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By Fr. Donal O'Keeffe

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

 

By Fr. Robert McCulloch

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’s suburban, Melbourne,…

 

By Fr. Tim Mulroy

“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 time to time during the…

 

By Fr. Donal McIlraith

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

 

By Fr. Kurt Zion Pala

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 vacation, the youth ministry…

 

By Fr. Leo Schumacher

In 2020, Fr. M was looking forward to celebrating his 25th ordination anniversary. Ordained in 1995, he was one of the first priests from Myanmar (formerly Burma) to…

 

By Fr. Timothy Mulroy

Some months ago, a migrant friend here in Hong Kong texted me with the request that the Columbans hold her husband’s cremains in our chapel until she could bring them back…

 

By Fr. Chris Saenz

Once, Columban Fr. Bill Morton was reminiscing with me about his seminary days in the early 1980s. At that time, the most popular theologian in the Western world was Karl…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

I attended a Marian procession in Newtown, a suburb of Suva City, Fiji.

 

Fr. Tim Mulroy

Even though it was my first time to visit to Fiji, my short stay in Holy Family Parish in Labasa felt like a homecoming! Situated among the sugarcane plantations, I…

 

By Fr. Don Hornsey

Jesus told His disciples, "You must be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." How can we be perfect, we ask, as we are so painfully conscious of our own…

 

By Fr. Gary Walker

Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem. It is a happy occasion, a planned entry into Jerusalem which gathered disciples and followers to hail Jesus.

 

By Fr. Barry Cairns

Some words in Japanese are hard to translate. The reason is that there are many, many years of cultural feeling and experience behind the words. One such word in Japanese…

 

By Fr. Bobby Gilmore

Racism is a specific form of discrimination and exclusion faced by minority groups. It is based on the false belief that some races are inherently superior to others of…

 

By Sr. Rebecca Conlon

Pope Francis’ pastoral visit to Iraq in the midst of the pandemic as a Pilgrim Penitent and as a Pilgrim of Peace put me thinking. Age and diminishing health did not stop…

 

By Reins O. Mosqueda

When I was young, my family was not religious or active in the parish. My father had a different belief and hated the Catholic faith, especially the priests. My Mom just…

 

By Lani Tamatawale

The world faced devastation during the time of the coronavirus pandemic. Millions of people have died, and many others have suffered and continue to suffer. Their lives…

 

By Fr. Leo Schumacher

“Education for our children, we have to teach our children.” This was the message that we heard at our discussion about supporting the Church in Myanmar, formerly Burma.…

 

By Fr. Kurt Zion Pala

“Wa Jau ngai hpe hkan ya rit.” “Father come and follow me. This is a short way to the top!” It was a rainy day. The road was muddy and steep.

 

By Fr. John Burger

Recently I found myself really enjoying catching up on developments in the Columban world. I realized I had not been contributing anything about what I have been doing…

 

By Fr. Kevin O'Neill

There are no accidents. Twin brothers Kevin and Peter O’Neill were born on 23 November, the feast of St Columban, in 1962. In 1962, their parents, John and Ruth, had…

 

Baptized and confirmed, in your word formed, disciple and missionary it is the gift of your calling. You make me go through every town that you have…

 

By Fr. Trevor Trotter

Over a hundred years ago, a small group of Irish priests working in China decided they needed to listen to what God wanted them to do. These men had the desire to live…

 

By Fr. Tom Rouse

I remember many years ago, around 1979, I was up in the village of Navala, in the parish of Ba, Fiji. In those days, the village had a population of around 600, almost all…

 

By Irma Cantago

I am Irma Lara Cantago, a Columban lay missionary for many years. A high school teacher by profession, I was teaching for fifteen years and at the same time was involved…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

I woke up scared. I didn’t want to get out of the bed. I was due to begin a 3-day workshop on intercultural living with the Columban priests working in Korea. Most of…

 

By Fr. Chris Saenz

The struggle of any missionary is to give effective aid to those who are in need. Yet, it is difficult to determine in what form do we aid others. In the 1990’s when I was…

 

By Fr. Barry Cairns

In high school, English grammar was never my thing! Years later, in writing my theology thesis, my director advised me to re-write the text eliminating all the split…

 

By Mavic Mercene

Like any bride should be, she looked radiant and blushing on her special day. Her groom was waiting anxiously for his first love to arrive. Everyone was excited, some…

 

By Fr. Donal McIlraith

From 1990 to about 2015, I generally served in the priest-less islands of Kadavu at Christmas, Easter and August 15. Kadavu is a set of islands about eight hours out of…

 

By Fr. Michael Hoban

Brothers and sisters, Iquique is a land of dreams ( for so its name means that in the Aymara language). It is a land that has given shelter to men and women of different…

 

By Fr. Alvaro Martinez

My name is Alvaro Martinez, and I am a Columban priest who has always been fascinated by photography. Through my experiences with photography, I find a connection with…

 

By Fr. Tom Rouse

Today I remember my mother. As a woman of tolerance, she could put up with a lot of things she did not agree with. But there was one thing she could not tolerate and that…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

I had been studying the Fijian language for almost three months. It was great to have a chance to learn the Fijian language and culture after spending three years working…

 

A Columban Missionary who lives in a country where a foreigner who professes their faith in Christ can be expelled. Life is made up of stories, and each of us has a…

 

By Fr. Dan Troy

Every two weeks, I usually meet Li Qiong at the apartment where she grew up. The second-floor residence is located just 200 meters from the intersection of lines 1 and 7…

 

By Fr. Cyril Lovett

In the old days there was a myth that new-born babies could not see for some time after birth. Now we know better: within hours of being born a tiny child is focusing its…

 

By Fr. Michael Hoban

In December 2022, I was getting ready to celebrate Christmas for the third time since I came north to work in Alto Hospicio, a municipality located near the city of…

 

By Fr. Dan Troy

Last Christmas, Fr. Paul began the Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve by gently encouraging the congregation to be grateful for the opportunity to gather to celebrate the…

 

By Fr. Gabriel Rojas

In the diocese of Carabayllo (Peru) the Christmas carol contest is becoming customary for Christmas holidays. Every parish is invited to participate with its parish choir…

 

By Fr. Noel O'Neill

For the first 18 months of Covid-19 both South Korea and Hong Kong did such a good job in managing the spread of the virus that they were looked upon as success stories.…

 

By Fr. Tom Rouse

A characteristic of a classic is that it is able to say far more than the original author intended. This is evident in Paul's letter to the Romans (8:18-25). I see that…

 

By Sr. Rebecca Conlon

Advent is a time to pause, listen and look back on the past year. There is much to ponder. Mother Earth is suffering. There have been droughts and famine in some places…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

A sick and aged man was looked after for many years by his son and daughter-in-law. However, as the years passed their patience waned. One night the son put his father on…

 

By Fr. Vinnie Busch

The Subanens are an indigenous people whose ancestral habitat is in the mountains of the southern Philippines. Inspired and guided by the Subanen Ministry of the Columban…

 
By Fr. Chris Saenz

And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, ‘Permit the…

 

By Fr. Barry Cairns

Sister Hilary’s message, given to me many years ago, still influences me. That influence comes alive when I read, or relate, the scene in the Gospels where Jesus meets the…

 

By Columban Missionaries in Japan

On Sept 8, 1993, in Beppu City on the Island of Kyushu, Our Lady prophesied through Fr. Stefano Gobbi that soon Japan will be a Christian country. She called it a miracle…

 

By Fr. Kurt Zion Pala

I met John Paul when I first arrived in Myitkyina, a diocese in the northern part of Myanmar (formerly Burma). Together with his committee, he helped me to organize the…

 

By Fr. Donal McIlraith

In the late 1980s I was finishing my studies in Rome. I was not able to engage full time in pastoral work, as I would like, so I worked two hours a week with the…

 

By Michael Javier

“Sir, are you aware of what is happening to our country?” That was the question put to me by my students in Bhamo, my mission place in Myanmar (formerly Burma). On the…

 

By Fr. Dan Troy

November 23 is a special day in the Columban calendar. It is the Feast of St. Columbanus, and it is also the birthday of Columban co-founder, Bishop Edward Galvin. Fr. Dan…

 

By Marvin A. Salarda

Very often, when we are confronted by unexpected or unpleasant situations, we hear from most people or even from ourselves the comforting words “God has a purpose for that…

 

By Fr. Ray Husband

Traditionally we Irish have dealt with death in a positive and hands-on manner. The Irish wake is known for its celebration of the deceased person's life. In the midst of…

 

By Sr. Rebecca Conlon

A “thin place” according to the late Irish philosopher and poet John O’Donohue is about a place or time where heaven and earth meet and we have access to “light” or the…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

The village catechist came to me recently and told me that Iowane had been living with Maria Rosa for about 18 years. They had five grown up children and now they wanted…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

History was made on November 23, 2022, when leadership of the Columbans in Fiji passed from Caucasian Columbans to Columbans from the Pacific and Asia. Fr. John McEvoy…

 

By Fr. Tom Rouse

Sometime in the late 1970s, I was invited to stay overnight with a family in a village in the parish of Ba, Fiji. A member of the family had died 10 days previously. Early…

 
By Fr. Chris Saenz

As a minister and pastoral agent of the Church, I am often placed in an awkward position when someone approaches me with a request in which, at least in that given moment…

 

By Jao Resari

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…

 

By Sihyeon Bae

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…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

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…

 

By Fr. Edward O'Connell

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”…

 

By Sr. Rebecca Conlon

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…

 

By Fr. Cireneo Matulac

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…

 

By Fr. John Boles

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…

 

By Fr. Patrick Colgan

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…

 

By Latai Muller

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…

 

By Fr. Tom Rouse

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.

 
By Fr. Chris Saenz

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…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

I attended Sunday Mass on mission Sunday morning at the parish near Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, when I was on sabbatical.

