The Explored Life Of Columban Mission

New Year Resolution

2010-01-05T11:06:00.000-06:00

Fr. Shay Cullen

New Year resolutions were a regular part of my childhood. We were encouraged by our parents to make a new, bright start and promised to study harder, pray more, eat our vegetables and do our chores cheerfully. It was good training. This year, I promise to pray and work harder for justice, write better, promote human rights more effectively and expand the capacity of the home for the children rescued from traffickers, abusers, sex slavery and brothels and persuade many others to join the work.

I resolve to improve our Preda Fair Trade projects to help create more jobs and alleviate poverty. The recession has caused a big reduction in the sales of our crafts and recycled bags. But with the Preda Fair Trade team, I promise to promote a "Bag for Life,” a bag for good. This is a quality shopping bag to replace plastic shopping bags and create work for dozens of village-based bag makers.

There can be no better way to meet the New Year courageously than to revisit the source of our Christian faith, Jesus of Nazareth and His powerful inspiring life and wise teaching. These values we believe in have to be practiced and flow into practical action for the homeless, the hungry, the marginalized and the abused people for whom Jesus died.

This past Christmas at the Preda children's home, we had family meetings, a spiritual retreat and Christmas parties and gift giving for the parents of the 56 children in our care that were abducted, trafficked and abused and then rescued.

During the retreat, they said they rarely attend their parish mass and do not understand it. They are too poor and ashamed of their tattered clothes to be seen with the well dressed in the big parish church. Besides, getting food is their daily struggle to survive at all cost. Their greatest hope is that their children could live someday better than they themselves live.

They were excited to participate in the Mass especially when it was explained to them that Jesus said it was to be done in memory of Him and of all He had done to make the world a better place for them. They heard that He took His uncompromising stand with the poor and for all of us, but especially for the downtrodden, the sick and the throwaway people. He risked Himself by demanding that all human rights and dignity be recognized and this angered the authorities who claimed He was a subversive and that it would be better that He die rather than they loose their power and influence.

Two thousand years ago there were few spiritual leaders teaching a life of total self-giving for the poor, the outcasts, the unknowns by which the world would be transformed and we would all be saved from evil oppression and disaster. The total self-sacrificing love Jesus taught and practiced was new to humankind. There is no greater love than to give your life for your friends, and you all are my friends, Jesus told His disciples.

He came to us as a thoughtful, compassionate, consoling person - the Son of God no less. He did nothing but good and spoke out against hypocrisy and injustice. He was reviled, tortured, jailed and executed for championing the rights of the poor, the homeless, and the sick. He wanted them to be lifted from the mire of poverty and degradation and be freed from the corrupt oppressors that crush and abuse them and their children.

The parents and the children listened to this good news and smiled and were happy to realize that they were precious, important and of immense value and not unwanted eyesores, wretched of the earth and a blight on society. They learned that Jesus wants them to enjoy a life dignity and prosperity together in God's Family - that ought to be our mission for 2010.

To help others enjoy of life of dignity, please contact preda@info.com.ph, preda@preda.org. To read more, please go to www.preda.org.

Fr. Shay Cullen may be reached at the Preda Center, Upper Kalaklan, Olongapo City, Philippines. E-mail: preda@info.com.ph

Fruits of the Harvest

2009-09-21T11:38:00.000-05:00

My family went apple picking over the weekend. It was a gorgeous, warm day at the orchard. We climbed the hill, carried our cloth bags into the rows of trees and marveled at the abundance of the fruit weighing down the branches. In a short time, our bags were very full and heavy. We began the trek back to the building where our apples would be weighed and we would pay for them.

As we rounded the final corner toward the weighing shed, we ran into a group of professional apple pickers. They were at the orchard for the apple harvest and would move on when it was finished. They carried huge, nylon slings filled to the top with apples and were headed to the weighing shed as well. As we walked, we chatted a bit about kids (they were parents too), the weather, the popularity of certain apple varieties. We wished them well in their work and parted company when we reached the visitors’ weighing shed.

My family picked 30 pounds apples at the orchard. We added a gallon of fresh apple cider to our apples, paid for everything and loaded it into our car. During the ride home, I thought about how much fun we had together, how much I enjoy knowing where the food we eat comes from, how I like supporting local farmers. And, I thought about the farm workers who pick apples as a way to provide for their families, not as a fun family activity.

Kate Kenny is the managing editor of Columban Mission magazine.

