Since the Covid pandemic began, we’ve experienced Sunday Mass cancellations whenever new cases spiked. This has impacted activities in my ministry because most of them…
october
When I began my longterm commitment as a Columban Lay Missionary, I took on the role as a diocesan catechist. Bishop John Lee of the Diocese of Hsinchu asked me to study…
On May 14, 1987, people in Fiji were shocked when the army overthrew the elected government in a coup d’etat. The army claimed that it was saving the indigenous Fijian…
Ana Cristina Pallin Figueroa, a young person from the community of San Benito has been actively participating since her childhood in the Columban program “Warmi Huasi”…
The explosions of grace that took place in St. John the Apostle Church in Latifabad, Hyderabad.Pakistan, throughout Holy Week and the Easter season of 2022 should not go…
I have been a Columban missionary priest for many years now. I first worked on cross-cultural mission in Chile, China and Taiwan. Now I am working in my home region in the…
On the night of September 7, 1651, things were looking bad for Charles Stuart, the future King Charles II. Four days earlier, his Royalist army had been destroyed by…
I, and the Columban missionaries, are in our last month of ministry in Ba, before we hand over the parish to the Archdiocese of Suva. As the “last standing” Columban here…
Amparo, you have passed over to the other side of life. I know I will see you again but in the meantime, I know you will continue to look after me as you always did. It…
As I reflect on the past three years of my life as a Columban Lay missionary assigned in the Philippines, I am overwhelmed with a flood of emotions. The journey has been…
The prophet Habakkuk wrote his book not long before the siege and capture of Jerusalem in 586 BC, at a time when the Babylonian army was on the march towards Jerusalem.
In today’s world, tensions between race, ethnicity, and culture have increased. There are polarizing movements that seem to fuel more hate than understanding. As…
I attended Sunday Mass on mission Sunday morning at the parish near Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, when I was on sabbatical.
At the end of 1952 and the beginning of 1953, (70 years ago) the Columban missionaries took over the spiritual administration of Ba Parish in Ba, Fiji. Our relationship…
Something people would be surprised to know about me is that I was a Columban lay missionary for three years in Peru. It was there that I was able to discern my vocation…
More than one-sixth of the population of Venezuela, 5.6 million out of 30 million, has left the country since 2015. Previously one of the richest countries in Latin…
Recently, I chanced upon an interview on YouTube that instantly grabbed my attention. A young Irish woman was speaking about her ordeal back in 2013 when she was arrested…
I’d passed the church three times before recognizing it. The voice of the “satnav” lady kept insisting that, “you have arrived at your destination,” but all I could see…
Before making my final profession, I made a retreat. During this retreat I had to decide whether to finalize my commitment as a Columban Sister or to take another way of…
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit…and his name was Baggins.”
“My name is Teresa Chuah Hui- Ling. I am from Penang in Malaysia.”
What could…
Not long after celebrating my Golden Jubilee with my fellow Columban Sisters in Magheramore, Ireland, I found myself on the plane back to Pakistan. The Jubilee was a…
I am hoping that the Synodal Pathway will provide the Church with an opportunity to put in place processes that would see the Church becoming a better version of itself. I…
I met a Filipino couple in Chicago, and they have two children. Both of the parents both work as nurses. In my few years there, they would invite me to go out with the…
In early 2019, a group of young Muslim men discovered a large, monumental carved marble cross on the mountain side above their village in the Kavardo Valley in Skardu in…
In our modern world many people who were born Catholic and Christian proclaim that they are now atheist. On the other hand, many who never embraced the Christian faith…
We conducted an intercultural workshop here in Ba (Fiji) parish this past weekend. About 50 people attended, mainly indigenous Fijians and ethnic Indians. Scripture input…
As Columban missionaries, we have lived in other countries where we have worked closely with people from Asia, South America and Oceania. We have learned not only to value…
In 2000, upon graduating from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago with my Master’s of Divinity (theological degree for priesthood), I vowed that it was the end of my…
I live in an apartment building in Quezon City (Philippines). On my floor are four apartments separated in two wings. The other apartment in my wing has been empty since…
When the pandemic started to escalate, and the U.S./ Mexico border needed to impose restrictions, the ministries where I was involved in Juarez, Mexico, were in lockdown,…
For Holy Week 2020, I found myself in Bellevue, Nebraska, where I found refuge in the U.S. headquarters of the Columban Fathers after my sabbatical program at the Oblate…
I am a new Columban lay missionary commencing my first term assignment in the region of Britain. Together with my companion, Ling, we arrived here in Birmingham on…
Xavier College was established in 1953 as a boys school by the Catholic Archdiocese of Suva, Fiji, to provide Christian education, particularly to Indian youth in the…
I am generally not so enthusiastic about explaining my artworks.
