Below are stories from past issues of Columban Mission magazine. The Columban Fathers publish Columban Mission magazine eight times a year. Subscriptions are available for just $15 per year. Sign up to receive our next issue. Read more about Columban Mission magazine.
It is said that history has a habit of repeating itself. This seems to be so in one particular case at least. In June 1920 when Columban Frs.
Observing the Sacraments, particularly the Holy Eucharist, is something I look forward to celebrating. The joy comes in sharing the same space and time with people who like me desire nothing but encountering Christ.
It is difficult for us in Myanmar (Burma) to get visas so we have to leave and go to Bangkok, Thailand, frequently to renew our visas. Bangkok is very highly developed with its high rise buildings, cars and buses crawling at a snail’s pace and sidewalks crowded with people.
On my first visit to Nagasaki’s Atomic Bomb Museum, the obscenity of the atomic bomb left me angry and disturbed. Amidst a 3,900°C heat carried by a blast equal to 21,000 tons of TNT, 80,000 human beings were obliterated in a millisecond – yes, 80,000 lives.
From our earliest days, almost a century ago, Columban missionaries have employed people to assist us in a variety of roles to support our mission. A few did housekeeping; some maintained buildings and grounds, while others assisted with office work.
“I couldn’t manage without them.” That is a phrase one often hears in a discussion between the parish priests in Fiji, whether indigenous or foreign born. They are speaking of the male catechists who serve in both rural and urban areas.
Earlier this year, two Columban Fathers—an Irish farmer by way of decades of mission in Pakistan and an Iowa farmer by way of decades of mission in Korea—and I visited three Columban benefactors on their farm.
Since I joined the Columban lay mission program in 2000, I have learned three different languages: English, Filipino (Tagalog) and Spanish. Since my assignment to Myanmar (formerly Burma) I am learning yet another language – Burmese!
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.