Missionary Society of St. Columban US

The Color Palette of Way of the Cross

emay — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 06:00:01 +0000

The Color Palette of Way of the Cross emay Fri, 03/03/2023 - 00:00

Fr. Noel O'Neill with participants at the Lenten Art Recollection

Lenten Art Recollection

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 arts were the migrants; they were Filipino Catholics of the Diocese of Daejeon. Through the initiative of Columban Fr. Jude Genovia who works full time in Migrants Ministry, the Lenten season was once again experienced face-to-face yet in a safe space. The whole recollection focused on the meditation on the passion, suffering and death of Jesus Christ through the Way (Stations) of the Cross. However, the praying through this five-century-old Christian devotion was done in a method none had ever done before: through a coloring page.

Instead of a loud reading of Scripture and accompanying prayers, recollection participants just prayerfully gazed upon the image in each station. Then they applied colors slowly in a contemplative manner. While colors have their own collective cultural and religious meaning, participants were encouraged to choose a color that reflected their personal experience and life. Also, each one was personally guided on how to apply the colors. The fruit was coming up with their own color palette applied to a moment in Christ’s passion and death that resonated with their own feelings and thoughts. Each one followed their own pace, pulse and strokes in coloring. Two people may have worked not only on the same image but also on identical color combination but the outputs were totally distinguishable by its uniqueness of touch and stroke. Such was its beauty that the reflection sharing, which followed coloring, was rich and diverse yet each one resonated.

A boy reflects after coloring an image of Jesus

Through contemplative coloring, we were able to immerse into the passion and death of Christ and into our experience of suffering and dealing with death. Therefore, it couldn’t be helped that other participants burst into tears as they shared. However, they did not feel alone as a community was there to listen and hold them as they connected with figures like Simon of Cyrene, Veronica, the Women of Jerusalem, Mary mother of Jesus, the beloved disciple, and Joseph of Arimathea. Likewise, we also got in touch with the part of ourselves that is like that of Pontius Pilate, Pharisees and the High Priests, the crowd and the soldiers. One of the most obvious effects the art recollection to participants were a sense of relief from and release of heavy emotions they kept inside. As I look back, I realized that our lives have its own color palette as expressed in the colors applied to the Way of the Cross during the Lenten Recollection.

In Lenten Workshop and Individual Prayers

While I created the coloring page with the thought of Lenten Art Recollection, I got to think also of other groups and individual people who may find the material helpful. So, I turned it into full self-guided coloring book titled “Way of the Cross: Color and Contemplation” with a digital version for easy distribution. One of those to whom I shared the material was Columban Fr. Noel O’Neill, founder of Emmaus Rainbow Community that assists people of special needs in many ways.

On Holy Thursday, Fr. Noel gathered the community and together colored their Way of the Cross. Later, Dr. Chun Yung Hui, a director of a school of art, judged the colorings. And on Easter Sunday during the Mass, there was a presentation and awarding ceremony of artworks that were carefully evaluated and chosen. For our Emmaus friends, the activity was a real experience of labor followed by celebration with the resurrected Christ. The reflection of bright and warm colors reflected the colors in the rainbow that symbolizes the community.

Apart from distributing it to those who work with group facilitation, the digital copy was also shared to individual people. They may reproduce it freely appropriate to their needs as long as they have the digital copy. It was also designed in a way that it can be easily printed on any A4 paper so it is practically available.

Participants of the Lenten Art Recollection show their handiwork.

Likewise, though they may not be able to use it immediately, they may do so in some other time when the need arises. Any person who is not able to do it with a group can do it alone in one’s preferred space while playing one’s desired background music in one’s convenient time. In this way, there is also no pressure to finish the entire stations in one time. Such is the flexibility and beauty of the material.

The Making of “Coloring the Way of the Cross”

The idea of coloring pages for reflection was a response to questions, what can I do for our Lenten Art Recollection? Since Catholic faithful are drawn to devotion, I decided to work on the Stations of the Cross. However, the prayer is often too wordy so I asked, “How do we meditate on it with less words and rather immerse ourselves in image and colors?

