year. My parish is made up of twelve vibrant communities with its own patron saint and pastoral leaders. The whole program of the parish was supervised by Columban Fr. Edward O’Connell, our parish priest, together with two other Columbans Fr. John Hegerty and Fr. Lucano Hwa Ku. I was highly involved in our youth program through giving instruction to confirmands. In addition, I served two of our communities namely Virgen del Rosario and Medalla Milagrosa, through liturgical celebrations, visiting the sick and catechesis. I was very blessed to have a very supportive community and my priestcompanions who have accompanied me in every step of the way. They taught me how to be a good missionary not only in words but most especially in the way I live out my vocation. In the span of one year, my life has been enriched by the people whom I encountered in my journey. I had the privilege to accompany them in their highest and lowest moments. They taught me to be a good listener during the times when I struggled to speak 18
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their language. I remember one time when one confirmand approached me and shared his story with me. Upon listening to him he noticed my desire to accompany him during his struggle despite the language barrier. At the end of our conversation I was surprised when he told me that my presence had consoled him. Instead of affirming it, I apologized for being unable to properly express myself. Then he told me that he noticed unspoken words coming from me. He was able to understand my message, because I spoke the language of the heart through my facial expressions. I was really moved by that. I realized that when you accompany people in their journey, your presence is what matters most even if you don’t say a word. That encounter inspired me to be more with the people with my true self. You don’t have to pretend because people would notice it. People would be grateful to you if you stay true to yourself by means of accepting your limitations and utilizing your gifts. I began to widen my horizons by establishing good relationships with the elderly men and women in my community. They have been very accommodating especially when I visited them in their houses. Regardless of economic status they always offered something to eat and they always tell me “esta casa es tu casa” (this house is your house). Through the people I have encountered, I’ve learned to value the
meaning of what sharing is all about. There was one particular old woman, a widow with a special needs child who really captured my attention. Every Saturday when I cleaned our chapel, she dropped by after collecting some empty bottles and newspaper as her means of livelihood. She would always greet me by hugging and after that she would extend her hand with a candy and bread in it. Her simple gesture overwhelmed me, and she has influenced me to be more generous. Every time I think of her I am reminded of the old widow in the Gospel, who, even in her poverty, gives everything she has. Through my involvement with the Columban mission in Peru, my experience has helped me to become more committed to my vocation as a future missionary priest. May all the values that I have learned from the people who have touched my life in various ways continually inspire me to be grounded with the values of the Gospel. As our community grows in number may the spirit of camaraderie hold us together even if we are miles away. Like the Peruvian dance, “Huayno” that you taught me, by holding our hands together it will be a constant reminder that I was once there in your beautiful country called by God to serve in love, joy and humility. CM Erl Dylan Tabacco is a Columban seminarian.
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God depends on you to carry out His plan for the world. Please consider becoming a Columban Mission sponsor today! As a Columban Mission Sponsor, you play a vital and important role in bringing Christ to the people of the Pacific Rim, South and Central America. You may not be able to go where our Columban missionaries go, and you may not be able to do what we do, but together we can bring Christ, in word and in sacrament to the people of the world. What Columban missionaries achieve is as much your work as theirs. When you choose to make sustaining gifts as a Columban Mission Sponsor, you help secure the future of mission!
What does being a Columban Mission Sponsor involve? Daily Prayer Columban Mission Sponsors pray daily for the success of our missionaries. The Gospel is spread through the power of God, not merely by human effort. For mission efforts to be fruitful, they must be accompanied by prayer. Sacrifice Offer whatever crosses, suffering and pain you experience each day for the success of our mission activities. Sacrifice is the inseparable compliment to prayer. A Monthly Offering Columban Mission sponsors give a specific amount that they choose each month for the work of the missions. These sustaining gifts live up to their name by maximizing giving over the long term and provide a secure future for vital programs and ministries.