 

By Fr. John McEvoy

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…

 

By Elena Venzon Wood

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…

 

By Mereani Nailevu

During my time of fear, I realized that people around me helped me from the culture of fear to the culture of care…

 

By Fr. Maurice Hogan

We are fortunate that in our lifetime we enjoy a quality of life which would have been unthinkable just a few generations ago. Thanks to advances in science and technology…

 

By Fr, Brian Vale

After presiding at the Japanese Catholic Community’s Sunday Eucharist February 5, 2023, I attended a celebration of World Religion Day hosted by believers of the Spiritual…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

In 1986, St. Pope John Paul II pronounced Fiji ”the way the world should be” — a country with different ethnic and religious communities living together in peace. However…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

Today I escaped from my Hindi studies to visit two veteran French missionaries, Frs. Cocereau and Debois at Naililili mission station. I was impressed by the fine old…

 

By Lee Ji Young "Tina"

I have been working in the Community Living Services of the St. Joseph Social Service Welfare Foundation Center in Hsinchu (Taiwan) diocese for four years. The Center…

 

By Fr. Tom Rouse

Recently we had a Mass at the Home of Compassion for the Fiji community of the greater Wellington area. It was a wonderful occasion during which members of our community…

 

By Fr. Ed O'Connell

When things are not going well, like the situation of Peru in these present years, people can lose hope. During the pandemic, a lot of people lost their jobs, although…

 

By Sr. Ann Gray

Earlier this year the Columban Sisters looked back to February 1922 when a group of young women came together in Cahiracon in County Clare. These women became the first…

 

By Fr. Donal McIlraith

From Jan 8 to 14, 2023, I had the privilege of leading the diocesan priest’s retreat in Tarawa, the chief island of Kiribati. It was a joyous occasion for me as nearly all…

 

By Sarah MacDonald

“I found the Columban missionaries through the internet,” John Paul Seung-Jun Ro recalls. He was at a crossroads in his life. Working in an Italian restaurant in Korea, he…

 

Br Fr. John Boles

The seafront at Ramsey on the Isle of Man boasts some impressive structures, but pride of place must go to the Catholic church. Dating from 1910, it is legally protected…

 

By Lee Ok-Bun Gertrude

How are you? My name is Gertrude, and I live close to the sea in Samcheok, Korea, listening to Songs of Praise from the seagulls and the waves. I was baptized by the late…

 
By Fr. Chris Saenz

My first contact with people who professed a non-Christian faith was on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. I had done a summer experience and encountered those…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

I have been in Nacemaki village now for almost two months. It is a great place for practicing Fijian after my six-month course in Suva.

 

By Fr. Cireneo Matulac

When I am at home, I say Mass in our barrio chapel (kapilya) on Sundays.

 

By Fr. Tom Rouse

I think the Gospel of Luke 12:35-40 is mistakenly interpreted as a call to be prepared to meet the Son of Man at the time of death. This passage reminds us of the words of…

 

By Columban Missionaries

In our modern world many people who were born Catholic and Christian proclaim that they are now atheist.

 

By Fr. Bernie Lane

At the beginning of August 2022, Larry Duerme from the Philippines, and Jeongrak Lee (Vera no) from Korea arrived with us in Lima, Peru. Then, during the second week of…

 

By Fr. Bary Cairns

Proverbs are the ancient wisdom of a country’s culture expressed in pithy sentences — and often with humour. Proverbs give us expatriates an indication of how our adopted…

 

By Gertrudes C. Sampson

The four of us Columban lay missionaries live in the presbytery attached to the St. Joseph’s church in Nechells which is surrounded by cemetery on all sides. The place is…

 

By Matang M. Rotitaake

My name is Matang, and my biological parents are Moaniba Rotitaake and Tokanikaiatetaanga Tumeka. I was adopted by Maeke Batiata and Eritia Ibeata. I am 24 years of age…

 

By Fr. John McEvoy

It is an honor for me to write a few lines about St. Agnes Parish, Samabula. I do so on behalf of the Columbans and myself.

 

By Maopa Dulunaqio

My name is Maopa Dulunaqio, a former lay missionary who worked in Peru for three years from 2001-2004. I was in the CLM Fiji group 7, which included Serafina Vuda (…

 

By Fr. Patrick Raleigh

Luke 10: 25-37 is the deeply touching story of the Good Samaritan. He was considered as an outsider and yet he was moved with compassion for the person left for dead on…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

A couple approached me in the parish hall after Mass. “Are you Fr. Frank Hoare?” the lady asked. Something about the timber of her voice stirred a memory.  “You used…

 

By Fr. Bill Morton

One of most intriguing yet mysterious images that Jesus uses in His proclamation of the Good News is, “The Kingdom of God!” It is within you! It is among you! It is…

 

By Fr. John Boles

On a recent Columban promotional visit to the Isle of Man I chanced upon a line of holy statues outside the Catholic church in Ramsey. I recognized all the images apart…

 

By Letawa Naaiti

My name is Letawa, and my parents are Naaiti and Raakai. I’m 25 years old, and I was born on the island of Aranuka, which is in the Republic of Kiribati, an island chain (…

 

By Fr. Kurt Zion Pala

Manau dance is a dance of diversity and unity. The Kachin peoples, composed of seven different groups, usually perform the Manau dance for different purposes: to celebrate…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

I have been renting a room from a Fijian family in Kinoya for the last few months while I continue to teach at the Pacific Regional Seminary. My landlady is a widow with…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

I was standing by the bed of a Hindu ascetic dying of cancer in a monastery in North India. He shared with me the call he heard from God to leave behind his university…

 

By Fr. Tom Rouse

1 Kings 17:7-16 tells the story of the hospitality of the widow of Zarephath who provided for the prophet Elijah even though she barely had enough for herself and her son…

 
By Fr. Chris Saenz

Growing up in a Midwestern middle-class family, I was unaware of the economic realities outside of my world. Obviously, my parents worked hard to put a meal on the table…

 

By Salome Rabuli

The pandemic brought many changes in our lives, economically, socially and personally as well as in our communities and in our line of work. We were not able to travel to…

 

By Fr. Joe Ruys

My name is Fr. Joe Ruys, and I live and work in the parish of San Andres de Checca in a small district high up in the Southern Andes of Peru. The greatest issue here is…

 

By Marea Lyn Almiranez

In 2017, when Sr. Joyce Arevalo, OSA, our pastoral coordinator in Hsinchu Cathedral asked me to be the directress of the Filipino Legion of the Mary, the only answer I…

 

By Columban Sisters

People’s activity is usually their response to the historical situations in which they find themselves. In 1918, Lady Frances Moloney had in mind “some kind of Sisterhood…

 

By Ferbie M. Gonzales

Two years ago, I was invited by the staff of the Al Jia Development Center to help prepare two students to receive the Sacrament of Baptism. Although they also have…

 

By Fr. Patrick McMullan

The Catholic Church has, over the last 100 years, undergone a complex shift in its population distribution, and consequently its institutional identity and place in the…

 

By Fr. Patrick Colgan

Sisilia Sigatabu, born on August 16, 1942, began life at a settlement at Nadarivatu (the deep interior of Fiji) because her father Valerio was a carpenter there. She was…

 

By Joan Yap

During the pandemic, gatherings are not allowed so as to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus. It was difficult for everyone, especially being locked down. There was a…

 

By Latai Muller

See God everywhere, and we will have a deeper and deeper faith in Him. See Him in the sunrise and sunset, in mountain brooks and the mighty oceans, in storm clouds and…

 

By Beth Sabado

I have traveled here in the U.S. on several occasions, but I didn’t get the chance to visit Omaha during those travels due to limited time. I am glad to have been granted…

 

By Jhoanna Resari

When I joined the Columban Lay Missionaries I was 24 years old. My first mission assignment was to Taiwan, and my ministry was in the field of HIV/AIDS. I journeyed for…

 

By Fr. John Boles

Columban supporters rarely become famous, but they just MIGHT know people who do. I recently had the good fortune to deliver an appeal on behalf of the Columbans at “…

 

By Fr. Don Hornsey

There is an old saying, which some attribute to St. Teresa of Avila, which says that God writes straight with crooked lines. It means that though our human life often…

 
By Fr. Chris Saenz

Throughout the western world, the growth of women’s and children’s rights has changed much of societal and cultural expectations for both groups. However, some areas still…

 

By Fr. Trevor Trotter

It was only recently that I first heard of “everyday mysticism.” It is such a perfect way to describe how many live. So often we think of mystics as people who have…

 

By Sr. Anne Carbon

The pandemic has shown how unequal our world is, particularly for those suffering with a mental illness. Though mental illness is considered a long-term illness,…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

“I really only understood the Our Father when I became a father myself,” said the Anglican vicar to me. I believe he was just sharing something of his spiritual experience…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

When Pakistani people first meet me wearing a shalwar kamiz (long shirt with loose fitting trousers) they think that I am a Pathan, from the north of Pakistan. A Pathan…

 

By Nathalie Marytsch

Last January, the newly elected Chilean president, a 35-year-old former leader of the students movement, announced who would be accompanying him to govern the country in…

 

By Fr. Barry Cairns

I first came to Japan 66 years ago. My appointments after language school were to remote country villages. The people at that time were still in shock after defeat in war…

 

By Fr. Jude Genovia

On the night of Palm Sunday, when all my pastoral activities in the Migrant Center were done, I arrived home, got a simple dinner and yet instead of getting myself ready…

 

By Fr. Kurt Zion Pala

It is amazing how things, situations, history and peoples can be so connected and tied with one another. We moved to the north of Myanmar (formerly Burma) from Yangon to…

 

By Fr. Patrick Colgan

Today was Palm Sunday, and a very busy one for me, serving as the lone priest here in Christ the King, Ba, Fiji. We have three Masses each Sunday, one in the main town…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

Diary cover While studying Hindi at the Columban Center House during my first year in Fiji, I was saying Mass at the Home of Compassion nearby. The Sisters, elderly…

 

By Fr. Tom Rouse

This year the celebration of Palm Sunday here in Aotearoa-New Zealand will be more somber because of the COVID 19 restrictions. I will be the celebrant at St. Peter and…

 

