As people flee their homelands in massive numbers all around the world, Columbans support their local churches wherever they are, as they respond generously and warmly to newcomers and strangers. It is a stated priority for all Columban priests and lay missionaries.
February 27, 2018
As we look back on 100 years of Columban mission worldwide, here in Britain we give thanks to God for all the gifts and challenges which have been showered on us. At this important moment in our history we commit ourselves with renewed energy to what the future may bring, confident that the God of Mission will continue to inspire and guide us.
February 26, 2018
Almighty God,
You know the perils that surround me,
and how easy it would be for me to slip and fall.
Give me the wisdom that I need to do Your bidding,
and avoid the snares that are set before me.
My path is dark before me.
Send Your Holy Spirit to fill me with your light,
and to guide me.
February 26, 2018
Chile is one of the developing countries in the world in terms of infrastructure, economy and business with good salary rates that catch the attention of workers in foreign countries especially those countries that are not so progressive. In my everyday life here in Santiago, I encounter not only Chilean people but also people from different countries.
February 26, 2018
In my eleven years of ministering to the Atayal people of Miaoli County in Taiwan, I've listened to numerous stories about how God makes His presence felt in the lives of others. One story that touched me and left a deep impression in me is that of Yada Umon. Hers is a story that has really inspired me and others in the parish to live our faith and become more active members of the Church.
February 25, 2018
Dear God, help me to walk with you throughout the day.
Give me today
some of the wisdom that is in Your words,
some of the love that is in your heart,
some of the help that is in your hands.
Give me today
some of Your patience with people,
some of Your ability to bear slights and insults
and bitterness without resentment,
February 25, 2018
We Columbans will celebrate our centenary from November 2017 to November 2018. This reflects the fact that we were canonically recognized as a missionary Society by Bishop O'Dea of Galway, Ireland, on June 29, 1918, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. We now recognize this as our foundation day.
February 24, 2018
Loving Lord Jesus,
whose hands are underneath our lowest feelings
to support us as we rest in you.
Hold me in this dark place
and sustain my life with your hope.
Let the light of your love warm my heart,
and your Holy Spirit, the comforter,
be with me to lift me up.
Amen.
February 24, 2018
I am Peter, and I am a third year student at Columban Fr. Neil's Higher Education Center [HEC] in Mandalay, Myanmar (formerly Burma). We get two weeks holiday during the academic year, but most of the 90 students at the HEC cannot go home because our homes are so far away from Mandalay and it is too expensive to travel. Fr. Neil discussed with us what we might do during our break, and we all agreed that we should spend the holiday with the children in orphanages and in the camps in the Kachin State
February 24, 2018
My most vivid memory of 30 years in Fiji is that of drifting at sea in a storm. It was January 2003, and Cyclone Ami had done great damage in the north. I was taking food to the island of Rabi. Fr. Taaremon Matauea is now a Columban in Taiwan, but then he was a seminarian and had sent me a distress call. He and his brother-in-law, Catechist Tampa, came to collect me and the food.
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.