Likewise, thinking about individual people, is there any other way people can pray the devotion in a safer space in the midst of covid19 pandemic? Is there a way where people can reflect on Christ’s suffering and also of their own where, though overwhelmed, they can ground themselves to something like beauty that can hold them in their vulnerability? How can I facilitate people to do the devotion in their own time, space and, to a certain extent, their own way? These were significant questions that led to the making of the coloring pages. The works that followed were also demanding: from drawing works of fourteen different yet harmonized templates to drafting guidelines for coloring procedure and reflection questions as I wanted it available as a self-guided activity. I have chosen the mandala shape due to its spiritual character and universal meaning of wholeness.

Every part of the making of “Way of the Cross: Coloring and Contemplation,” was driven by a pastoral response to God’s desire for humans to experience wholeness and renewal of life beyond the cross. The color palette we choose to fill the Way of the Cross is the color of our life and of our very selves united with that of Jesus of Nazareth. Our passion and suffering have become one with that of Christ our redeemer. In this sense, even in difficulties, hardship and darkness become a way to God who saves us.

I have hope that more people will get to meditate the Way of the Cross using this coloring book and through many other creative ways.

Columban Fr. Jason Antiquera lives and works in Korea.

March/April 2023

Come and See

emay — Mon, 20 Mar 2023 05:00:01 +0000

Come and See emay Mon, 03/20/2023 - 00:00

Reaching Out in Person and Via Zoom

By Frank Hoare

Saula Seeto and Iowane Naio at July 2022 Come and See

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 Columban Formation House and was attended by sixteen young men. Two of these young men came all the way from Labasa for the program. The other program was a two-hour ZOOM program which reached out to nine young men on Tarawa Island in Kiribati and at least four young men in Ba.

It was possible to hold these program simultaneously, because we had the participation of two Columban PRS students as well as two Columban Manila students and three young Columban students finishing their holidays before going to Loyola School of Theology in Manila on Monday. Fr. Martin Koroiciri, who is on holidays from mission in Chile, also made himself available to give a talk.

Participants listening during Columban Come and See

We thank Mr. Birati, the president of the Kiribati Columban Companions in Mission, who invited the students in Kiribati to the Ministry of Education offices in Tarawa to participate by ZOOM. We are grateful also to two ladies from the Raiwaqa branch of the Columban Companions in Mission who catered for the large group in Suva. We thank Fr. Carlo Jung for encouraging the two students from Labasa to come, to Fr. Pat Colgan who made arrangements in Ba Presbytery for three of the Ba students to participate and to Fr. John McEvoy for allowing us to use his ZOOM subscription.

Everyone was very happy with the program of prayer, sharing, videos, and information which was held on a beautiful day in Suva. We will miss the Columban students who leave soon for Manila, and we wish them every blessing in their studies and in the remainder of the Columban formation.

Columban Fr. Frank Hoare lives and works in Fiji.

March/April 2023

Theresa

emay — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 05:00:01 +0000

Theresa emay Mon, 03/13/2023 - 00:00

Companion for a Hermit

By Fr. Frank Hoare

A Late Vocation

“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 age of 54 years, to a request to leave home in Fiji’s capital, Suva, to become a companion for Mother Canisius.

Theresa Nath with Fr. Frank Hoare

Mother Canisius had come from New Zealand to Fiji ten years previously in 1977 to live a life of prayer as a hermit. She lived at the Ashram, a rural retreat center about 150 miles from Suva. She was growing old and weak. She needed a companion.

Mother Canisius, on meeting Theresa, asked her all sorts of questions. She wanted to test Theresa’s commitment. Would she remain with her in her good days and her bad days? “Luckily I passed all her examinations,” said Theresa smiling.

Unexpected Adversity

Theresa was born in Suva in June 1933. Her father owned his own small bus service. Theresa attended a Catholic primary school to class three, when the schools in Fiji closed during World War II to be used as billets for soldiers.

After the war Theresa boarded at a Catholic primary school. She was baptized and received First Communion there. When she finished class eight her father brought her home to the rudimentary dwelling he built on land he had bought.

Theresa had an arranged marriage with a Catholic convert in 1952. They were both 19 years old and lived with her parents. Theresa began working in a cigarette factory in 1957. By 1960 she had five daughters.

Theresa’s husband went to England in 1962 to stay with her relatives, find work and bring the family over. He sent money home for three months. Then he disappeared and all communication with Theresa ceased.