New Laws Bring Hope in the Philippines

2009-09-08T11:43:00.001-05:00

There is good news from the Philippines as we celebrate the passing of new human rights legislation and the progress that has been made on other important pending legislation in the Philippine Congress.

The administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is striving to leave behind an impressive body of new legislation. After many years of hard work by non-government organizations, human rights groups, women’s organizations, people’s associations, church activists and letter-writing supporters, a women’s rights bill was signed into law by President Macapagal-Arroyo. The Magna Carta of Women, as the Republic Act 9710 is called, was signed into law after seven years of struggle.

Its key importance is the recognition that “Women’s Rights Are Human Rights.” The new law says that all “rights,” as stated in the constitution and in international conventions ratified by the Philippines “shall be the rights of women under this act to be enjoyed without discrimination.” The law forbids any form of discrimination against women and promotes equality and dignity of women. In addition, there must be gender balance in the police departments and other government service personnel within five years under the law. Government developmental councils must have 40% female members, and political parties with women's agendas will get incentives. The law also protects pregnant women and single mothers from any kind of discrimination in school or the work place.

A law banning torture by government officials, their agents and any private person is near the final voting. The bicameral conference committee reconciling the house and senate versions approved the consolidated version of the bill, and it will be ratified within the week.

These new laws are good news indeed, but will they ever be implemented? Those of us working for justice and peace believe that I mplementation will be the biggest challenge.

Visit www.preda.org for more related articles. Contact Fr. Shay Cullen at the Preda Center, Upper Kalaklan, Olongapo City, Philippines. e-mail: preda@info.com.ph

Lomas del Poleo Update

2009-08-24T14:50:00.001-05:00

Friday, August 21, 2009

Dear Friends and Supporters of Lomas del Poleo:

Peace. Thank you for your ongoing, active and generous support of the residents of Lomas del Poleo.

This has, indeed, been a prolonged, complex and painful struggle. While it has been a window on corruption, impunity, and injustice in Mexico and along its borders with the United States, it has also manifested the commitment of a small community of courageous settlers to persevere under the most difficult of circumstances. It has highlighted the dedication and skills of social activists committed to the transformation of their country and the willingness of people of faith and good will from across the globe to advocate for and support the oppressed seeking justice.

The residents of Lomas, accompanied by local activists and the Lomas support group of El Paso and Las Cruces, continue to make and sell items to raise funds for legal and travel costs. The responses of various individuals, churches and non-profits have been excellent and so the struggle continues.

The following account is based on the written report by Cristina Coronado and conversations with her and Juan Carlos Martinez.

This past Tuesday, August 18, the audience at the Agrarian Tribunal in Chihuahua continued the people’s case begun on April 6 of this year. The audience was the longest so far, going from 200-630p.m. In these four-and-a-half hours more was achieved than in the previous two years. The people were once again represented by the law office “Land and Liberty”, and its principal lawyer, Barbara Zamora, assisted by her husband, Santos Garcia.

Two weeks earlier on August 4, the audience was suspended because the Zaragozas presented a new suit against Vicente Estrada claiming they owned the land upon which his house is built. They had previously denied ownership of this and the land where the other families represented by Barbara Zamora live, only claiming ownership of some 70 square meters of Vicente’s land, the exact area that the Camino Real road traverses. Ms. Zamora asked for the length of time allowed by law to prepare a response to the new suit by the Zaragozas.

The parties re-gathered at the Agrarian Tribunal on August 18 at which time Barbara Zamora attempted to submit the proof/documentation of the Lomas residents’ claims. The court rejected them saying the time for submission of documentation had elapsed. Magistrate Imelda Basurto, however, later accepted Barbara’s arguments and allowed the submission of documents.

The people’s documents demonstrated that those living on this land in Lomas del Poleo for more than thirty years have the right of possession and that the lands themselves are federal not private lands.

Zaragoza’s lawyers then presented their proofs and documents. They then asked permission of the court to address the residents of Lomas directly, offering a negotiation. They said the Zaragoza’s have always been “well disposed to relocate and to negotiate with the people inhabiting this private property.” They would build a house equal to the house the Colonos now lived in, on other lands also owned by Pedro Zaragoza. They claimed to have already relocated the majority of the people and that many had accepted a “just” payment and been treated with respect.