By Ana Flores

After 13 years of being assigned to the Philippines, I am now back in my own country doing mission in one of the areas where the Columbans are located at San Martin de…

 

By Fr. John Boles

These are the words inscribed on a plaque in Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. They come from the pen of George Mackay Brown (1921-96), regarded by many as Scotland’s greatest…

 

By Frank Hoare

On Saturday July 23, 2022, Columban seminarians and their formator held two Come and See programs together in Fiji. The day long face-to-face program was conducted at the…

 

By Fr. Jason Antiquera

After a two-year hiatus due to COVID, face-to-face Art Recollection was back in 2022! The first communities that got to pray and reflect on their faith life through visual…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

“Sister, this is the call of God that I have been waiting for. I had a sense of having a call and not knowing what it was.” This was Mrs. Theresa Nath’s reaction, at the…

 

By Sr. Rebecca Conlon

The explosions of grace that took place in St. John the Apostle Church in Latifabad, Hyderabad, throughout Holy Week and the Easter season of 2022 should not go unnoticed…

 

By Fr. Frank McKay

During my sixth year in the Columban seminary in Sydney, Australia, my classmates and I were asked where we would like to work after ordination. Up to that time, the…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

I have returned to Fiji from holidays and met with Fr. Theo I was anxious to get the news of a marriage case I had been involved in investigating and writing up for the…

 

By Fr. Patrick Colgan

It has always struck me that the Fijian translation of Good Friday is simply and literally, “Day of Death.” No massaging, no theological euphemisms, just saying is “as it…

 

By Fr. Tom Rouse

The Gospel of Mark 10:28-31 is connected to the original question of the rich man who desperately wanted to follow Jesus - “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal…

 
By Fr. Chris Saenz

My vocational road to missionary priesthood had many invitations, but one of the most important invitations to mission occurred near the end of my first year in the…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

Columban Fr. David Arms has a gift for languages. He used his Ph.D. in linguistics to research the Parkari Kholi language in Pakistan and the Subanen language in the…

 

By Fr. Timothy Mulroy

“I won’t be buying green bananas again!” was Fr. Bernard’s greeting as I approached his hospital bed. He had phoned me earlier that day, requesting that I come to visit…

 

By Fr. Daniel Harding

Jefferson lived in the transit lounge of the international airport in Santiago for the whole of January wondering if he would be deported. Jefferson was 35 years old when…

 

By Fr. Paul McMahon

The theme of the upcoming 16th Synod of Bishops in October 2023 is, “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission.” Reflecting on the theme of participation…

 

By Fr. Kurt Zion Pala

On August 15, 2022, on the Feast of the Assumption, the Catholic Student Action Myitkyina opened its Student Learning Resources Center (SLRC), which is located on the…

 

By Fr. John Boles

“A land lost in the mists of time” might reasonably describe Sanday, an eerily beautiful speck of land set in the Atlantic at the northern edge of Scotland’s Orkney…

 

By Sarah MacDonald

St. Verano is not one of those popular saints whose name trips off your tongue.

 

By Fr. John Hegerty

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue in search of treasured spices from the Philippines, but in a lost state managed to bump into the Americas and pick up buckets of…

 

By Fr. Patrick Colgan

Readers of these pages may be getting used to the name of Xavier College, Ba, after being handed over to the Parish of Christ the King on Jan 1, 2021, and from the…

 

By Fr. Tom Rouse

Mark’s Gospel 9:41-50 is about taking responsibility for one’s own actions. When we have done wrong, Jesus urges us to undergo radical change - using the strong images of…

 

by Teresa Chuah Hyi Ling

As a Columban lay missionary, I have been living and working in Britain for two years.

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

Miriam was married to Raju and they had six children – all girls. I liked Miriam because she was kind and gentle. She always had a cup of tea for a priest visiting…

 

By Fr. John Boles

In 2019 I had the honor of being one of the Columban representatives at the canonization of Cardinal Newman in St. Peter’s Square in Rome.

 

By Fr. George Hogarty

Modern day Korea has undergone massive cultural and technological changes. At first glance, it seems that Koreans, in their rush to embrace modernity and all things…

 
By Fr. Chris Saenz

In my 20 years of mission in Chile, my family and close friends rarely asked about my daily life in the mission.

 

By Fr. Eamon Sheridan

When I arrived in Myitkyina, Kachin State, Myanmar (formerly Burma) in 2017, I was very conscious that I was following in the footsteps of the early Columban missionaries…

 

By Gertrudes Samson

In the Bible God spoke to Moses through the Burning Bush in Exodus Chapter 3 giving him a special message. I never thought that God would also relay His message to me…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

Recently I went for a visit to Ba Parish, Fiji.

 

By Fr. Tom Rouse

Luke 9:7-9 is the story about Herod the tetrarch, the Roman-installed ruler of Galilee and Perea. He was the son of Herod the Great who was responsible for the slaughter…

 

By Fr. John Boles

Columban lay missionary Mauricio Silva stands in the shadow of a giant mural featuring Cillian Murphy, star of the television show “Peaky Blinders” which has captivated…

 

By A Columban Missionary

Palmer Avenido worked in a machine-assemble factory in Taoyuan County, Taiwan, for six years before returning to his home in the Philippines. While in Taiwan he…

 

By Fr. Bill Morton, Cristina Coronado, Wesley Cocozello and Cynthia Gonzalez

For more than 25 years, the Missionary Society of St. Columban has worked in one of the most impoverished areas of the U.S./Mexico border: Rancho Anapra, located on the…

 

By Fr. Dan Troy

Holy Trinity Church in Xiantao, China, was filled to capacity for the vigil Mass on Christmas Eve last year, the presence of face masks a solemn reminder that the previous…

 

By Fr. Trevor Trotter

The liturgical life of the Church tells the story of what God is doing in the world. This may seem like a strange thing to say. Most of us grew up thinking that Mass was…

 

By Fr. Euikyun Carlo Jung

I received a letter at the beginning of Advent last year inviting me, along with the youth of the parish, to “a Christmas feast to commemorate Christmas.” Fijian people…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

Maybe it was because I wasn’t wearing the required red robes or lacked a white beard, but the reaction of the male children to being offered a soft toy animal was not what…

 

By Fr. Timothy Mulroy

Each year, at the beginning of December, as those around him begin preparing their Christmas shopping list, Ben begins preparing his fishing gear. Then, as family members…

 

By Fr. John Marley

December 6, 2022, is the feast day of St. Nicholas, whose gifts to the poor made him the model for our modern-day Santa Claus.

 

By Fr. Michael Hoban

The Columban parish of Sagrado Corazón de Jesús is located on the “pampa” (desert plains) above the port city of Iquique in a municipality called Alto Hospicio. When the…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

Massage is a common traditional healing practice in Fiji and the Pacific. Young people massage the feet, legs or bodies of their elders.

 

By Sr. Abbie O'Sullivan

She was a young Jewish girl who was engaged to the young village carpenter. Her parents, Anna and Joachim, were very happy with her choice.

 

By Fr. Tom Rouse

In seeking the language to talk about God and those places where God’s presence is mostly keenly felt, in other words “the kingdom of God,” Jesus relied on two sources:…

 
By Fr. Chris Saenz

As a child, I enjoyed Christmas for the presents. Weeks before Christmas, I would be searching the house looking for where my parents hid the presents. Once found, I would…

 

By Junghae Roberta Kim

Foggy and grey. These are the words that come to my mind when I think of London as in the films or books which I came across in my childhood. They showed me the London of…

 

By Fr. Donal McIlraith

“Do this in memory of me.” Following Christ’s command, on Easter Sunday, April 2, 1972, Bishop John McCormack of Meath ordained John McEvoy and his nine classmates into…

 

By Angelica Escarsa

Researching the difference between the words “change” and “transformation” recently, I came across the following statement: “Change is a response to external influences,…

 

By Fr. Kurt Zion Pala

The Kachins love to fish. During the rainy season, when the river and stream waters are high and when empty dry ponds are filled with water, the fish seem to grow in…

 

By Fr. John Boles

Augustus Welby Pugin (1812- 1852) was arguably the greatest architect-designer of 19th century England. The son of a refugee from the French Revolution, he pioneered the…

 

By Fr. Daniel Harding

According to recent reports from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 5.9 million people have fled Venezuela in the last few years. This flight from…

 

By Fr. Donal McIlraith

It was just before midday on Holy Thursday when the Archbishop called to say he would be around shortly to say farewell to Fr. J.J. Some time later, he arrived. The…

 

By Kim Sunhee Sunny

It was in November 2020 that I first met Mike (not his real name). I was going to my office after home visitation in the urban areas of the Malate parish (Philippines) to…

 

By Lanieta Tamatawale

During this pandemic, the deaf people are more isolated in their own world; they only know what is going on in the world through things visual, like watching TV news and…

 
By Fr. Chris Saenz

​“Seek no further concerning God; for those who wish to know the great depth (of God) must first learn about creation.” - St. Columban.

Like other early Irish…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

It was a big occasion for me. But I wasn’t happy. The young man’s father had told me that the wedding was fixed for the school holidays in May. 
“But I will be in…

 

By Sophia Chee Tzu Ting

As the coronavirus pandemic sweeps across the globe for over two years now, it does not seem to deter the fear of thousands of people wanting to flee their own country for…

 

By Fr. Don Hornsey

I once visited Papua New Guinea and accompanied my friend, a patrol officer on his 1ten days of administrative rounds. He hired men from the village to carry his equipment…

 

By Sr. Caroline Vaitkunas RSM

This year International World Ocean’s Day ( June 8) focused attention on the theme Revitalization: Collective Action for the Ocean.