Caring for Her Children

When Theresa’s adopted brother married, the dwelling became too small for the extended family. Theresa bought a small shack and became a tenant at will in an informal settlement. Two of her older daughters were married by then.

Mother Canisius' grave at KJ Ashram, Namata, Fiji

Sometime later Rup Chand, a seaman, asked her to look after his own mother and his two very small children, whose mother had deserted them. He promised to send money regularly to her. Theresa agreed, partly because she worried about her three adolescent daughters. Rup Chand was honest and treated her daughters with respect and care. She warned him never to criticize her Church or try to stop her from going to Mass on Sundays.

Like everyone, they had their ups and downs. If she was annoyed with him she would go to a film after Mass on a Sunday morning. Worried about her, he would guess where she was and would wait for her to come out (Hindi films are quite long) and accompany her home.

When her father later moved house, he signed over his land to Theresa. The Housing Authority, to whom she mortgaged the land, built a standard house there. She paid a large deposit and a weekly sum. She sold food parcels and did some sewing to make some extra money. Rup contributed too. Her three younger daughters married and emigrated to North America. Theresa had now fulfilled her family responsibilities and was open to another call.

Caring for Mother Canisius

By 1997 Mother Canisius was becoming weaker. When she was in hospital for surgery Theresa stayed with her. “I would sleep on the floor beside her bed. Two years later she was admitted again, and I stayed with her day and night.”

Theresa’s daughter Angeline had returned from the U.S. She used to bring their food to the hospital on the 8:00 a.m. morning bus, stay all day and return to the Ashram on the evening bus to wash their clothes. After two months Mother Canisius died in Theresa’s arms.

Angeline wondered why her U.S. permanent residence permit was taking so long. A day or two after Mother Canisius’ burial she received a phone call from the American Embassy. The message was, “Why haven’t you collected your residence permit? It has been here for the last three months!”

Theresa is now 89 years old and has lived for almost 35 years at the Ashram. There she has a regular program of prayer which includes reciting the Divine Office morning and evening and attending Mass, when available. She used to help cook for groups that came there.

Caring for the People

Theresa has been an angel of mercy to many people around the Ashram. She bought the materials and had a small house built for a young mother with small children who was thrown out by her mother-in-law. She paid school fees for many children. She bought hampers for poor families in the settlement before Christmas and Easter each year.

She helped two part-time Ashram cooks, when there was no priest in residence. She paid one from her own pocket and had wiring and electricity installed in the other’s house. She paid the seminary fees of a young man in India and was thrilled to attend his ordination.

Like Ruth with Naomi

Her daughter Annie recalls visiting the Ashram once and being woken by her mother and told to shower and to be in the church by 7:00 a.m. As she was walking up the hill she heard her mother singing a hymn by herself inside the church. She stood outside and cried. Her mother seemed to have a glow of happiness.

When Theresa heard God’s call to become Mother Canisius’ companion she gave her house and land to Rup Chand and his son. The then Archbishop gave her permission in writing to live as long as she wished at the Ashram and be buried beside Mother Canisius. She would remain a companion to her in life and in death.

Columban Fr. Frank Hoare lives and works in Fiji.

March/April 2023

The Marriage Anulment

emay — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 06:00:01 +0000

The Marriage Anulment emay Wed, 03/01/2023 - 00:00

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 Marriage Tribunal.

A good friend, Pargasum, had approached me a few months previously to know if we could do anything for his Catholic friend and neighbor Manikum. Manikum had married a Catholic girl about 25 years before. But when he repeatedly mistreated her, she ran away. After some further mishaps he finally he found a partner who stayed with him. This partnership lasted and the children attended Mass and the sacraments regularly. However Manikum could not receive communion, and he could not be married in the Church since his first wife was still alive.

I interviewed an elder who had been involved in arranging Manikum’s first marriage. He claimed that both parties were asked and had agreed to the wedding. I then visited Manikum’s first wife and asked her about the wedding.

“I never wanted to marry him,” she declared. “He had a reputation as a scoundrel and I knew he would treat me badly.”
“But you agreed to marry him when you were asked,” I replied.
“Yes, because I knew that my father would beat me up if I refused,” she retorted.
“Did you show any sign that you were unwilling?”
“I cried all day before the wedding, I cried the whole day of the wedding and I cried all the next day too.”