Barbara Zamora turned and looked at the people, asking for a response to the negotiation offered. Theirs was a resounding “No!” The people of Lomas have witnessed the tricks, lies, abuse and violence that those in the employ of the Zaragozas have used to try and displace them from the land for the last six years. They said they would stay with the legal process until the court reached a decision. Barbara reaffirmed her commitment to accompany them until the case is resolved.

During this same audience the Magistrate concluded the submission of documentation and set the date for the presentation of the results of the land surveys/civil engineering results and the testimony of witnesses. This is the most important element of the Agrarian cases. These will be presented on September 28.

To that end there will be a meeting in Lomas del Poleo on September 10 at 12 noon. The Magistrate has ordered that the civil engineers for the Zaragozas and for the Colonos of Lomas del Poleo will gather that Thursday under the supervision of a Court official to take the measurements of the land in dispute in accordance with the Agrarian law. If either party fails to appear, they lose their right to present the measurements/expert testimony as proof in support of their case.

I spoke with Barbara Zamora by telephone and she said the engineer, Hector Alvarez, had gone to Chihuahua today to be officially mandated by the court to take the necessary measurements for the Lomas group and to present them to the Tribunal. Barbara was very happy with the outcome Tuesday, though she confessed she was exhausted by the lengthy audience and travel back and forth to Mexico City. Please keep her and Santos in your prayers, as well.

Conclusion:
This is the most significant advance seen in the case of Lomas del Poleo; a case in which Pedro Zaragoza had constantly refused to appear in or send his representatives/lawyers to the Agrarian Tribunal. After having been allowed to use a variety of pretexts to defer the case, now he has complied with the demands of the court, sending his representatives, lawyers, submitting documentation and technical proofs the same as the Colonos of Lomas.

In large part this advance has been possible thanks to the generosity, support and advocacy efforts of all of you who have remained close and in solidarity with the residents throughout this struggle.

The law services of “Land and Liberty” whose honesty and professionalism have forced the case to stay right where it belongs—in the Agrarian Tribunal—are due much credit. The friends of La Otra Compana in Chihuahua have also done much to offer moral support through their presence at the audiences and their willing to help convey documents and messages between the court, Land and Liberty and the Colonos themselves.

Finally, your prayers and support are still asked for all involved in this case especially for the small community of courageous settlers of Lomas del Poleo whose willingness to peacefully resist the evils inflicted upon them and faithfully remain in the way of the laws and constitution of Mexico.

Gracias a Dios!
And to all of you,
Fr. Bill Morton, SSC

Taiwan typhoon damage update

2009-08-18T10:33:00.000-05:00

Fr. Pat O’Beirne provided the following update regarding the damage sustained from typhoon Morakot.

Greetings to all,

A couple of people have emailed me inquiring about the typhoon damage in Taiwan, so I thought I should send a short update. Moving slowly, typhoon Morakot brought torrential amounts of rainfall in its tail. The south of the island, especially Kaohsiung county, was most severely hit. All 15 Columbans currently assigned to Taiwan live and work in the north western part of the island, so we are all safe and sound, thank God.

However, the devastation and loss of life in the south has still not been finally tallied. So far, 103 people are dead and 61 people are missing. There was $300,000,000 U.S. worth of damage done to agriculture and aquaculture and $100,000,000 U.S. worth of damage to roads and bridges. Loss to personal property is still unknown. Rescue efforts are still being hampered by bad weather.

In the mountain parish where Fr. Larry Barnett, lay missionaries Tabitha Bark and Vida Hequilan and I live, we were without electricity for almost two days. The roads in the area have been severely damaged by landslides. One main road to our parish has been temporarily repaired. Speaking from past experience, many of the the aborigine survivors who are trapped in the mountain villages are elderly and require regular access to medical clinics. The situation with the roads is an added stress for them.

The government of Taiwan is getting severe criticism nationally and internationally for its slow response to the crisis and for initially refusing offers of help in the rescue effort, except for financial donations which came in from 50 nations. Many thanks for your concern for our safety. Please continue to keep the people in your prayers,

Fr. Pat O’Beirne

One Dollar A Day

2009-08-10T11:35:00.000-05:00

How much money do you spend every day on food?