What are the personal benefits for you? Becoming a Columban Mission Sponsor is one way of saying “Thank You, Lord” for all of God’s goodness to you, especially for the gift of Faith. You can be sure that, in return, God will never be outdone in generosity toward you or your loved ones. By helping bring Christ to others, you will find your own faith immensely enriched. To start your monthly giving today, visit us online at: www.columban.org/sponsors. Or, for your convenience, fill out the form below and use the postage-paid envelope in the center of this magazine. _____ I would like to learn more about giving via automatic bank withdrawal. Please call me. _____ I would like to begin my monthly giving by check. Enclosed is my gift of $____________ (We will send a reminder each month unless you direct us otherwise) Name: ____________________________________________________________________________________ Address: __________________________________________________________________________________ City: _______________________________________________________________ State: ___ Zip: __________ Phone: ________________________________ Email: ______________________________________________
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The Detour Better than the Planned Route By Liezl Noya Ladaran
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just came from town for a visit with an Indian family and sat down on the very comfortable chair in the mission house. In a little while Auntie Bebie comes, shouting “Lata, we will go tonight to the Hindu family who invited you.” I feel so tired and do not want to go, but I had given my word already, so I said okay, we’ll go. I did rest for a while and asked God to help me and give me the strength and lead me. In the darkness of the night, with the flashlight as our guiding light, we walked. When we were almost at the house, Uncle Sammy asked a man standing near the bridge if anyone was home. I could see that there were no lights in the house. I was upset but didn’t show it. It was a starry night, and my feelings were soothed by the coolness in the night and gave peace to my mind. We continued walking, and this time I knew where we were going. I was excited but thought the people will be surprised with our visit! When we arrived they were surprised and reluctantly responded to our greeting,
and they keep saying, “who are they?” They were busy fixing things inside, then after that we came inside and I saw the mat spread on the floor and the yangona. There were introductions all around. One elderly lady was familiar to me. She was the mother of the bride whose wedding I had attended recently. We talked about the usual family matters, and I spoke to the kids in Hindi. The grandmother introduced me to her grandchildren and started telling me the sad story of her daughter-in-law, and her own story as well. She told me her daughter-in-law had three children, but the third one is the son of her present husband. I didn’t understand that statement, and it made me confused. She was shy at first then she told me. The first husband was her eldest son who had died. Then second son married the daughter-in-law to keep them in their family together and take care of the two children. Then she told me about her other son who became handicapped. Her son born complete and well, but when her son was 3 or 4 years old, his uncle tossed him up in the air but didn’t catch him. The poor little boy fell down and hit his head on the ground and that was the end of the noisy world. The accident affected his hearing, but still he continued his studies. He managed to pretend to hear until his family discovered
it. One good man helped him and gave him a temporary hearing aid, but when a flood came it was lost. The deaf man lived peacefully with his wife and children; they loved each other and he worked very hard for the family. Many people offered work to him like cutting grass and electrical matters. I was amazed by the life of this family! Sometimes we deny reality, or maybe we are not too sensitive to the people around us. We neglect our own family by the nuisance of surroundings and different things in front of us. We keep assuring our peers that everything is okay. Too much positive thinking can destroy the feelings of other people and their needs. It reminds me of Genesis when God asked Cain, “where is your brother?” We are accountable to each other. I believbe this is what God wants us to do. Sometimes a detour in life is much better than the planned route. This detour was an opportunity for me to see the reality of this family. I learned many lessons in life at this meeting. It is always a blessing for me when I feel tired and come across people requesting my presence. At the end, I am rejuvenated by the joy and good insights. CM Originally from the Philippines, Columban lay missionary Liezl Noya Ladaran lives and works in Fiji.