“For me, life began at 40,” laughs Fr. Tony Coney, remembering how he arrived in Lima on his fortieth birthday. In addition, the date was August 30, providentially the…
It was going to be the best of years! At least that was what I thought in January 2020. The Warmi Huasi project teams had their plans of action in place with the local…
I had slept on and off throughout the night. Then, just as dawn appeared at my window, I heard a loud and persistent chirping that pierced my ears and the haze that…
Who would have thought that one day we would just awaken and everything had to stop, everything had to change, to be reconfigured? As I write this, we are now entering the…
The claim of a number of political leaders in the recent past to be protecting the Judeo/Christian civilization has not gone unnoticed. However, when this claim is…
Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897 was quite close to what people think of now as the high-water mark of the British Empire.
Instead of triumph and bombast and…
I began to search for my vocation in high school. I belonged to a “Young Vinnies” group made up of students from the Catholic high schools in Suva, Fiji.
When I arrived in Japan the Columban missionaries had almost 50 parishes scattered over four different areas. Of those most of them were in cities with the exception of…
During difficult times, we may find ourselves asking, “To what or to whom do we hang on or cling to? What keeps us moving?”
October is to be celebrated as Mission Month.
It is part of our daily morning exercise routine for myself and my fellow lay missionary, Lenette Toledo, to pass by the busiest market in Bhamo. Bhamo is a city in the…
The late art critic Sr. Wendy Beckett wrote, “the astonishing thing about prayer is our inability to accept that if we have need of it, as we do, then because of God’s…
Sharing my vocation story stirs up mixed feelings within me. On the one hand I think of a vocation as something personal and sacred, but I remember that such stories…
“Hope springs eternal” goes the phrase, even in the saddest of situations, and surely none can be sadder than the case of young Andrea Alvarez.
There are many days when I am at home in the tribal villages in Sindh, Pakistan. Although, it might have been upsetting for someone to find out that majority of the…
Our mission partners and benefactors are very essential in the day-to-day life of the missionaries. They play a significant role in helping the Society proclaim the good…
Every Saturday afternoon, Fr. Paul drove off faithfully in the car by himself. For several years, all I knew was that he was heading to a Gamblers Anonymous meeting…
It is almost impossible to describe the appreciation and love that Catholic Kachins in Myanmar have for Columban missionaries, and at times, it can be almost embarrassing…
Myanmar is far behind in terms of education, compared to other countries, having been shut off from the outside world for 50 years by the military junta.
In the Gospels, there are several accounts of feeding a large crowd from scant supplies. These accounts may be versions of one memorable event for which several accounts…
Pulsating through our world, oceans and land
the tropics and artic, our home
flows the presence of God
loving a myriad of creation faces.
I had just arrived in the Philippines shortly after ordination. It was 1973 and something unprecedented was happening back home in Ireland.
I’ve been living here in Ciudad Juarez in the Parish of Corpus Christi in the Northern part of Mexico, Rancho Anapra, for almost eighteen months now.
October with its blue skies and bright leaves is a time for appreciating the beauty of the earth. Appropriately, October 4 is the feast day of St. Francis.
I was ordained in 1969. Those were confident and energetic times. Neil Armstrong walked on the moon a few days later.
One of the many joys of being a Columban lay missionary is the joy of entering into a new culture and sharing my faith and experience with the people, while at the same…
Let us begin with a story: Equally qualified, Carmen and Diane both sought employment with the same local company. Both prayed to God for help, and the company granted…
Columban lay missionary, Liliani Maafu, shared the story of what happened while traveling to work in a jeepney (bus).
“What do we do now?” I asked my Indian companions as our boat drifted out to sea. I had been invited by the four young men to go fishing. We left at 5 p.m., leaving dinner…
In 1986, when I was in the process of learning Cantonese, a Hong Kong friend took me to Mong Kok on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong where, for the first time, I saw sex…
The work of the Columbans over the last 65 years has been blessed by the presence of diocesan priests (associates) who contract with the Missionary Society of St.
Four Columbans, John Casey, Patrick Ronan, Owen O’Kane and Patrick Reilly, all attached to the Huchow mission in the Chinese Province of Chekiang, were arrested by the…
I came home for my highly anticipated home vacation in April 2018 after spending the last three years in Chile, feeling incredibly excited to be back among my family and…
The river came out of the ground underneath the rocks
We watched and wondered where it came from
Drank it, used it for cooking
Washed ourselves
The easiest way for me to write about prayer is to speak of my own journey with God. I say this because prayer is a particular experience for each person. It is an…
I was born in a predominantly Christian city in the Philippines.