 

By Marilou Borje

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…

 

By Fr. Dan Harding

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…

 

By Son Seon-Yong Catharina

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…

 

By Columban Fr. John Boles

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…

 

By Sr. Mary Ita O’Brien

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…

 

By Fr. John Boles

“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…

 

By Sr. Rebecca Conlon

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…

 

By Fr. Sean McNulty

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…

 

By Fr. Cireneo "Dodong" Matulac

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…

 

By Fr. Robert McCulloch

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…

 

By Sr. Abbie O'Sullivan

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…

 

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…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

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…

 

By Fr. Don Hornsey

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…

 
By Fr. Chris Saenz

​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…

 

By Fr. Patrick Colgan

Heavy rain began in Ba, Fiji, on the night of February 4 and continued right through Saturday and on/off on Sunday until about midday. The town was inundated. Somehow, we…

 

By Bernie Durangparang

St. Paul describes love as the highest of all the gifts (1Cor 13:1-13). Its qualities include patience and kindness. It is always ready to excuse, trust, hope and endure…

 

By Fr. Jim Mulroney

A carving out of wood with little artistic merit, yet adorned in robes of kingly magnificence, the Santo Niño is a source of religious myth and fable dating back to the…

 

By Fr. Kevin O'Neill

The Catholic Church in China today continues to be a vibrant witness to God’s love. Whether in large cities or rural villages, Catholics of all ages are active in their…

 

By Fr. Kevin O'Neill

On the 4th Sunday of Easter – Good Shepherd Sunday – the universal church celebrates Vocations Sunday.
The word vocation means “to call.” Every baptized Christian is…

 

By Fr. Don Hornsey

The story about paying tax occurs only in Matthew (17:22-27), not surprisingly, as he was a former tax-collector. At the time of the writing of his Gospel, the question of…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

Our committee president in Naleba was very interested in Tirikuttu. It is a South Indian dance drama – a form of ritual and social entertainment and a medium of social…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

Thirteen young Columban priests arrived in a hot, humid and hurricane-ravaged Suva, the capital of Fiji, more than 70 years ago on February 22, 1952. They were given a…

 

by Fr. Frank Hoare

Western foreign missionaries beginning with the Marist Fathers, have nourished the Catholic faith in Fiji since 1844. This era is almost finished. There are no Columban…

 

By Fr. Barry Cairns

There are some incidents in life, sometimes trivial, that make a deep impression. Here is one that stays forever vivid in my memory. The following scene happened 36 years…

 

I am 27 years old and studied at the CTU from 2018 through the end of 2021. I was born and raised in a Latina Catholic household in San Antonio, Texas. In my free time, I…

 

By Fr. Tom O'Reilly

We are familiar with adversarial debate in our government systems. The government is expected to present policies and pursue its agenda with vigorous determination. The…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

I met the fishermen last night as I crossed the Nacamaki village green on my way to a dance practice. The dau ni vucu (composer) was teaching me a vakamalolo meke (sitting…

 

By Fr. Kurt Zion Pala

When I first arrived in Myanmar (formerly Burma), I had to learn the Burmese language for almost year. I attended daily classes with local teachers. One of them is Saya…

 

By Marea Lyn M. Almirañez

“Man man” is a Chinese word meaning slowly.  I often come across this word when I’m out and about in Taiwan. Oftentimes, I would see this word written on the road.…

 
By Fr. Chris Saenz

As a child, my image of the faces of mission were predominantly priests who courageously ventured into unknown territories and established parishes, schools, hospitals and…

 

By Fr. Tom Rouse

We have allowed dualism to color the way we have traditionally interpreted the saying of Jesus that is found in Matthew 19:23-30. To see the world in terms of competing or…

 

By Fr. Trevor Trotter

Recently, I was on a Zoom call with some of the Columban leaders in countries such as Korea, Peru and Myanmar. There was much talk

 

By Fr. Timothy Mulroy

The morning after Pentecost, as I opened the curtains of my bedroom window, the bright red flowers in the garden next door grabbed my attention. In some mysterious way,…

 

By Teresa Sihyeon Bae

It has been slightly over one year since I was assigned to Taiwan as a lay missionary by the Missionary Society of St. Columban. I remember the first time I began life as…

 

By Fr. Jim Mulroney

Two boys from the farm in the southern echelons of the Philippines knelt before Bishop Honesto Ongioco in the bright and airy chapel of the Columban Student House in…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

Here in Nacamaki village on Koro Island, where I am practicing the Fijian language by living in the village, there are many blessings. But there is one frustration.

 

By Reina Mosqueda

Being a part of the Filipino Catholic Community here in Taiwan is life-giving for me as a missionary.  I feel so blessed to have built a close relationship with the…

 

By Fr. Don Hornsey

Yesterday, I sat on the floor of a young man's house. I don't think he was rich, but somehow he had acquired the use of a house in disrepair. Before he repaired and…

 

By Ana Flores

I have been working with the youth at Our Mother of Divine Mercy Village (the Philippines) for some years now. The last few years have been beyond compare. I remember…

 

By Fr. Michael Hoban

During my years here in Chile, I have been always been interested in catechetics. The Chilean Church was among the first local churches in Latin America to promote family…

 

By Sr. Mary Greaney

Irish missionaries have a long history of leaving their footprints in many countries worldwide. When I returned to Ireland some years ago, I responded to the promptings of…

 

By Jao Resari

In early October 2021, Pope Francis formally opened the synod process at the Vatican with the theme: “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission,” that…

 

By Fr. Tom Rouse

In Genesis 44-45, we hear the story of Joseph’s emotional reconnection with his brothers. This familiar Old Testament story reminds me of the time an aging Fijian Catholic…

 
By Fr. Chris Saenz

At the age of 21, I first felt the call to the priesthood. I was bewildered by this seemingly other worldly pull. There was no vision, no voice but just a feeling. It…

 

By Hazel Angwani

The sweet and minty smell of the mountain air. The sound of glacier water flowing from the melting ice. The thunderous sound of an avalanche

 

By Sr. Anne Carbon

In 2021, the Philippine Church celebrated half a millennium, 500 years, of Christianity. According to 2015 statistics, the population of the Philippines is more than 100…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

Election fever is at a high pitch. Just a couple of weeks to go. Ordinary people are usually fearful in the run-up to any election in Fiji.

 

By Sr. Abbie O'Sullivan

If I could stand before the crucifixion of Jesus on Calvary what would I feel or think? What would I do or say? What would you do or say? The connotation of the word “…

 

Sr. Cecilia Cuizon

The Community of Hope Special Education Center is a religious and charitable organization run by the Columban Sisters. It delivers services to children and young adults…

 

By Fr. Peter Woodruff

My mind was significantly shaped by mathematics, logic and informal debate. Thinking things through, stating a position and articulating the case for a position has been…

 

By Sheryl Lou Capili

Coming back to Taiwan as a second term lay missionary, I was very excited to go back to serve in the migrant ministry. I have a new assignment which is to help out in…

 

By Lee Su-Bin Matilda

A few months previous, his health started getting worse, and he needed to have an operation because there was a tumor on his neck. The doctor, his family and the staff…

 

By Fr. Peter O'Neill

In 2007, during one of my weekly visits to the Hsinchu City Immigration Detention Center in Taiwan, I met Ani and Siti (not their real names), two young women from…

 

By Fr. Patrick Colgan

French Catholic missionaries first arrived in Fiji in 1844 at Lakeba, Lau. Missions were established in 1851 at Ba and Rewa on the island of Viti Levu, and at Solevu on…

 

By Sr. Rebecca Conlon

Pope Francis’ pastoral visit to Iraq in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic as a Pilgrim Penitent and as a Pilgrim of Peace put me thinking. Age and diminishing health…

 

By Fr. Daniel O'Connor

I met Loweza in the village named Mundiala Virka many years ago when I was on mission in Sheikhupura Parish in Punjab Province, Pakistan. She arrived at their simple…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

The young people of the Pacific are the ones who have contributed least to planetary destruction, but they will suffer its consequences sooner and more than those who are…

 

By Fr. Tom Rouse

“Go home.” These can be tough words for foreign missionaries and sometimes people can bluntly tell us to go back to where we came from. Such words can be said when what we…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

A week ago, I heard on the coconut wireless that two men here in Nacamaki village had noticed a small shark in shallow water off the coast. They quickly took shovels from…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

A youth march to highlight the climate crisis was suggested by Atelemo Cakaudrove, a student from the Fiji National University, Nasinu Campus, at a zoom meeting with other…

 

By Fr. Malachy Hanratty

Jesus had a good following in Galilee but going into Judea towards Jerusalem He was meeting much resentment, opposition and obstruction from the religious authorities. He…

 
By Fr. Chris Saenz

One summer, as a seminarian, I was a chaplain in a Level-1 trauma center at Mount Sinai Hospital, Chicago, Illinois. Generally, I attended to the emergency room section.…

 

By Fr. Barry Cairns

A parishioner, whose husband had died two years before, had now lost her only son. He had died of a heart attack while hiking in the mountains. His car was found in a…

 

By Fr. Shay Cullen

The latest letter of Pope Francis, the Encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, Brothers and Sisters All, should touch every heart, stimulate all minds, awaken consciences, warm our…

 

By Fr. Robert McCulloch

A holy memory from my childhood remains with me. I was five years old.

 

By Fr. Donal O'Keefe

On Good Friday 2021, the Columban formation community in Seoul participated in the Holy Friday Liturgy organized by the Korean Branch of the Global Catholic Climate…

 

By Fr. Timothy Mulroy

The wrapping on the small parcel resembled a brown paper bag rather than an envelope while Fr. Elmer’s name and address were written in bold, clear letters. Perhaps it was…

 

By Monalisa Esteban

A few months ago, I had this strange experience of having my hands washed by an old lady in the village. She grabbed my hands and started washing them. I did try to stop…

 

By Fr. Tom Rouse

I recall the story of a missionary who went to Africa with the stated intention of bringing God to a people whom he thought had never heard of God before.

 

By Joan Yap

There is so much to tell about missionary life, but one thing to never miss to mention is that missionaries go where God sends them. It is often said that the family is…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

When I was back for the first time in Ireland after four years in Fiji, it was great to be home. My mother had knitted me a warm sweater now that my blood had been thinned…

 

By Elbert Balbastro

The celebration of 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines was a momentous event that needed to be celebrated and remembered.