I asked Fr. John Doyle, who celebrated the wedding, if he remembered it. “I’ll never forget it,” he said. “I know that all Indian brides cry leaving their family after the wedding. But I never experienced crying like that before or since. She never stopped!” I was happy that now I had confirmation of the lady’s witness. I wrote up the case and handed it into the marriage tribunal before I left for holidays.

Fr. Theo told me that Manikum’s marriage was annulled while I was away. I said confidently, “the annulment must have been given on the basis of ‘force and fear.” “No,” said Fr Theo with a wicked smile. “They were first cousins and they hadn’t applied for a dispensation from the bishop.” All my careful detective work was overridden by a technical hitch!

Manikum marched proudly up to Communion the following Sunday. He then wasn’t seen at Mass for months.

Columban Fr. Frank Hoare lives and works in Fiji.

Publication Date

March 2023

Good Friday

emay — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 06:00:05 +0000

Good Friday emay Wed, 03/01/2023 - 00:00

The Hills of Ba

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 is.” In turn, preparations for this day are taken very seriously, and the crosswalks or the dramas with which they mark the day are often long, physically challenging, and emotional.

"Jesus" hoisted on the cross

Such was the case with the five “highland” villages of Ba today, where 40 of whose youth had started carrying the cross in silence on Wednesday morning along the almost 20-mile stretch on the tough and parched roads linking their villages. They were accompanied by the parish catechists of each village (and often by youth of other Christian denominations) who gave teachings each night on the meaning of Holy Week.

Having bid goodbye to the parishioners of Ba Town at 6 a.m. as they boarded a bus to begin their own cross walk, and knowing that the other section of the parish (the four coastal villages) had also been on the road since 5 a.m., I headed up the hills to Navala, to first conduct five baptisms and the admission of twelve young people into our Sacrament of Confirmation Program.

By 9 a.m., we were ready to witness the highland youths’ rendering of the Passion of St. John, which was interwoven with the fourteen traditional Stations of the Cross. The lifelike shouts of the soldiers and physical mistreatment of Jesus abruptly brought us back to that day in Jerusalem some 2000 years ago.

Dressed in uniforms culled from cardboard boxes, except for the few wearing Fiji army fatigues, they pushed Jesus up the hill of the village, where he met his mother and the weeping women, fell and stood up again three times, was helped briefly by Simon of Cyrene, and was finally divested of his clothes right down to his undergarment, at which point he was hoisted over the village on a cross.

Photo Gallery

At one point, I had to make sure that the nail hammering was not an actual crucifixion, but a way of squeezing his legs between two narrow slats, which is of course very painful. After death, he was taken down from the Cross into the arms of his mother after which the soldiers carried him into the sacristy for burial.

Rather than all adjourn to wait for the liturgical 3 p.m. Service of the Passion, I asked that we keep going. In place of individual confessions, a service of communal repentance was led by the catechists, with villages having written down their sins, seeing them go up in flames before the altar.

The Liturgy of the Word followed, and I also decided to let the youth who had learned their parts by heart in their drama also conduct the proclamation of the Gospel — the same Jesus, Peter, Pilate, crowd, etc. This was a powerful “retake” of what we had already seen, my homily noting that while the Stations of the Cross (and the other three Gospel writers) emphasizes Jesus’ physical suffering on Good Friday, the Gospel of John rather poses a number of awkward questions to us such as Who is Jesus for you?; Do you (like Peter and the others) also deny knowing him when the chips are down?; Who is really on trial here — Jesus, Pilate or you?; What king (meaning power structure) do you choose in your life? Is it that based on violence, patronage and the size of one’s army, or it one whose only weapons are integrity and truth?’

The same youth then held up two crosses for the rite of veneration, and we ended with Communion being brought up (and returned) to the house in the village where it had “slept” last night.

After the Liturgy, we retired for the drinking of kava which lasted until exactly 3 p.m., at which time the village fell silent to mark the hour of Jesus’ death. We then had lunch and I left.

I will say that this “Day of the Dead,” this “Good Day” will remain in my memory for many days, and I continue to marvel at the ingenuity of the Fijian people, particularly the young people, in their taking this story to themselves and presenting in a way that shakes one’s liturgical niceties, returning it to the physical, messy and ultimately loving day that it was.

Fr. Patrick Colgan lives and works in Fiji.

