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Stories from Columban Missions

Empty school desk chair in an empty room
Survival of Those Displaced

It was in June 2021 that I got back to Peru, my own country, and once again had the opportunity to be with people who were displaced and in…

Youth sitting in a line facing the sea looking at the sunset
Youth for Change

“Youth for Change” was the theme that the Youth in Raiwaqa Parish (Fiji) chose for their revival program after the Covid-19 pandemic. Being with…

Windows overlooking a bay.
Hope to Life Anew

A shimmer of light I saw
Beckoning me to go…. Ah! HOPE
To freedom I go
Out of this dark, cold, filthy tunnel

Setting sun over mountainous terrain
My Invitation to Ecological Conversion

In Quezon City, a poor neighborhood on the north side of Manila, Philippines, I found a small room where I could live among the locals. At the…

Christ on the cross with a dark blue sky background
Stations of the Cross

On Good Friday last year, the Columban formation community in Seoul, Korea, participated in the Good Friday liturgy organised by the Korean branch…

A field of red tulips
Easter

A holy memory from my childhood remains with me. I was five years old, and I remember going with my father through the mud and slush of early 1950…

Three crosses on a hill with the setting sun behind them.
The Last Wanaurny

“I’m the last of the Wanaurnys in the USA” …. a chuckle …. “and maybe the last in the entire world!” Th is was how Fr. John Wanaurny mused from…

Columban Fr. Donal McIlraith with newly Ordained Fr. Vincent Tawake
Fr. Vincent's First Mass

On Saturday, August 19, 2023, Deacon Vincent Tawake CM was ordained priest by the Archbishop of Suva, Dr. Peter Loi Chong. Some 30 priests…

Young People celebrate World Youth Day in Myanmar
Hope and Light

It has been a while since the parish youth ministry prepared for a big event. After arriving back in Myanmar (formerly Burma) from my home…