 

By Fr. John Boles

Born on St. Columban’s Day, baptized by a Columban priest, ordained by a cousin and namesake – it seems I was marked out from the start

 

By Fr. John Boles

The ripening corn sparkled in the sunlight as we set off. Birds chattered in the bushes around the fields. Two copses of trees perfectly framed the tower of a mediaeval…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

Fiji’s Archbishop Peter Loy Chong, like many others, realized the importance of social media when COVID-19 caused all churches to be closed down. English is seen as the…

 

By Fr. Patrick Colgan

Steven Ram Narayan (universally known as “Sonny Boy” or “Uncle”) was born in April 1947 to Ram Garib and Marion Bennion of Elevuka, Ba, Fiji. That was both an interfaith…

 
By Fr. Chris Saenz

Often, we missionaries are assigned to areas that are poverty stricken and lack the basic needs that many are accustomed to such as employment, water, food, housing and…

 

By Jhoanna Resari

My ministry work includes providing education, training and assistance to enable church leaders and migrant communities in the Hsinchu diocese to respond to the realities…

 

By Fr. John Marley

Some journalists were fascinated by the fact that Pope Benedict XVI freely surrendered his infallibility in giving up the Papacy. However wonderful Papal infallibility may…

 

By Fr. Tom Rouse

I vividly recall the first coup in Fiji. It took place on May 14, 1987. Shortly after the takeover of Parliament and the imprisonment of government members, soldiers…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

The Catholics of Naleba settlement held their annual Church AGM while I happened to be there on a return visit. Some young teachers who had just completed three-week…

 

By Kim Sun Hee

Finding and determining any new ministry involvement always comes with an interplay of many emotions such as nervousness, excitement and even worry. Whatever decision to…

 

By Lenette Toledo

Pope Francis announced that 2021 would be dedicated to St. Joseph, husband of Mary and earthly father of Jesus Christ. This story was shared to me by Anna Sut Pan, who…

 

By Fr. Bobby Gilmore

In 1969 I was due for my first vacation in Ireland after spending five years in the Philippines. As the time drew near I was excited. We got an allowance for holidays that…

 

By Fr. John Boles

“Die from Covid or die from hunger. Not much of a choice.”

 

By Fr. Donal McIlraith

Francis Xavier La Aung Nbwi and Peter Kyaw Zaw (pronounced Cho-zo) are the first Myanmar seminarians to come through the Columban seminary system. They both grew up in the…

 

By Fr. Patrick Colgan

When the Columbans arrived in Fiji on February 22, 1952, a number of them went immediately to Xavier College in Ba, to take over its administration, as a way of outreach…

 

By Elbert L. Balbastro

Life is always a journey of knowing ourselves which hopefully leads to knowing God.

 

By Fr. Donald Hornsey

In Matthew 12: 38-42, the scribes and Pharisees tell Jesus that they want to see a sign from Him. He rebukes them and says that the only sign they will receive will be…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

I am teaching and counselling seminarians at the Pacific Regional Seminary in Suva.

 

By Sr. Abbie O'Sullivan

We are now entering a New Year. It doesn’t seem long ago since we entered a new millennium. How time has flown by.

 

By Fr. Brian Vale

Early in September 2021, a small group of us Columbans visited the Buddhist Tsz Shan Monastery in Tai Po, Hong Kong. In this era of restrictions on our mobility it was…

 

By Fr. George Hogarty

In the book of Ecclesiastes, the sacred writer of this Old Testament wisdom book alludes to the continuous changes that determine our lives saying there is “a time to keep…

 
By Fr. Chris Saenz

​The famous anthropologist Margaret Mead once reminded an audience that the progress made internationally after World War II brought an abrupt end to the colonial era: “…

 

By Sainiana Tamatawale

Nine days before Christmas, the Christian community where I live takes part in what they call the “Posada.” It’s an annual tradition of faith practice among the Mexican…

 

By Latai Muller

Christmas is a time of peace and happiness within the family, but Christmas 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic had some disruptive twists resulting in a unique but…

 

By Fr. John Boles

Deep in the industrial heartland of northern England, Columban Fr. John Boles encounters a parish with a remarkable tale to tell.
"Every picture tells a story," goes…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

I was shocked when a daughter of close Indo-Fijian friends eloped 45 years ago. I sought her out at that time begging her, in vain, to return to her family. Her mother was…

 

By Fr. Patrick Colgan

It's not every day a member of your parish brings home a gold Olympic medal! I was very happy therefore to finally meet Waisea Nacuqu, from Votua, after his 2 weeks'…

 

By Fr. Bill Morton

After four years as an air traffic controller in the U.S. Navy, I began my journey with the Columban Fathers in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1975 and was ordained in my…

 

By Fr. Patrick Colgan

Atil Kumar Singh (aka Bobby) is an Indo-Fijian carpenter who lives beside a Fijian village called Natunuku, in the parish of Christ the King, Ba.

 

By Patrick Colgan

On December 19, 2020, 29 years and three days after his burial in Lautoka, Fiji, a small group went from Ba parish to investigate the condition of Fr. Keelan’s grave, and…

 

By Fr. Vincent Busch

The Subanens are an indigenous people whose ancestral habitat is the highlands of Western Mindanao in the Philippines. Guided by the Columban Sisters who had been living…

 

By Fr. Shay Cullen

We are sharing with you some of the highlights of the work of Preda Foundation and wish you all a blessed Christmas. As many as 100 children have been saved and recovered…

 

By Fr. Jim Mulroney

Ping-pong played an instrumental part in thawing the freeze between the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America in the 1970s. While far from being the…

 

By Fr. Liam O'Callaghan

Christmas greetings to you, and I hope this finds you and your loved ones well and in good health. It is hard to believe that another year is almost over. I would like to…

 

By Mavic Mercene

As I write this, it is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. A few days from now would already be Christmas day. This is the most holy and meaningful occasion of the…

 

By Nathalie Marytsch

We are about to enter the Advent season. This is a unique time of waiting, a time of preparation, much as it would have been for Mary carrying a baby in her womb.

 

By Marjorie C. Engcoy

Today, I finally set foot in Navala village. For a number of times, previous plans of going to Navala have been postponed because of one reason, the weather. But today was…

 
By Fr. John Burger

In the midst of all the busyness that encumbers the days leading up to Christmas there is a desperate need for a moment of silent wonder as we are invited into the mystery…

 

By Jennifer "Jake" Lunor

Being a stranger in a foreign land isn’t always easy, in terms of learning and adapting to the culture, as well as the language.

 

By Fr. Trevor Trotter

I like Christmas lights. In many suburbs of Australia there are marvelous displays of Christmas lights. In the northern hemisphere I enjoyed the lights with the snow and…

 

By Fr. Alo Connaughton

People sometimes ask “Why did you become a missionary?” What made about 12 of my 45 classmates in secondary school decide that they wanted to be missionary priests?

 

By Fr. Jim Mulroney

“Ask about the labor, not the label,” Australian troubadour, Dermot Dorgan, says in his award-winning song on responsible consumerism. The same question can also well…

 

By Sr. Abbie O'Sullivan

At the waning of the year November comes dark and somber. The days shorten, and the nights grow long. All the abundance and richness of Autumn are stored in our barns. The…

 

By Fr. Michael Riordan

In our Hill of Grace Shrine on Isidore we have a park with a series of sculptures showing some of the events of the life of Christ. One of the events depicted is the…

 

Columban Fr. Chris Saenz was appointed Director of the Columban Fathers in the United States by the Superior General of the Missionary Society of St. Columban after a…

 

By Fr. Patrick Colgan

This time last year, I wrote an article entitled “How to be People of the Eucharist, when there is no Eucharist?” It was during the time of Fiji’s first coronavirus…

 

By Fr. Noel Mackey

For the past fourteen years Korea has been honoring individual immigrants who have made significant contributions to the country declaring them “Immigrants of the Year.”…

 

By Fr. Noel O'Neill

I took the call and an excited voice came over the phone. “Sinbunim, (Father) I have passed the college entrance exam.” It was 22-year-old Kim Youn Cheong on the phone. I…

 

By SunHee Kim (Sunny)

As a precautionary measure to limit the spread of Covid19 in the Philippines, the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was set March 17, 2020. Most establishments had…

 

By Fr. Timothy Mulroy

The spacious and peaceful grounds of St. Columbans in Nebraska are greatly favored by many species of wildlife. However, the whitetail deer that roam freely there get the…

 

By Hang Eun-Yeal Columba as told to Noel Mackey

Columba Chang was a Missionary Society of St. Columban lay missionary. In June 1990 she was a member of the first Korean regions lay mission team appointed to the…

 

By Kurt Zion Pala

In the past few weeks, I’ve started to post a challenge to us priests, religious and lay people who consecrate our lives to the service of God’s people.

 
By Fr. John Burger

Thanksgiving, my favorite American holiday, will arrive on November 25 this year.

Recently I came across a list of ten things to be grateful for. At first glance…

 

By Kim Sun-Hee "Maria"

Before I was assigned to a regional mission unit as a Columban lay missionary, I was attending the orientation program, and in the seminar held on “the Day of Overseas…

 

By Fr. John Boles

Overseas missionary work brings many surprises, but a 12-day obligatory quarantine period in a secure facility near London Airport was a “first” for me.

 

By Fr. Don Hornsey

After the stoning of Stephen, a severe persecution began against the community in Jerusalem, led by Saul, who entered houses and dragged off men and women to prison.…

 

By Fr. Gonzalo Diaz

In the early part of 2019 I was living in Mokpo, South Korea, and investigating opportunities in university chaplaincy at Mokpo Catholic University. One day in April, I…

 

By Rose Basada

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,…

 

By Fr. Michael Hoban

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…

 

By Sophia Chee Tzu Ting

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…

 

By Patrick Colgan

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…

 

By Fr. Jason Antiquera

I am generally not so enthusiastic about explaining my artworks.