In the U.S., people spend an average of $10 per day on food. In developing countries, 2.7 billion people live on less than $2 a day, and 1.1 billion survive on under $1. [Source: thinkquest.org]

In my family of two adults and two children, we spend roughly $5.35 per day per person. The total includes 28 breakfast meals, 18 lunch meals, 28 dinner meals and approximately 50 snacks. My son buys lunch at school during the academic year, and my daughter’s lunch is included in the price of her preschool tuition. I did not add those amounts to our weekly total. My best estimate is that we spend $175.00 per week on food, a total that includes purchases from the grocery store and farmer’s market. I believe that we are under the U.S. average primarily because we don’t go out to eat very often; my husband and I take our lunches to work; we buy locally as often as possible. I anticipate that our food bill will increase significantly as our children get older.

In September 2008, a young married couple vowed to spend $1.00 per day (each) on food. Christopher and Kerri chronicled the month on their blog, http://onedollardietproject.wordpress.com. At the risk of spoiling the ending, I will say only that they were successful and did not cheat.

However, some interesting questions arose during the month.
• Would it be ok to eat “free” food (i.e. food provided at work conferences, samples at the grocery store, cookies from students) without subtracting the cost from their daily total?
• Why do people with the most food security have the most access to free food?
• How do the demographics of the areas in which we live help determine our food security?

What would you do if you were living on $1.00 a day? $2.00 a day?

Kate Kenny is the managing editor of Columban Mission magazine.

News from Pakistan

2009-08-04T08:43:00.000-05:00

Pakistan-based Columban Fr. Tomas King emailed the following correspondence from Bishop Joseph Coutts regarding the recent killings of Christians in Pakistan.Fr. King offered the Bishop condolences and solidarity on behalf of the Columbans.

The beast has had its fill and is now digesting its meal before hunger drives it again to look for new prey.

Christians in Pakistan were once again the target of Muslim mobs looting, burning down their houses and killing. This time the epicenter was a village called Korian, very close to the small city of Gojra about 50 kilometers from Faisalabad. On July 26, 2009 there was a Christian wedding in the village. Some children cut up pages of an old book to use as sort of ticker tape to shower on the wedding party. They had unknowingly cut up pages from an old school book of Islamic Studies. The next day when some Muslims found pieces of paper with Arabic script and some Qur’anic verses scattered about, there was an uproar in the village. However, the matter was settled amicably when it became clear that this had been done by children who were illiterate and there was no intention of desecrating any holy texts.

Life in Korian returned to normal, and the matter was almost forgotten. However, sinister forces were at work. The rumor was being spread that the Christians of Korian had desecrated the Holy Qur’an by tearing out pages and scattering them on the roadside to be trampled underfoot. Around sunset on July 30, a large mob descended on Korian demanding that Taalib Masih (the father of the children) be hanged for blasphemy. Fortunately the Christians had been forewarned and had already fled their homes to safer places. The mob then began its spree of looting and burning the 70 to 80 Christian houses in the village. The two small churches, one Protestant and the other Pentecostal, were ransacked but not burned down. There was no loss of life.

The following day, July 31, the Federal Minister for Minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti, came from Islamabad to view the scene of destruction. The Provincial Minister for Minorities & Human Rights, Kamraan Michael, was also there as were a number of Christian members of parliament. Assurances were given that every effort would be made for compensation and to bring the situation back to normal. It seemed as if this was the end of a terrifying and traumatic experience.

But malicious rumors continued to be circulated that Christians had desecrated the Holy Book. It did not matter where this had happened or who had done it or whether it was true. Christians in many surrounding villages and towns began receiving threats as Mullahs (Muslim clerics) began preaching hatred and revenge. On August 1 a large mob moved towards a Christian locality called Christian Town in the center of Gojra city. They carried sticks, clubs and even firearms. The small police force’s half-hearted attempt to stop them was ineffective. Some Christians who had pistols or hunting rifles tried to defend themselves but soon ran out of ammunition. The mob overwhelmed the locality and went on a rampage looting and burning about 60 Christian houses. Police reinforcements arrived by late afternoon, but it was too late - the damage had been done. Till evening bodies were being recovered from the smoking ruins of the houses. The number of injured is not known, but seven Christians were killed, two of them children.

It was planned to have the funeral of the Christians around noon on Sunday, August 2. But when the local Action Committee came to know that the police had not yet registered a report against 12 persons who they had identified and two city officials for criminal negligence, they refused to release the bodies for burial. The Provincial Law Minister, Raja Sanaullah, who was present, supported the demand of the Christians. But the police delayed in registering the report, offering to enter a milder, watered-down version instead. But the Christians did not back down. By 4:00 p.m. a large group carried the seven coffins and placed them on the railway track. They then sat down around the coffins thus blocking the railway track and disrupting rail traffic. Hundreds of other Christians waited in the church compound, singing Psalms and hymns, praying for the deadlock to be broken. Finally, around 8:30 p.m., the police entered the report and the funeral took place by 9:30 p.m.