March/April 2023

What About Us?

emay — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 06:00:01 +0000

What About Us? emay Wed, 03/01/2023 - 00:00

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 life?” (10:17) This is really a cry to God. As Jesus says, “Why call me good? No one is good but God alone?” (10:18) So this is a cry from the heart.

Indeed, it is a crucial question that we all grapple with. This is what we ultimately hope for, to gain eternal life. Jesus is gentle with this man and says, “Let’s start with what is required to be a good person, one who seeks to turn his or her life in the direction of God.” Follow the law, the ten commandments. This is basic. In reply the man tells Jesus he has followed the law since his youth. At this point, Jesus sees something admirable and loveable about this man. So, he pushes him further. There is one more barrier that prevents him from finding meaning, purpose, satisfaction in life. His wealth. Can he let go? Jesus was offering him a gift beyond measure - eternal life. The man was too attached to the comforts of his wealthy lifestyle. Sadly, the challenge was too much and he walked away a sad man.

Jesus went on to talk about how difficult it is for a person of wealth to enter the kingdom of God. Here comes the crucial point. “Nothing is impossible for God.” All the man had to do was to put his trust in God and not in his own strength or discipline or commitment. Let God pull you through the eye of the needle.

Finally, we come to the response of Jesus’ closest companions. What about us? We have left everything to follow you! Jesus responds by saying: look beyond the eye of the needle, look at what you have gained by the giving of yourselves to share in my mission. You have come to know a new way of being family. Rather than wealth and material riches, your lives have become enriched through the relationships that have been formed with those who have become part of your lives. This is a family where the least is the greatest and the last is the first because ultimately, we share that life which is centered on God, that life which is eternal here and now and into time everlasting. This is what is only possible for God and only possible for those who are willing to let go and find God through communion with one another in Jesus Christ.

Columban Fr. Tom Rouse provided this reflection.

Publication Date

March 2023

Invitation to Mission

emay — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 06:00:01 +0000

Invitation to Mission

emay Wed, 03/01/2023 - 00:00

From the Director

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 seminary. As a freshman seminarian, the desire to be a missionary priest was there but doubts still remained if this was truly what I wanted to do. As the year was coming to an end, I had to contemplate on what I was going to do in the summer. Our summers were free, and we were encouraged to take temporary jobs and/or get involved in a ministry of some type. I had heard of some seminarians doing a mission exposure on the Pine Ridge Native American reservation in South Dakota. I was curious about this and decided to approach the persons organizing the experience. What we agreed to was a five-week immersion experience.

During the immersion experience we participated in Sun Dances, cultural festivities, painted houses, visited with families, etc. I spent time with the Jesuits and listened to their missionary history. I spent time with Lakota people who were Christian but still identified with their Native American roots. I spent time with Lakota people who spoke about their painful history with Christianity. I was told of a small town who had to have two Catholic churches, one for Anglos, the other for Native Americans. They couldn’t mix. It was an eye opener for me.

The experience had a powerful impact on my missionary vocation. It made me look at the world with new eyes. When I returned to studies after the summer, I was sharing my experience with a faith-sharing group in Chicago. After, a young university student asked me how the experience changed me. I told her that as a child I was a fan of the old western movies, especially of John Wayne. After the experience, I couldn’t watch any such movies knowing the reality. The young woman looked at me with awe but painfully said, “That is why I could never do such an experience! I would love to, but I feel it would ask a conversion of me that I can’t make! I would rather be ignorant than know!” I was shocked by her answer but admired her honesty. Than I realized the reality of invitation to mission. As Jesus said, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22: 14)

I don’t know what happened to the young woman after, I never saw her again. I know she was a good person and wished no harm on anyone. Yet, I realized that she was at a moment in her life where she couldn’t make that leap to mission. However, I do hope the seeds were planted for the future when she was ready to do so. In my personal journey, I had received many invitations to mission prior to my commitment to be a missionary priest. Obviously, my journey was filled with not accepting the invitations until I was ready. A seed can be planted to bloom later. It is not for all, but we are all invited.

Issue

March/April 2023

Explosions of Grace

emay — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 06:00:01 +0000

Explosions of Grace emay Wed, 03/01/2023 - 00:00

By Sr. Rebecca Conlon

Editor’s note: Columban missionary Sr. Rebecca Conlon writes about a beautiful liturgical crescendo in Hyderabad, Pakistan, as children received the Sacraments. The material was provided prior to the devastating floods in late summer/early fall 2022 in Pakistan.