 

By Fr. John Boles

“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…

 

By Fr. Edward O'Connell

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…

 

By Fr. Timothy Mulroy

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…

 

By Lillibeth Sabado

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…

 

By Fr. Bobby Gilmore

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…

 
By Fr. John Burger

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…

 

By Lanieta Tamatawale

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.

 

By Fr. Noel Doyle

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…

 

By Arlenne Villahermosa

During difficult times, we may find ourselves asking, “To what or to whom do we hang on or cling to? What keeps us moving?”

 

By A Columban Missionary

October is to be celebrated as Mission Month.

 

By Elbert Balbastro

The Philippines is an archipelagic country where diversity in culture, language, tradition, and customs is visibly felt and seen. Since the country is divided into almost…

 

By Fr. John Comiskey

The Catholic faith came first to the Philippines as part of Spain’s colonial expansion with Magellan’s circumnavigating the globe. As in that and later journeys the friars…

 

By Sainana Tamatawale

The year 2020 was one of the most difficult and stressful years in the history of the last hundred years of the world and the church! In Christmas 2019, I already had my…

 

By Sr. Margaret Moran

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10

 

By Fr. Tom Rouse

During my years in Fiji, I sometimes wondered how and why I got caught up in certain things or got involved with particular groups.

 

By Fr. Bobby Gilmore

The words of the poem by Grace Nichols depict a situation existing not just in Jamaica and the Caribbean but around the world where women have to leave home and children…

 

By Fr. Tom Rouse

The story about the encounter between Philip and the eunuch (Acts 8:26-40) is remarkable.

 

By Jung-Hae Roberta Kim

Since last August, I have been volunteering at a community garden here in Birmingham, Britain, run by one of the ecology organizations.

 

An Interview with Fr. Cathal Gallagher by Fr. John Boles

Fr. Cathal Gallagher recalls the incident vividly. “It was in 1998. I was working in a poor parish in Lima. I got a call from a local clinic, run by the Mercy Sisters,…

 

By Kevin Sheerin

There is an old Chinese proverb that says “a man without a smiling face must never open a shop.” This is pretty sound advice. If you can’t smile and be friendly, then it’s…

 

By Fr. John McEvoy

Jonathan Kunau and Hilda Vukikomoala had planned their wedding a year in advance. Since both of them were members of big families, they wanted a big celebration of their…

 

By Sainiana Tamatawale

The blessings I’ve had being a Columban Lay Missionary are when I journeyed with the Filipinos in my ministry in the Malate Parish, Philippines, for three years, and with…

 

By Fr. Shay Cullen

When I see the newly arrived children – all victims of human right violations and sexual abuse – healing and recovering in our Preda Foundation home and striving to be “…

 
By Fr. John Burger

As I write this, I just got off the phone with Father Bill Morton. You remember Father Bill. He is the Columban priest whose parish in Juarez, Mexico, abuts the U.S.…

 

By Fr. Gabriel Rojas

In 2017, due to pastoral circumstances, I lived in the parish's most impoverished area, the "Santos Arcángeles" in the district of San Martin de Porres; the "Jazmines de…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

The marriage ceremony was almost finished. It was time for the civil wedding. The groom’s younger brother had informed me that the witness from the bride’s side would be…

 

By Luda Egbalic

I have been sincerely trying to live out those words of Pope Francis. I would say my mission in Korea has been really inspiring, life-giving, self-transforming and truly…

 

By Fr. Michael Riordan

Columban Fr. Michael Riordan, parish priest of Geumak Parish in Jeju island writes about the mural found at the door of St. Isidore Hospice and pastoral its function apart…

 

By Fr. Bobby Gilmore

Since the middle of April, I have been watching out for the arrival of a particular kind of migrant, this time a winged one, a swallow. After a few days of peering out…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

The crisis was looming. Fr. Hans (Swiss) and Fr. Rudy (Filippino) reacted differently when people came to ask about a marriage or the baptism of a child. Fr. Hans, the…

 

By Fr. Barry Cairns

I would like to introduce Mrs. Hanako Nishi. This holy lady had a profound influence on my approach to the crucifixion of Jesus. This influence was born 60 years ago in…

 

By Elbert L. Balbastro

Most of the fond memories that I have growing up were my involvement in Church activities. Reminiscing, I recalled that throughout the whole month of May, my playmates and…

 

By Kim Chong-hwan "Ignatius"

When I was experiencing major difficulties in my life I was greatly consoled and encouraged to keep going by numerous Columban priests. As I recall my meetings with those…

 

By Fr. Sung Hoon Jung "Francisco"

When I arrived here ten years ago, the people started talking about the need for a resting place, a shelter, for migrant workers. For political and economic reasons people…

 

By Fr. Kwon Taemoon

I am living with an Irish priest and seven Columban seminarians in Manila. These students are from Myanmar, Fiji and Korea, and during the spiritual year they are…

 

By Son Seon Young "Catharina"

As lay missionaries, when we are sent to another country for mission, the first thing we do is to learn their language. Since I joined the Columban lay missionaries in…

 

By Fr. John Hegerty

When Covid-19 appeared on the scene, Columban missionaries all over the world had to react to the emergency. We all had to ask ourselves, “How can I carry on serving the…

 

By Son Seon Young "Catharina"

Since I became a lay missionary back in 2000, I learned and began to use English and Tagalog when I was working in the Philippines. I later learned Spanish for my ministry…

 

By Kevin Sheerin

I was raised in a Catholic family, and even though I had a deep desire to work as a volunteer in the church, due to my work commitment I did not have the time to do so.…

 

By Lanieta Tamatawale

In 2003 I met a wonderful lady named Andring Naliponquit whom I fondly refer to as “Nanay” (mother). She was 74 years old when I first met her 18 years ago, an exceedingly…

 

By Havel Angwani

With difficulty while speaking in Urdu, I was able to manage to ask this young lady if I could take her picture along with her artwork of Mother Mary.

 

By Columban Fr. Warren Kinne

The Church causes distress when it “manifests itself as proud, arrogant, damaging, hierarchical, hypocritical and irrelevant,” and it points out the obvious - that this is…

 

By Fr. Hong Kison-Hijino

The parish of Kogin is the northernmost parish on the east coast of Korea. It is above the 38th parallel and next to the Demilitarized Zone (the DMZ). I am a native of…

 
By Fr. John Burger

This month’s issue of Columban Mission is put together loosely around the theme of family life.

 

By Muhn Sung-Yun Leo

I am working in the diocese of Thaibay at the Chinese Martyrs parish church. Here I am fulfilling my practical training on my first mission assignment having completed my…

 

By Sr. Abbie O'Sullivan

As human beings we are irradiated and nourished by love. We long for the exposure to the “beams of love” yet we fear what they might demand of us when we come within their…

 

By Angie Escarsa

For months, my family has been faithful in praying the rosary as requested by Pope Francis after the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic.

 

By Fr. Barry Cairns

In the parish of Hodogaya in Yokohama City, Japan, I was reaching a class of ten who were preparing for Baptism.

 

By Monaliza Esteban

It was one fine Friday morning on the 21st of August when a young Hindu couple arrived to the parish’s tuberculosis clinic with their tiny baby. When their turn came to…

 

By Fr. John Boles

The Covid pandemic instigated hardship and tragedy to countless numbers throughout the world. However, it also has had the effect of bringing out the BEST in many people.…

 

By Vida Hequilan

2020 marked the 30th anniversary of the Columban Lay Missionary (CLM) program.

 

By Marjorie Engcoy

The Sema Livelihood Program began as a recycling project for the interested women in the parish during the 2019 Season of Creation observation at St.

 

By Fr. John Boles

This was the scene when the first three intrepid Columbans arrived from Ireland in 1952 to start our mission in Lima. The words are those of one of this gallant band, an…

 

By Antonio Saulo Seeto

The pandemic impacted everyone; I saw it as a crisis, because it limited my experience in Peru.

 

By Iowane Najo

My name is Iowane Naio, a Columban seminarian from Fiji, doing my First Mission Assignment program in Lima, Peru, with the Columbans. I live in a multicultural and…

 

By Columban Fr. Michael Hoban

Columban Father Chris Saenz returned to Omaha after many years as a missionary priest in Chile where he worked among the Mapuche people in the south of Chile and in the…

 

By Fr. Michael Hoban

In March 2020, I was enjoying the sabbatical program “Ministry to Ministers” at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas, when the program was suspended due to…

 

By Ling, Chuah Hui

Before I arrived in my mission assignment in Britain, I spent my last few weeks in New Zealand busily saying goodbye to my dear friends, and all the while preparing myself…

 

By Fr. Trevor Trotter

It is nice to hear someone say to you, “Make sure you stay in touch." You might be leaving to move to another place or to go on mission somewhere overseas.

 
By Fr. John Burger

Have you ever thought about whether you have a philosophy of life? For most people it would probably sound pretentious to say you have one.

 

By Fr. Raymond Collier

I thought I’d share a few of my reflections with you concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. For me it has highlighted the vulnerability of humanity.

 

By Fr. Barry Cairns

I never thought that my photo would be on the front cover of a book – admittedly with fourteen others! All of us, in our 80s, are foreign missionaries still working in…

 

By Dáire King

Part of life while growing up was the occasional phone call I would receive from my uncle, Columban Fr. Tomás King, who is a missionary priest in Pakistan.

 

By Fr. Timothy Mulroy

During the celebration of the Easter Vigil last year, this verse from the Exsultet resonated deeply within me. As the Paschal Candle, signifying the risen Christ, was…

 

By Fr. Kevin O'Rourke

After a poem by the Koryo monk Ch’ungji

 

By Fr. Shay Cullen

The empowerment of women and girls is a most urgent need in today’s world where discrimination, violence and exploitation of women and girls, especially in the developing…

 

By Fr. George Hogarty

I first considered becoming a priest when I was seven years old. Mysteriously enough I still remember that strong feeling of being called by God.

