Last April 18, I boarded a plane going to France. Starting in France, I was on my way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. It was not my intention to go as a Christian, nor even as a missionary. I just wanted to go there. It was like when I first went to church, or when I first visited the Columban Missionary Society – I had no intention of believing in God, nor of becoming a missionary.
February 20, 2019
Almighty and Eternal God,
Give me, I beseech You, the great gift of inward peace.
Command the winds and storms of my unruly passions.
Subdue, by Your grace, my proneness to love created things too much.
Give me a love of suffering for Your sake.
Make me forbearing and kind to others, that I may avoid quarrels and contentions.
February 19, 2019
Jesus, my God,
who for us has endured hunger and cold,
labor and fatigue,
I adore You.
Jesus, my God, who for my sake
has deigned to subject Yourself
to the humiliation of temptation,
to the defection of friends,
to the scorn of Your enemies,
I adore You.
February 18, 2019
Last year I decided to go to Pakistan to visit my uncle and get a sense of the work he was doing. Since as far back as I can remember I've been hearing of this uncle who was in Pakistan as a missionary priest and even though he comes home every couple of years, I still could not visualize his life there. I felt that it would be great to not only see what he was up to but also to immerse myself in a completely new culture and environment.
February 18, 2019
O Lord, we bring before You
the distress and dangers of peoples and nations,
the pleas of the imprisoned and the captive,
the sorrows of the grief-stricken,
the needs of the refugee,
the impotence of the weak,
the weariness of the despondent,
and the diminishments of the aging.
O Lord, stay close to all of them.
Amen.
February 17, 2019
O my Savior
who am I that You should invite me
to receive You for the food of my soul?
Is it possible that You,
the God of infinite purity,
should come and dwell in my heart?
Lord, if You wish,
You can make me clean.
Say but the word and my soul shall be healed.
I come then,
O my amiable Savior, to receive You,
February 16, 2019
O Heart of Mary,
source of true love,
fill our selfish hearts with Divine charity
and with that true brotherly love
without which there can never be peace.
Grant that men and nations
may understand and fulfill the precept
of your Divine Son,
Love one another,
in order that true peace may be firmly established
February 15, 2019
"The Columbans are still interested." With those words, Fr. Tom Shaughnessy concluded his letter to Andrei Paz. It was an invitation which put the young philosophy graduate back on track to becoming a Columban missionary.
February 15, 2019
My Divine Lord,
I firmly believe that I am going to receive
in Holy Communion Your Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.
I believe this because You have said it,
and I am ready to maintain this truth at the peril of my life.
February 14, 2019
O holy Martyr, St. Valentine, pray for the faithful,
who are so persevering in celebrating your memory.
The day of Judgment will reveal to us
all your glorious merits.
Intercede for us, that we may then be made your companions
at the right hand of the Great Judge,
and be united with you eternally in heaven.
The Columbans are a society of missionaries, including priests and lay people, who minister to people of various cultures as a way of witnessing to the universal love of God.