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. It was not just a beautiful liturgical crescendo to Easter; there were many sacramental crescendos dotted throughout the week causing an outpouring of God’s grace, love and joy on the children and community.

The first was First Confession. What a blessing it was to prepare the children for this beautiful sacrament. Then there was the Confirmation crowd. Those preparing for this sacrament were also invited to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation to prepare them for their bi g day. It was challenging, needless to say, to go out into the gullies and invite wayward teens to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. But when they plucked up courage to come, it was a real joy to welcome them to Sunday School and prepare them for the Sacrament.

Bishop Samson Shukardin

Bishop Samson Shukardin came to the church to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation and was greeted by a sea of excited youth, thirsting for the Spirit - and we know that the Spirit was thirsting for them too. They came from the parish of St. Elizabeth, 347 in all. Between the praying, singing, excitement, heat, social order and not a little disorder, the Spirit came hovering over each one, renewing and strengthening their spirit to face life head-on in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, where it is a great challenge to live out their commitment.

On Holy Thursday we had the First Holy Communion group of 21 students as it was the ideal day to receive the Sacrament remembering that Jesus broke the bread of His life for us all on that day. Afterwards there was the Agape meal, where people shared their food with each other, and as with the miraculous multiplication, there was more than enough for all.

As the Agape meal was about to start, the Blessed Sacrament was placed in the Altar of Repose, as is customary every Holy Thursday night, and people keep watch and pray with the Lord as He faces the ordeal of Good Friday and all that that entails. When the food arrived in our gathering, the people rushed in that direction and so I decided to go to the Altar of Repose to wait for a while with the Lord and eat later.

There were two children in the church. I tried to gather my thoughts but one of the children came up to me and asked me what I was doing there. I told him I was praying, as Jesus was all alone and He need ed friends that night. Satisfied with this information, the little boy took off doing cartwheels and spinning about on the carpeted floor of the church.

The other child was a young girl dressed in an immaculate long white dress. When she saw the little boy doing cartwheels, she decided that she would do what she was best at and so she started standing on her head. We three were the companions of Jesus on Holy Thursday - doing what we were best at - and I know that He was so happy to have our company. It is like the story of the young student preparing for priesthood who was always criticized by his formators for not doing things the proper way. He knew what he was best at and decided to go to the chapel quietly and do that thing and offer it to God. Juggling was his gift.

We moved on to the Holy Triduum when those who received the explosions of grace and blessings from the Lord entered fully into the Holy Week ceremonies with great pride. May they be faithful to the promises they made and fulfil all their wishes to be committed Christians in this society and do what they are best at for God. Thanks to Bishop Samson, Fr. Yusuf Bag h, Fr. Ajmal, Master Mubarak and the staff of the Good Shepherd Tuition Center who shepherded the children through Sunday School and led them to these beautiful pastures.

The Lord is my Shepherd, we shall not want.

Columban Sr. Rebecca Conlon lives and works in Pakistan.

Publication Date

March 2023

My Mission

emay — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 06:00:02 +0000

My Mission

emay Wed, 03/01/2023 - 00:00

In So Many Words

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 Columban seminarians were not asked that question. Rather it was the custom that the new priests be sent to the country where they were most needed. So, for the first time I started to think and pray about where God wanted me to go. And very soon I felt God’s reply: “Your mission is in Japan.” I knew nothing about Japan but I felt one thing: my character or spirit was similar to that of Japan. So, I asked to go to Japan. We knew that if the place we asked for was not possible, we would be sent to another country. As regards Japan, at that time the Columbans had not sent anyone to Japan from Australia for fifteen years, but I felt deeply that I would certainly go to Japan. A few months later we were informed that myself and one classmate were appointed to Japan. In May of the following year we were ordained and left the seminary in December. As the language school in Tokyo did not start till September, I worked for six months in parishes in Melbourne.

My classmate and I arrived at Tokyo Airport on September 3, 1973. By coincidence it was my mother’s birthday. Arriving at the Columban headquarters in Tokyo, I immediately felt “at home” in Japan. I knew this was where I was supposed to be. Except for one year of study in Sydney, I have been in Japan since then, working in twelve parishes of five dioceses. Although the language is still quite difficult, I experience God always helping me. I have learnt that all our problems are God’s problems.