Bishop Joseph Coutts, who was present with the people throughout the day, presided at the funeral accompanied by Rt. Rev. John Samuel, the Protestant bishop. Bishop Coutts appealed to the government to repeal the infamous Blasphemy Law that was repeatedly being misused and had now caused the death of seven innocent Christians. He also said that the government’s plan to celebrate August 11 as “Minorities’ Day” should be observed as a “Black Day” or “Day of Mourning” instead.

There are indications that the attack on Korian as well as on Gojra was planned and the people instigated by a banned Islamic group. Such extremist Islamic groups want to “purify” Pakistan by making it a strictly Islamic, theocratic state. Democracy is rejected as something Western and un-Islamic. Non-Muslims should either convert to Islam or leave the place. They want a sort of religious cleansing.

In describing the hatred and destruction it would be unfair not to mention and commend those Muslims who gave shelter to their terrified Christian neighbors or tried to help in other ways while the storm of hatred and destruction raged around them all. The government has announced compensation of Rs. 500,000 (US $ 5,250) for each of the affected families. The Chief Minister of Punjab province has also announced that he will visit Gojra on August 3 to condole with the Christian community there and to listen to their grievances.

What happened in Korian and Gojra was almost a replication of what had happened near Kasur a small city about 40 kilometers from Lahore only a month ago. Similarly, in 2005, in the town of Sangla Hill, Christian houses, two churches, the parish house, a high school and convent were ransacked and badly damaged. In 1987 a large Christian village called Shantinagar was reduced to ruins. In all these cases the police did almost nothing to stop the rampaging mobs. No doubt condolences, apologies and assurances pour in from officials and other citizens after the event. But the timely action required to prevent such incidents has always been missing.
+ Joseph Coutts
Bishop of Faisalabad

Parish travel in the Philippines

2009-07-23T09:13:00.001-05:00

I work in Santa Cruz parish in the Southern Philippines. It is situated between two towns, one of which, Tambulig, is in the diocese of Pagadian;, the other ,Bonafacio, is in the diocese of Ozamiz.. We have over 1800 Catholic families with 800 of those families living in six areas. Each of the six areas has its own church and its own primary school but is close enough, within a 15-minute drive or a 30-40 minute walk, to attend Sunday Mass in the little village of Liloan where there is a large church and community center.

The other 1000 families live up in the hills and grow coconuts, rice and bananas. They have twenty community churches, two of which are at the edge of the forest where tribal Filipinos live. The communities in the hills organize their own liturgies on Sundays and for the annual fiesta. They have their own prayer leaders, choir leaders, Eucharistic ministers and volunteer catechists, who teach religion for an hour every week in the other schools in the parish.

I try to visit these communities at lease twice a year – once when I have Mass and confessions in each school and once for the fiesta. The problem is getting up to these communities as there are no all-weather roads, just trails that have been leveled out by a bulldozer and a grader. Each rainy season the water pours down from the hills and makes deep canals in the roads. When it is raining the roads are impassable. In the dry season, I can drive in the parish truck to the foot of the hills where I am picked up on a motorcycle by someone from the community. Sometimes I just have to slush my way up through the water. When I feel like complaining, I remember the people who have to make the same trek each and every time they need to go shopping.

Submitted by Fr. Damien McKenna, July 2009

A Fascinating Adventure

2009-07-14T08:27:00.000-05:00

Mission has become a fascinating adventure, peppered with challenges that introduce me to a new people in a new culture in a new society. I'm pleasantly surprised every day.

The journey has its difficulties, but it is possible to walk with cheerful enthusiasm if we are willing to open our hearts to receive all the new things that God is giving us. There is always a fresh story that motivates me to continue, good news that renews my hope and strengthens my spirit and missionary vocation.

I enjoy the beautiful adventure of the mission that God has offered to me as a token of His love and trust. I live happily and am grateful for the welcome of the Filipino people, for the gift of their smiles, their meals, their liturgical celebrations; their sorrows and joys. Each experience shows me that God is alive among His people, among my friends and companions in the mission, and that God "hears the cry of His people and goes with them wherever they go."