 

By Fr. John Boles

“Ever seen a mushroom grow? asked our gardener one morning in the grounds of the Columban Center House in Peru, as he pointed out to some of us a particularly fine example…

 

By Fr. John Boles

Music is in Fr. Gabriel’s blood. He was born and raised to the notes of song and guitar. From his home in the high Andes to the teeming cities of Pakistan and now to the…

 

By Fr. Paul Glynn

Like many other Columban missionaries before me, I have devoted many years to trying to promote harmonious relations between Christians and Muslims in the Southern…

 

By Fr. Joseph Joyce

Razia is a Pakistani woman of small stature and big heart. She has known the Columbans since about 1985, and from that time, has been involved in bringing education to the…

 

By Lilibeth Sabado

A few years ago, I was enrolled in a university in Wuhan, China.

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

Savenaca Momo from Nadelei in Ba Province, Fiji, is the epitome of a gentle giant. He joined the first team of Columban lay missionaries to leave Fiji.

 

By Gertrudes C. Samson

We always hear the expression “Time flies!” and indeed that is true. In 2020, I suddenly realized that I was already celebrating my 10th anniversary as Columban Lay…

 

By Fr. Kevin O'Rourke

In Memory of Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan

 
By Fr. John Burger

Recently Pope Francis said, “Kindness frees us from the cruelty that at times infects human relationships, from the anxiety that prevents us from thinking of others, from…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

Learning a new language is only part of the challenge for missionaries. Local people have their own cultural values and see things differently from outsiders.

 

By Fr. John Keenan

The village of Parola, Tondo, Philippines, is a shantytown where the Pasig River and Manila Bay waters meet. It has been five years since a huge fire completely gutted it…

 

By Fr. Thomas Seungwon Nam

My name is Fr. Thomas Seugnwon Nam, and I am a South Korean Columban missionary priest.

 

By Fr. Kurt Zion Pala

A young girl and her mother went to the riverbank looking for wild vegetables and leaves.

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

The Columban Interreligious Dialogue Desk in Fiji was initiated in May 2019. I was asked to advise and guide the coordinator, Ms. Priscilla Magdalin.

 

By Fr. Jason Antiquera

In his well-received book, The Gospel of Joy, Pope Francis writes: “Each particular Church should encourage the use of the arts in evangelization, building on the…

 

By Fr. Barry Cairns

God speaks to us through the Scriptures but also through events in our lives.

 

By Fr. Larry Barnett

Granny MaHong is the aunt of Vesu the parish catechist here in the mountains of central Taiwan where I work among the indigenous Tayal people.

 

By Animiasi Ravuwai

Since childhood, Holy Thursday for me meant the washing of the feet.

 

By Peter Sut Ring

The Kachin State is located in the northernmost region of Myanmar and is covered with natural resources and thousands of mountains. Every morning begins with waking up to…

 

By Columban Missionaries

The Columban Missionary Society which was originally founded for mission in China finally ordained its first Chinese Columban at the beginning of 2020.

 

By Becky Feagan

On April 25, 1921 St., Mary’s Catholic Church, Bellevue, Nebraska, was established as a parish by Archbishop Jeremiah J. Harty Bishop of Omaha.

 
By Fr. John Burger

As we look back at the last year, there probably are few people who would name 2020 as among their favorite years.

 

By Fr. Michael Riordan

I suspect that in future years rather than BC and AD we will have BC and PC (Before-COVID and Post- COVID) as this “experience” has had immense effects on all aspects of…

 

By Fr. Bobby Gilmore

My doorbell roused me from sleep at about half past five in the morning. It seldom rang at that hour of the morning, as Jamaicans, while early risers, do not move around…

 

By Danish Yakoob

My name is Danish Yakoob and I’m from Latifabad, Hyderabad, Pakistan. I have been working as a Columban co-worker in the Hyderabad Diocese since November 1, 2016.

 

By Hazel Angwani

It has been nearly a year since I arrived in Pakistan as a lay missionary. If I were to describe the experience so far, I would have to say it has been very challenging…

 

By Kim Sun-Hee Sunny

Who would have imagined that I would be cooking food and treating people? I was a total stranger to cooking before joining the lay missionary sending orientation program…

 

By Fr. Charles Rue

God takes us beyond what our minds can imagine beyond the limits we put on our hearts knowing that the cosmos and all earth creatures are brother and sister as St. Francis…

 

By Fr. Shay Cullen

The latest letter of Pope Francis, his Encyclical, Fratelli Tuttii “Brothers and Sisters All,” is one that should touch every heart, stimulate our minds, awaken our…

 

By Fr. Tomas King

The Parkari Kohlis are one of many tribal peoples in Sindh, Pakistan, who live in an on-going state of liminality; that is geographically, religiously, economically,…

 

By a Columban Missionary

When we look at the scene of the baptism of Jesus as depicted by Christian artists the important figures seem to be Jesus, John the Baptist and the Holy Spirit descending…

 

By Fr. Vincent Busch

The Subanens are an indigenous people whose ancestral habitat is the highlands of northwestern Mindanao in the Philippines.

 

By Fr. Patrick Colgan

While the rest of the world shops and parties frenetically in December, the people in Fiji busy themselves too – in providing retreats, carol singing and charitable…

 

By Elbert Balbastro

Christmas always brings joy in my life. As a child, I always looked forward to the coming of that day. However, as time progressed, I realized that Christmas does not only…

 

By Fr. John Boles

People often boast about having celebrated Mass in churches that are, “centuries old,” such as the great cathedrals of Europe. But, what about celebrating in a place of…

 

By Fr. Jung Euikyun Carlo

Last year, at the beginning of Advent, I received a letter. The letter was inviting myself and the youth of the parish to “A Christmas feast to commemorate Christmas.”…

 

By Fr. Rufus Halley

The dawn has broken through
The fears and snares of darkness
Are shattered, scattered, put to rout
Hold your head up high, oh man,

 

By Fr. George Hogarty

The missionary journey of Jorge Juaregui, called Coco for short, and his wife Rosa Ramirez, began when the Columban Fathers assumed responsibility for the rapidly

 

By Ana Flores

I first arrived in the Philippines in December 2007 and have been assigned in Mandanao ever since.

 

By Fr. Peter O'Neill

Fr. Peter O’Neill, the Columban Leader in Australia and the Columban Peace, Ecology and Justice Coordinator, visited Timorese workers at the Our Lady Help of Christians…

 
By Fr. John Burger

In 2013, after twelve years in administrative assignments with the Columban Fathers, I was given the chance to take a sabbatical.

 

By Sunhee "Sunny" Kim

Columban lay missionary Sunhee Kim writes about her ministry to children trapped in deplorable conditions at a dump in the Philippines.

 

By Fr. John Burger

A while ago I was feeling discouraged and someone reminded me that “a hundred-yard dash is not over at the 99th yard.” In other words, “don’t give up too early.” It was…

 

By Luda Egbalic

My heart was filled with gratitude and awe when I finished my first term mission in South Korea meaningfully and gracefully. Praise be to God and Mama Mary.

 

By Kim Sun-Hee Maria

Thanksgiving Day is called Zhong-Qiu-Jie in Taiwan, which means mid-autumn festival which is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar…

 

By Fr. John Burger

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.

 

By Fr. Charles Rue

Pulsating through our world, oceans and land
the tropics and artic, our home
flows the presence of God
loving a myriad of creation faces.

 

By Rose Basada

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.

 

By Fr. Noel Connolly

I was ordained in 1969. Those were confident and energetic times. Neil Armstrong walked on the moon a few days later.

 

By Fr. Barry Cairns

September 1 has been designated for us as World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.

 

By Fr. Shay Cullen

A case of gang rape of a 19-year old young British woman in Ayia Napa in southeastern Cyprus by 12 youth 15 to 18 years old in July 2019 received international attention…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

In 1981, Columban Fr. Frank Hoare was at the Namata Ashram running a Hindi-speaking lay leaders course. He shared with us the following story from that time.

 

By Fr. John Burger

One of Pope Francis’ most famous quotations is that those of us who are priests, we “shepherds,” should have the “smell of the sheep.” What a great, pungent image!

 

By Hazel Angwani

I can still remember that feeling when I first applied to join the Columban lay missionaries. I was not certain of anything, but I definitely pushed myself for it. I was…

 

By Columban Lay Missionary Joan Yap

I work as a shelter supervisor at the Hope Workers’ Center in Taiwan, and I can say that I enjoy the work.  Every day I facilitate activities for the residents in the…

 

By Columban Lay Missionary Febie Gonzalez

It took a long time for me to discern my full-time ministry until I finally found myself working with mentally and developmentally challenged individuals at Ai Jia (House…

 

By By Columban Lay Missionary Marjorie Engcoy

One of my passions is in the area of ecological justice, so I decided to initiate a recycling program in the parish in Raiwaqa, Fiji, where I am assigned and launch it…

 

By Fr. John Burger

Sometimes a line of poetry or the words of a hymn can stay in our mind for many years. Something in the turn of phrase resonates in our heart.

 

By Chuah Hui Ling

My name is Teresa, but most people here call me Ling. I was born in Malaysia and before coming to Fiji, I lived in New Zealand for eleven years.
Everything went…

 

By Sherryl Lou Capili

I started serving at the Hope Workers’ Center (HWC) last year as a fulltime pastoral coordinator among the Filipino Community of volunteers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus…

 

By Fr. Gonzalo Borquez

How many times has someone climbed a mountain only to find that they are still not at the summit? And, in fact, a cliff lies between them and the higher peaks.

 

By Evangeline "Jinky" Ucol

Na yacamu? Na yacaqu, O Jinky mai, Philippines. What is your name?

 

By Fr. John Burger

A good friend of mine, a religious Sister, served on the missions in Ethiopia during a terrible famine there.