Columbans Celebrate Ordination Anniversaries Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. Jeremiah 17:7 We honor you for being a dedicated and loving shepherd of God’s flock and thank you for your loving service to the Church. May God bless you abundantly on this milestone of devotion and service and in your on-going priestly ministry. William Sullivan 60 years 20
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Thomas Vaughan 60 years
Thomas Shaughnessy 50 years
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Like the Lotus Beauty Rises By Sr. Patricia Byrne
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oing on mission to Hong Kong in 1976 was both an exciting adventure and a shock to the system. Moving from the wide-open spaces, the peace and tranquility of a small Irish town to the closely packed high-rises, the noise, the over-crowded streets, was a new experience for me. Studying and struggling to speak one of the world’s most difficult languages was an added stress. It was therefore with great relief, six months later, that I found myself on one of the outlying islands at Xavier House for my annual retreat. Xavier House, a Jesuit retreat center, was a total contrast to the busy life of the city. Quiet, situated on the edge of the South China Sea, with space to walk, and lots of trees and exotic flowers, it was a place to be refreshed and renewed before returning again to the city and the busy work day. It was with a sense of wonder that I found myself in October 2000 back in Xavier House, this time as a member of the staff. I was invited – the first woman and the first Sister – to be part of a new team in Xavier House. In preparation I took some studies in spirituality and spiritual direction. For the past number of years, together with two Jesuits, I have been working in Xavier House. Most of those who come are lay people, both Catholic and Protestant. In our garden at Xavier House, at a certain time in the year, the lotus rises in glorious bloom from the depths of the small pond. It glows deep pink in the sunshine. I like to think of this as a symbol of my work. The pond is deep and often murky, like the inner depths of the human person. The sun WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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is like the bright light of God who encourages us to go deep within. And when we do this, there are moments in the sunshine of his presence when our inner beauty, made in God’s image, blossoms forth in all its loveliness. I have discovered this time and time again with the people I direct. They come here stressed out from their busy lives as teachers, housewives, priests, office workers, etc. They are glad to be in a quiet place, but they carry the anxieties of their lives, and share these anxieties with me in our initial meetings. However, as they get in touch with nature – the sea, the trees, the song of the birds – they were absorbed by the beauty of the creator, who has shared all this with us. Slowly they let go of the cares and anxieties and listen to God speak to them through nature and through the Scriptures. They discover that the important thing for them is to be with God, and to know that God loves them and wants to be with them. In these moments they discover with wonder the beauty of God, and like
the lotus, the beauty rising from the depths of their own lives. When I meet people as a spiritual director, we talk about how they are relating with God. We talk about their life and their relationships with family and with other people. We talk about what makes them happy or sad–what gives them life, and what takes away their energy. I often marvel at the great privilege which is mine and all that I receive through the openness and trust of the people who share with me. It’s hard to switch off all the voices and all the choices that clamor for our attention today. However, if we do, we may gradually be filled with wonder as we discover the presence of God within us, and, like the lotus, allow that presence and that love to shine through all we are and all we do. CM Columban Sr. Patricia Byrne was assigned to Hong Kong in 1976. The Missionary Sisters of St. Columban began working in Hong Kong in 1948 and recently made the decision to leave Hong Kong due to the declining number of Sisters available to staff the mission.
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A Unique Way to Be a Missionary – a Gift from Your IRA The support of Columban benefactors like you have inspired and sustained our missionaries for over 98 years! Sharing in our vision through the ages has made us partners in all we do to build God’s kingdom here on earth. Now, there is a new and unique way for you to “missionary”. If you have the desire to make a gift now and be able to see your generosity at work during your lifetime, perhaps a direct contribution from your Individual Retirement Account is right for you. If you are 70 ½ years old or older, you can take advantage of a convenient way to make a gift to the Columban Fathers and receive tax benefits in return. The law permits you to make a contribution of up to $100,000 from your IRA when it is made directly to a qualifying charity like us. And… …you can do so without having to pay income taxes on the money! Plus, if you have not taken your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) this year, a direct rollover gift from your IRA can satisfy all or part of that requirement. We always recommend that you consult with your own tax professional if you are considering any charitable contribution under this provision or any other. For more information on how the IRA Charitable Rollover Contribution works, please contact our Donor Relations Representative at the toll-free number below or write to:
Columban Fathers P.O. Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056-0010 Toll-free: 877-299-1920 Email: mission@columban.org
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Responding to the Lord’s Call
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few years ago my priest companion in the Columban international seminary in Chicago, Fr. Leo Distor, and I were invited to join a pilgrimage in the footsteps of St. Columban. However, as we made our various preparations one major obstacle appeared: we could not find another Columban priest who was available to oversee the seminary during our three week absence. Then, just as we were about to give up searching, a colleague mentioned that I should reach out to Fr. John Marley. Since Fr. John was living in our retirement home and was celebrating sixty years of priesthood that summer, I was hesitant about making my request. However, after supper one evening I wrote him an email in which I presented my dilemma. Much to my surprise and delight, after breakfast the following morning his response awaited me: “I’m available!” Fr. John arrived in Chicago a week before our departure and quickly learned his
From the Director By Fr. Tim Mulroy responsibilities, so that when Fr. Leo and I headed off on the pilgrimage, we knew that the seminarians were in good hands. A few years later when faced with a similar dilemma in my present role as Director, I found myself turning again to Fr. John. This time, Fr. Kevin Mullins had informed me that he wanted to leave his parish in the city of Juarez in Mexico in order to take a vacation back home in Australia, and wondered aloud who might take his place in that hot, dusty and dangerous city. With few
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While Fr. Kevin enjoyed a vacation with his family in Australia, Fr. John ministered to the people of Corpus Christi in Juarez. options open to me, I approached Fr. John in the retirement home. Reluctant to make a direct request of this priest who was then eighty-six years old, I talked at first about our parish in Juarez and the challenges of ministering there. Fr. John, however, detected where the conversation was leading, and without me ever reaching the point of asking him to consider going there, said, “I’m available! In fact, I have already arranged my airline ticket.” I thought he must be joking, but of course he wasn’t! From telephone conversations with Fr. Kevin, he had sensed his dilemma, and decided to offer his services. A few months later, while Fr. Kevin enjoyed a vacation with his family in Australia, Fr. John ministered to the people of Corpus Christi parish in Juarez. These stories are but two examples of how Fr. John has responded to the Lord’s call as a Columban missionary priest in recent years. Throughout his sixty-six years of priesthood, he has shared the Good News of Jesus Christ with the peoples of Chile, Italy, Ireland, Mexico, the Philippines, and the U.S. While officially retired and preparing to celebrate his ninetieth birthday, Fr. John still continues to joyfully respond, “I’m available!,” whenever and wherever he senses the Lord calling him.
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Columban Fathers PO Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056
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Transform the Lives of Others…Enrich the World…Give Hope Columban Mission magazine is published eight times each year and tells the stories of our missionaries and the people they are called to serve. Columban missionaries live in solidarity with their people and, together, they move forward to improve their social, economic and spiritual lives, always with Our Savior as their guide and their eyes on God’s Kingdom. For a $10 donation or more, you or a friend or loved one can share in our baptismal call to mission and the Columban Father’s mission work around the world through Columban Mission magazine. To begin receiving your Columban Mission magazine or to provide a gift to a loved one, simply visit our website at www.columban.org, call our toll-free number 877-299-1920 or write to us at: Columban Mission Magazine Subscription Missionary Society of St. Columban P.O. Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056
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“If you knew the gift of God and who it is who is saying to you ‘give me a drink,’ you would have asked and he would have given you living water.” — John 4:10
If you feel a thirst to spread the word of Jesus, we would love to discuss missionary life with you.
We invite you to join this new generation by becoming a Columban Father or Columban Sister. If you are interested in the missionary priesthood, write or call… Fr. Bill Morton National Vocation Director Columban Fathers St. Columbans, NE 68056 877-299-1920 Email: vocations@columban.org Website: www.columban.org
If you are interested in becoming a Columban Sister, write or call… Sister Virginia Mozo National Vocation Director Columban Sisters 2546 Lake Road Silver Creek, NY 14136 626-458-1869 Email: virginiamozo@yahoo.com Websites: www.columbansisters.org www.columbansistersusa.com
Japan + Korea + Peru + Hong Kong + Philippines + Pakistan + Chile + Fiji + Taiwan + North America
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