Antonio J. Salas Villagómez is a Columban lay missionary in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur, the Philippines.

The Fun in Fundraisers

2009-06-29T15:15:00.001-05:00

“Frankly, any disease for which they have fundraisers is no fun.”

I heard that phrase as I was draining a large vat of noodles in the kitchen of a church hosting a spaghetti feed several years ago. The proceeds from the evening were going to a family that had three children battling cystic fibrosis. Even with good medical insurance and two working parents, the medical bills were piling up for the family, and their church family stepped in to help them out. Were their medical bills wiped out from the proceeds of the evening? I doubt it since we were charging $3.00 per plate, all one cared to eat, kids under 6 free.

Nonetheless, the event was a success. The family witnessed how many people from their church and local community would stand with them, assist them, pray for them. Sometimes a $3.00 plate of spaghetti satiates more than hunger. The act of coming together as a community, to comfort, aid, celebrate or mourn, feeds the soul.

Check the local paper for fundraisers in your community. While the reasons behind the fundraisers are never fun, the events themselves are a good opportunity to connect with neighbors, make new friends and renew our membership as kingdom people.

Kate Kenny is the managing editor of Columban Mission magazine.

Update: Peru

2009-06-22T14:13:00.001-05:00

Dozens of letters written by Columban missionaries and friends from the United States and around the world flowed into the Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach (CCAO) over the last week. The letters were a response to our action alert prompted by the violence in Bagua, Peru, over decrees enacted by the Peruvian government to comply with the Free Trade Agreement with the United States.

The CCAO office arranged a meeting with Minister Manuel Talavera, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Peruvian Embassy in Washington, D.C., on June 17. We delivered the letters and during our one hour meeting expressed our concern for the indigenous people of Peru. We specifically urged the Peruvian government to carefully consider the rights and needs of the indigenous people in future trade agreements and decrees through meaningful consultation processes with civil society.

After many months of protesting and violence leading to deaths, the decrees were finally repealed June 18, 2009. The Minister expressed the belief that dialogue would increase in the coming months between the government, NGOs, and the indigenous people as they develop new trade decrees. We will continue to carefully monitor this process and to engage the Peruvian government through the Embassy to respect the rights of the indigenous people and the common good.

Lomas del Poleo Update

2009-06-16T09:06:00.001-05:00

June 15, 2009

Dear Friends and Supporters of the Residents of Lomas del Poleo:

As always, thank you for the many ways you have been accompanying the people of Lomas: writing letters to Hilary Clinton and other officials, sharing the story with your friends and wider communities, financial support, and, above all, your prayers that the people will be safe, the Zaragozas and their minions converted and the land dispute resolved peacefully according to the constitution and laws of Mexico.

This past week there have been protests by the families and supporters of the primary school, Alfredo Nava Sahagun, at the Electrical Commission, CFE, demanding the transformer illegally removed by the Commission be restored: the link (in Spanish) follows but may have to be pasted into your browser.
http://www.diario.com.mx/nota.php?notaid=5860ac7c72697e8d6fc0870ace3410d2

The other protest was last week at the SEP (Secretaria Educacion Publica) demanding that the abuse, threats and direct violence of the brothers Jorge and Pedro Zaragoza against the school cease immediately. In particular, the action of one of the Supervisors of the Zone, Blassa Serrano, has tried to shut down the school and force the children to attend the school in the relocation zone, set up by the Zaragozas through their surrogates, the Municipal government of Juarez. Again, the link (in Spanish) follows:
http://www.diario.com.mx/nota.php?notaid=ebe9e84bbaf1e910c4481988872159b3

In an update from Foro Lomas del Poleo, Cristina and Juan Carlos report that Galilea Hernandez Zuniga, from the Alfredo Nava Sahagun Primary School in Lomas, won the First Prize in Academics in the western zone of the Juarez public school system. She is one of the 72 children who attend the school and face threats and harassment when they pass through the gates illegally controlled by the guards paid by Pedro and Jorge Zaragoza Fuentes.

On Monday, June 8, 2009 I spoke to City Representative Beto O'Rourke's weekly community meeting. It was a small group but very interested in and sympathetic to the plight of the Lomas residents when they heard the story. We are visiting the City Councilors to ask their their support for a City Council Resolution condemning the violence and demanding the situation be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the law. Rep. Steve Ortega has invited me to be a guest on the radio program he hosts this Wednesday, June 17, 2009, between 2:30 and 4:00 p.m CDT. I believe there is a call-in period, so if you want to offer support or enlightenment to the wider El Paso community, please call.