 

By Jennifer Lunor

Opportunity comes once in a lifetime, and not all of us have the chance to be able to share with others the gifts that God has given to each of us: gifts such as life, our…

 

By Columban Missionaries

A few years ago the Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year was “post-truth.” Every day people are subjected to many false words, “fake news,” “alternative truths,” and…

 

By Reina Mosqueda

Talking about gratefulness, many people say that it is all about being appreciative of the good things in our lives.  We appreciate the person who shows kindness or…

 

By Lee Ji Yong "Tina"

In January 2019 I returned to Taiwan with my husband Jung-Woong Bosco as a Columban lay missionary couple.  At the moment, I’m completing month seven of a full year,…

 

By Fr. Charles Rue

God the creator keeps faith with the universe forever
in the evolving journey of planets, plants and animals
loving humanity and guiding our journey

 

By Fr. Donal McIlraith

It started, really, with an invitation from catechist Tobia to come and talk about the Marian Movement of Priests. I checked with the pastor, Fr.

 

Fr. Shay Cullen

In the dangerous southern island of Mindanao in the Philippine archipelago of more than 7,000 islands, martial law reigns.

 

By Kim Jung Woong

I’m doing missionary work with the mentally and physically challenged individuals at St.

 

By Fr. John Burger

Although all Columbans may not agree with me, I think our life as Columbans has three important hallmarks.

Community

 

By Fr. Patrick McInerney

I feel as much on Columban mission here in Sydney as I ever did in Lahore, Pakistan, if not more so, and it is usually in the ordinary encounters of every day.

 

By Mary K.

I am a butterfly,
Know that I like Flying among colorful flowers But now, I won’t do like this I offer to you…My lord.

 

By Fr. John Burger

Every year in the Catholic Church we have a “World Day of Prayer for the sick” on February 11, which is also the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

Mani Ram told me today that he had just had a terrifying experience.

 

By Hyein "Anna" Noh

At last, I am back in Korea, my home country. I returned in March 2019 and threw myself into the surging waves of work awaiting me as the new Columban Lay Missionary (CLM…

 

By Fr. Shay Cullen

What greater duty does any person of integrity have than to speak the truth about that which is morally wrong, unjust and despicable?

 

Sr. Redempta Twomey

"Quit being a lemon and make some lemonade in these straitened times," a journalist urged in a recent article.

 

By Fr. Patrick Colgan

One of the striking aspects of spending four months in San Antonio, Texas, is the very Hispanic/Mexican feel of the city as well as the way it manages its social…

 

By Fr. Vincent Busch

The Subanens are an indigenous people whose ancestral habitat is the highlands of northwest Mindanao in the Philippines. When the Columban Fathers arrived in Mindanao in…

 

By Fr. John Burger

Myanmar (formerly Burma) in Southeast Asia is a nation of scintillating beauty, copious resources and a wonderfully diverse population.

 

By Sr. Anne Ryan

At Christmastime we are drawn to reflect on our place of belonging, our "home." This sense of being drawn to home may be part of our nature, our cultural heritage and also…

 

By Sr. Redempta Twomey

In her autobiography, St. Therese tells of a dream she had about a year before her death.

 

By Fr. John Burger

I have been trying to track down the source of this quotation: “The first prerequisite for education is a willingness to sacrifice your prejudice on the altar of your…

 

By Fr. John Burger

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…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

I have been attending a training of trainers at the Methodist Conference Center. I was unhappy with the sleeping arrangements.

 

By Sr. Redempta Twomey

"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…

 

By Jennifer Lunor

I was born in a predominantly Christian city in the Philippines.

 

By Virgie T. Tanate

My missionary journey in Ireland was the highlight of my entire career and my greatest accomplishment in life.

 

By Fr. John Burger

What makes a life a success in the grand scheme of things, that is, a success in God’s plan?

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

I have been studying the Fijian language for almost 3 months now. It is great to have a chance now to learn the Fijian language and culture.

 

By Fr. Joseph Joyce

Each of us could write a book on disappointments, because there are so many in our lives.

 

By Fr. John Burger

People around the globe report increasing levels of stress. Our lives are so busy that day-to-day we feel hurried and harried.

 

By Fr. Trevor Trotter

Recently I have been fascinated by the news of two black holes circling each other and heading towards a massive explosion.

 

By Fr. John Burger

If you are a regular reader of Columban Mission, you are used to seeing Fr. Tom Mulroy's face on this page.

 

By Fr. Cyril Lovett

What do we know of the woman we call Mother of God and Mother of the Church?

 

By Columban Missionaries

Back in 1990 a missionary priest in Taiwan was the parish priest of a small parish that had a small kindergarten attached. The kindergarten was underused and struggling.…

 

By Fr. John Burger

Fr. Peter LiChun Dong is a new face among Columban missionaries. Recently ordained, he is the first Columban priest from mainland China.

 

By Sr. Redempta Twomey

For the gift of this New Year, we say "Thank You." God has already blessed us.

 

By Fr. Tim Mulroy

It was Christmas Eve night and Fr. Charlie O'Rourke was alone in the rectory in his parish in South Korea when he thought he heard a knock on the back door.

 

By Fr. Brian Vale

As I was preparing to move from Sydney to Melbourne to take up the new role of Regional Director of the Australia/New Zealand Columban region I reflected on the many…

 

By Fr. Tim Mulroy

As the Columban Centennial Year draws to a close, and as we prepare to embark on a new century of mission, I am reminded of how the Catholic Church engaged a significant…

 

Sr. Redempta Twomey

The man had never walked. From birth, he was unable to put his two feet under him, but that didn't stop him from going out and joining the crowd that had gathered to hear…

 

By Fr. Tim Mulroy

As a teenager Ned Galvin enjoyed seeking out adventure with his friends.

 

By Fr. Peter Woodruff

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…

 

By Ray Collier

About 18 months ago, after leaving the parish of St. Catherine’s, I felt called to go and explore opportunities of volunteering with groups which are responding to the…

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

Last night Fr. Theo and I decided to visit separate Indo-Fijian families in the same settlement about five miles from town. We borrowed the parish van.

 

By Fr. John Boles

Sometimes you come across a bond of love that makes you feel really humble. This is what happened to me when I met Josè and David.

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

A fund-raising bazaar took place at Raviravi church today. A large multi-ethnic crowd attended, and there were different cultural items presented.

 

By Fr. Tim Mulroy

When Fr. Sean McDonagh, who taught at the University of Mindanao in the Philippines, joined one of his students on a research project among the T'boli tribe during the…

 

By Sr. Redempta Twomey

The story is told of a good and prayerful woman who claimed to have had a vision of Christ. She went to see the bishop. "Did you talk to him?" he asked.

 

Fr. Bobby Gilmore

In the old world of European empires the mission of the church traveled with the expansive energy as it did previously in the age of trade routes and great migrations by…

 

By Fr. Tim Mulroy

Life begins at forty! That's what Fr. Tony Coney was about to discover as his plane touched down in Lima.

 

Fr. Kurt Zion Pala

My main interfaith experiences in the Philippines were with Muslims; things in Myanmar are very different given the very large majority Buddhist population.

 

By Fr. Shay Cullen

Church and police authorities and non-government organizations (NGOs) came together recently in the Vatican under the Santa Martha Group headed by Cardinal Vincent…

 

By Fr. Tim Mulroy

This year, as Columban missionaries look back on one hundred years of mission, we recall with gratitude our accomplishments in various distant lands.

 

Sr. Redempta Twomey

Some days when it feels that God is far from us we may begin to harbor a real doubt: Is there a God at all?

 

Sr. Redempta Twomey

"Remember your last end," scripture admonishes us. Yet it seems that few people do, or maybe they remember when they attend a funeral or hear of a friend's death.

 

By Fr. Frank Hoare

Archbishop Petero Mataca confirmed about 50 young people at Nabala (Fiji) today. As part of the preparation we priests had invited Beniamino, a blind dau ni vucu…

 

By Fr. Tim Mulroy

When the last group of Columban missionaries left Myanmar in 1979, they did so with heavy hearts.

 

Fr. Frank Hoare

I did a funeral in a small village near Dogoru a few months ago.

 

Since our founding in 1918, the Society has published a magazine, first under the title of The Far East, while it is now known as Columban Mission.

 

By Fr. Dermot Carthy

You snubbed me and the others laughed.
You were right in what you said
But were wrong in the sneering way you said it

 

By Fr. Tim Mulroy

This year, as Columban missionaries celebrate a century of mission, we pause to look back and marvel at the abundance of God's blessings.

 

By Columban Missionaries

In the middle of the night, with the wedding guests gathered around, the groom is led to a specially-prepared canopy. There, he is seated, facing north.

 

Fr. Peter O'Neill

There was a frantic voice at the end of the phone.  “Fr. Peter our Filipino friend Genalyn is sick in hospital and our Taiwan broker is going to send her back to the…

 

By Fr. Kevin O'Neill

It is with much joy and heartfelt gratitude that I, on behalf of Columban missionaries and co-workers invite you, our benefactors, your families and friends, and the…

 

By Fr. Tim Mulroy

Taken from the poem Mission Memories by Columban Fr. John McFadden (1894 – 1978), these lines capture his bittersweet mood as he prepares to celebrate Christmas back home…

 

By Fr. Tim Mulroy

In 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.

 
By Fr. Tim Mulroy

Though she herself readily admitted that she couldn't sing, Gloria participated in the church choir every Sunday.

 

By Sr. Redempta Twomey

Every new beginning entails a risk and the possibility of change. Not all of us welcome risk or change; we may be fearful or lazy, reluctant to leave our comfort zone.

 

By Fr. Tim Mulroy

In late 1917, Fr. Edward Galvin landed in New York and began a long trek across the country in search of a suitable location for the U.S.

 

By Andrew Kwangbae Lee and Columban Fr. Seung Won Joseph

The following is an account of a visit by Columban Fr.

 

By Fr. Bobby Gilmore

In the 1980s before the onset of cheap air fares and the free movement of people introduced by the European Union Irish immigrants in London were always on the look-out…

 
By Fr. Tim Mulroy

Like the air we breathe, water is essential for our life and well-being. The average person here in the U.S. uses 80-100 gallons in a variety of ways throughout each day…

 

By Gregg Simon

It's hard to remind yourself to have faith every day. Especially when it comes to having patience or to being confident in God's plan when it is unknown to you.