Who Opened My Eyes and Shaped Me?
On Monday morning, September 26, 2016, Sr. Anny, a St. Joseph Religious nun, asked me if I wanted to study in Mandalay. “I will be studying in the second biggest city of our country, Hooray!” I said to myself. She repeated, “I am asking you.
The Movement that Changed Korea
May 2020 was the 40th anniversary of the Gwangju Democratic Movement, an event that has shaped modern Korea history. Following the assassination of the dictatorial president Park Chunghee in October 1979, the spring of 1980 was a time of great hope and expectation for democracy in Korea.
Memories of My Visit to Brazil
September 2019 was very special as I had the opportunity and privilege to visit Brazil for the first time. In visiting a vast country like Brazil for a short time there is the real danger that one could do a real injustice to a country rich in culture and heritage.
New Sprouts
When Maria was first appointed to Taiwan in 2014, she immediately became involved in prison ministry. She worked with both youth and adults that were confined. Since 2018, she has been a member of the youth ministry coordinating team in the diocese of Shinju. She says that when she returned to Taiwan for her second term she received an invitation from Fr. Francis Rex who was in charge of the youth ministry for the diocese.
A Trip to Chunchon
At the entrance to the chapel in the Columban formation house hangs a large picture that shows all the areas where Columban missionaries were martyred, including the photos of the seven priests martyred during the Korean War.
New Beginnings
In our life we are bound to experience the different stages of life, “from the cradle to the grave.” Whether we accept it or not, there is always an end to everything. The good news is that “endings usually signal new beginnings.”
Casa Acogida
The grim realities here at the U.S./Mexico border of El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, are the twin plights migrants and poverty. We, the Columban missionaries living and working in this area, have been accompanying the migrants.
A Call To Save Someone's Life
“Please give blood, you can save someone’s life.” This is always the constant call of National Health Service (NHS) Blood and Transplant in front of their donation center in Birmingham, Britain.
God Made Me Do It
All is in God and God is in all. “Why does God need priests?” The answer is “We need priests to remind us that we are in God and God is in us.” Priests, by what they do and what they say, are in our midst to remind us that we are Jesus people.
Living as Those Made Alive in Christ
One of Pope Francis’ most famous quotations is that those of us who are priests, we “shepherds,” should have the “smell of the sheep.” What a great, pungent image! Taking on the smell of the sheep will not be achieved by distancing ourselves from our people and their daily struggles.
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.