Divine Physician,
You infused Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos
with the gift of Your healing.
By the help of his prayers,
sustain in me the grace to know Your will
and the strength to overcome my afflictions.
For love of You, make me whole.
May I learn from the example of Father Seelos
and gain comfort from his patient endurance.
Amen.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
I came home for my highly anticipated home vacation in April 2018 after spending the last three years in Chile, feeling incredibly excited to be back among my family and friends. I must admit that I had mixed feelings about reintegrating myself back amongst my family. Seeing my grandmother getting older was difficult for me. I would often wonder if she would still recognize me.
We praise You, Lord, for autumn:
for falling temperatures and morning chill,
trees turned gold and red, brown and orange,
falling leaves and blowing leaves,
the smell of burning leaves,
the joy of leaf-pile jumping.
Dear Angel at my side,
my good and loyal friend,
you have been with me since the moment I was born.
You are my own personal guardian,
given me by God as my guide and protector,
and you will stay with me till I die.
He who created you and me
gave me to you as your particular charge.
You assisted in great joy at my baptism,
My missionary journey in Ireland was the highlight of my entire career and my greatest accomplishment in life. Giving up a good and secured career to be a Columban Lay Missionary to cross boundaries of culture, race and creed was the most excellent decision I had ever made.
The river came out of the ground underneath the rocks
We watched and wondered where it came from
Drank it, used it for cooking
Washed ourselves
And our clothes in it
Animals sated their summer thirst
Transient birds stopping off
Heralded the seasons
On their way south and north
The mill race turned the water wheel
I have been attending a training of trainers at the Methodist Conference Center. I was unhappy with the sleeping arrangements. I had hoped to have a private room because previous companions have told me that I snore. On one occasion in Ireland a group of about 50 of us were doing a pilgrimage walk.
“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 them on us when we least expect it.” (Alice Walker, The Color Purple.)
The easiest way for me to write about prayer is to speak of my own journey with God. I say this because prayer is a particular experience for each person. It is an experience of a conscious relationship with God that has all the ups and downs of any other relationship.
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.
We go in the name of the Church to announce, by deed and word, the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Missionary Society of St. Columban
1902 N. Calhoun
St. Columbans, NE 68056
Phone: 877-299-1920
Fax: 402-291-4984
email: mission@columban.org