There used to be a kind of joke going around that said, “As long as there are algebra exams, there will be prayer in the public schools.” Algebra is important, but I think…
My missionary journey in Ireland was the highlight of my entire career and my greatest accomplishment in life.
"People think pleasing God is all God cares about, but any fool in the world can see he is always trying to please us back … always making little surprises and springing…
I have been attending a training of trainers at the Methodist Conference Center. I was unhappy with the sleeping arrangements.
I met Raj, a Sri Lankan Hindu asylum seeker, about nine years ago at the the Solihull Welcome drop-in center for asylum seekers when I was attending the home office…
I always enjoy returning to my home parish of St. Joseph's, New Plymouth, in New Zealand over the Christmas period.
The preaching of Jesus and His compassion for the poor and the outcasts was at the heart of the Kingdom of God.
If the Philippines have the Chocolate Hills in Bohol, here in the north of Chile we have mountains of "chocolates," no green trees, just all brown soil.
A faith born in the shadows cast by a single candle in a tightly curtained room of a small farming village in a China emerging from the repression of the Cultural…
I first met Amy from the Philippines after she was brought to the Hope Workers' Center in Taiwan.
Not long ago I dared to follow a so called "dream," a dream that became reality when one day I found myself in a place different from my home.
When I was ordained a deacon and later a priest, I worked with young people in one parish in the Philippines.
God is always leading us in every step of our journey. But there are times that we do not recognize His presence because of situations that separate us from Him.
The next day was more adventurous. Fr. Nilton drove us to Navala, a traditional Catholic village in the mountains over Ba.
As a teenager Ned Galvin enjoyed seeking out adventure with his friends.
This year we recall with gratitude the living faith of Columbans and others that has shaped our individual journeys and that of our Society for our first 100 years of…
In January 2015 I began a new ministry in Payatas, the Philippines, known as the second Smokey mountain.
Let us look at ourselves as human beings with dignity, values, and inalienable human rights.
I am half way through my two months stay in Nacemaki Village after my course in the Fijian language. The villagers are very welcoming and friendly.
Columban Fr. Frank Hoare shared this page from his missionary diary:
April 16, 1992
Word came into the church that a homeless man was sleeping rough under Sotohori Bridge, in Japan. The local Church group looking after the homeless went to visit him.
In late January 2017, Columban Fr. Pat Colgan (General Councillor with responsibility for Myanmar) and Columban Fr.
After every atrocity in the global city there are days of discussion and debate as to why such acts are happening.
Before sharing some memories of my experience as a lay missionary, I would like to thank the Columban Fathers for giving me the opportunity to live one of the greatest…
I used to work with the prison ministry as a seminarian, visiting the national penitentiary called Bilibid, a place for the "rejected and discarded," both young and old…
One afternoon while walking from work to the house, I met some people I did not know, and one of them was very helpful. A local deputy asked me where I was going.
The generosity of God's love and that of the Columban Fathers who have gone before us starting with Galvin, Blowick and companions up to those who are still with us at…
When I lived in Pakistan I was part of the 1.6 percent who are Christians in this predominantly Muslim country which has an estimated 203 million people.
Though she herself readily admitted that she couldn't sing, Gloria participated in the church choir every Sunday.
I have many aspirations in life. Some of them I have already achieved. I am happy every time I achieve a goal.
Jesus said to His disciples, “Peace I leave you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.”
It is difficult for us in Myanmar (Burma) to get visas so we have to leave and go to Bangkok, Thailand, frequently to renew our visas.
Prison ministry was my personal choice.
I have often been asked, “What is the biggest change you have seen since you started working pastorally with people affected by HIV and AIDS?” I have pondered this…
My name is Louis Ybanez, and I am a Columban seminarian from the Philippines.
He's known as the white ghost! This tall, middle aged man with a fair complexion and salt-and-pepper colored hair, can be seen walking the streets of neglected…
Observing the Sacraments, particularly the Holy Eucharist, is something I look forward to celebrating.
I met Bishop Jin about 25 years ago on my first visit to China and dined with him in his former residence next to the Cathedral.
My pilgrimage in – indeed conversion to – interreligious dialogue started even before I learned the phrase interreligious dialogue.
The rise of women into to high public office has given a new dimension to the global political scene.
Each one of us will have our own memories of the events that touched and made an impression on us this year.
It is said that history has a habit of repeating itself. This seems to be so in one particular case at least. In June 1920 when Columban Frs.
Who stole away those golden leaves which recently had fallen from the trees
Decorating those tired and resting fields
Each Monday at 7:00 p.m. in Seoul, Korea, believers come to celebrate the Eucharist in Kwang Hwa Mun Plaza in the center of Seoul.