So, for the first time I started to think and pray about where God wanted me to go. And very soon I felt God’s reply: “Your mission is in Japan.”

Sometimes, like everyone else, I have had times of suffering, but I always experience Jesus’ joy. To me, suffering is God’s gift that helps us surrender trust in God, grow more quickly, and helps God save others. It is one of God’s graces to understand and accept that mystery. I have experienced all different kinds of suffering, and so I can help people who have the same suffering. St. Paul explained one of the purposes of suffering when he said, “God helps us in all our troubles, so that we are able to help those who have all kinds of troubles, using the same help that we ourselves have received from God.” (2 Cor 1:4)

A few months before coming to Japan, I had a tremendous experience of God’s love through the prayer called “the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.” Since then I have been blessed to help others experience God’s love in the same way. I always ask God for the grace to be where He wants me to be. And if it is His will, I pray that my mission will be here in Japan until I go to meet Him.

Columban Fr. Frank McKay lives and works in Japan.

Issue

March/April 2023

An Exemplary Missionary

emay — Mon, 27 Feb 2023 06:00:01 +0000

An Exemplary Missionary emay Mon, 02/27/2023 - 00:00

Fr. David Adams

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 southern Philippines and facilitate their study by missionaries.

He decided to study Fiji Hindi also. He would squat on a mat in the shade each day, and chat and with Rajen, a farmer who had no formal schooling. Fr. Dave wanted to hear only spoken Fiji Hindi. Rajen was delighted. He told his wife to have a nice curry ready for lunch.

After a while Rajen found that he had left is tin of tobacco on the mat just beyond his reach. He shouted for his wife, though she was busy inside cooking the meal. She came out. “Hand me my tobacco,” he barked. She obediently stooped down, picked up the tobacco and put it in his hand. “Now carry on with the cooking,” he ordered. Fr. Dave said afterwards, “If I am ever reincarnated, I want to come back as an Indian man!”

In 1987 Fr. Dave became the head of VOSA, a Columban translation service. He and his committee put together the lectionary in Fijian. Thy translated the deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament and had them included in a new edition of the Fijian Bible in 2013. Next, they translated the sacramentary into Fijian and had it accepted by the Vatican in 2015. This careful work is time-consuming but essential for the life of the Church.

However, Fr. Dave was not just an armchair missionary. As Parish Priest of the Lau and Kadavu islands in the 1970s, he travelled extensively in the Church boat, the Rogokaci. His adventures were many: avoiding cyclones, trudging up boggy hills and slipping in mud, floating helplessly with a seized-up engine while waiting for a rescue boat. On a trip with the Prime Minister to Lakeba Island, Ratu Mara insisted that Fr. Dave, as his priest, take the lower bunk in their cabin. Fr. Dave was further embarrassed to be seated in the front row for the welcome ceremonies for the Prime Minister.

Fr. Dave had a particular concern for justice and democracy. Soon after the 1987 coup in Fiji he joined the Citizens Constitutional Forum NGO (non-government organization). Requested to take the elections portfolio he studied the subject in the library of Victoria University in Wellington during holidays. Later at a conference he realized that he knew more about elections than an invited speaker, so he gained confidence. He made submissions to the Reeves Commission in Fiji, but it opted for the Alternative Voting (AV) system instead of a Proportional Representation system recommended by Fr. Dave.

He was a local observer for the 1999, 2001 and 2006 national elections in Fiji. He demonstrated, in a review of the Fiji election of 2006 at a University conference, that the AV election system was unfair. In 2007 after Fiji’s fourth coup, Fr. Dave put his radical proposals for a fairer election system to the cabinet and top military. He was invited to be a member of the Electoral Commission in May 2007. He presented papers in 2011 and 2013 at the Attorney-General’s Conference. The Proportional Representation election system he proposed was substantially adopted in the Fiji Constitution of 2013.

Through all this Fr. David’s patience, perseverance and scholarship shone through. He is a Columban who has made his mark on public life and pastoral ministry in Fiji.

All his many friends wished him a very happy platinum jubilee of priesthood.

Columban Fr. Frank Hoare lives and works in Fiji.

February 2023