Finally, on Tuesday, June 16, the residents are going down to Chihuahua to the Agrarian Tribunal for their audience. Please keep them and their legal team in your prayers.

Gracias,
Father Bill Morton, SSC

Climate Change: the agenda for mission today

2009-06-15T11:46:00.000-05:00

Columban Father Patrick McMullan recently edited and published the book Climate Change: the agenda for mission today. The book contains the edited versions of the papers and reports given at the Columban International Conference on Climate Change held in Manila, the Philippines, on September 23-29, 2007.

An excerpt from the introduction by Fr. McMullan of Climate Change: the agenda for mission today:

The claim that climate change is the agenda for mission is, to say the very least, controversial. Yet, in two senses that is precisely the claim made in the title of this book. Firstly, climate change is the lens through which we must now understand the significance and importance of Christian mission. Secondly, climate change is the agenda which takes precedence over other mission agendas. The task, one which we must acknowledge is in its infancy, is to articulate a coherent and grounded theology that takes climate change as its primary data. This book, Climate Change: the agenda for mission today, is but a modest start in the task of creating a fundamental shift in the understanding of mission.

The book is available for purchase at www.missionagenda.com for US $20.00 and includes postage and handling.

Summer Vacation

2009-06-10T12:36:00.001-05:00

For students, the end of May marks three glorious months of freedom from school – no homework, no rushing to catch the bus in the morning, no cramming for finals. Many high school and college students planned to work this summer. Unfortunately, the current recession has eroded job possibilities for students along with the regular, full-time work force. These students face a summer without a paycheck in sight and a 2009-2010 academic year that will feel the financial pinch.

If students aren’t working this summer, what options are open to them? They need something constructive to do with their time to give purpose to their days and keep them out of trouble. I’m proud to say that I know several teenagers who developed new opportunities when they were unable to find paying work.

One young lady is volunteering at a nursing home by starting a book club for residents. One young man is mowing lawns, for free, for several senior citizens on fixed incomes. Another teenage girl is volunteering at a local animal shelter. They won’t collect one paycheck for their work all summer long, but the return on their investment, in others and their communities, should pay dividends for their entire lives.

Kate Kenny, managing editor, Columban Mission magazine

2009 World Environment Day

2009-06-01T11:15:00.001-05:00

June 5th, 2009 is World Environment Day!

World Environment Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 and has been commemorated in a different city each year with an international exposition through the week of June 5. Mexico is hosting the events this year.Please find a prayer for the day at: http://jpicformation.wikispaces.com/

The prayer was developed by members of the USG/UISG Commission for Justice Peace and Integrity of Creation in Rome. The adaptation and use of this prayer in any ministry setting is encouraged. Please feel free to distribute the prayer widely as well.

Remembering Tiananmen Square

2009-05-29T11:44:00.001-05:00

People will flock to Victoria Park in Causeway Bay on June 4 to burn candles in honor of those who died in the Tiananmen Square Massacre twenty years ago. Cautious expectations that China was on the verge of some democratic change in 1989 were shattered by early morning gunfire as the Chinese government rolled its tanks into the students, workers, journalists, government officials and people from all walks of life who were calling for reform and an end to corruption.

Thousands gathered in the rain on the evening of June 3 as news filtered into Hong Kong that there was trouble in Tiananmen. On June 4, the extent of the horror was broadcast around the globe. On each succeeding anniversary, the memories of those who died have been honored at a candlelight vigil organized by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.

Today, the true death toll of Tiananmen is still unknown. People involved in the pro-democracy movement are still in exile while others are in prison. Families of the victims are still denied the opportunity to mourn their dead, and a group gathered under the collective, Tiananmen Mothers, is harassed and kept under surveillance.

With its current political clout, China can buy the silence of foreign governments and societies.
China adopted economic reform in 1978, but without political reform to safeguard the rule of law, only those in power benefited from it. As long as the economy is used as justification for human rights abuses, candles will continue to burn for the victims, not only in Victoria Park, but in the hearts of millions worldwide.

Columban Fr. Jim Mulroney who is living and working in Hong Kong provided this update.

Bored Media Syndrome

2009-05-22T09:43:00.000-05:00

We are a global world. News coverage of any event is instantaneous. Thanks to the internet, a dowdy, middle-aged female in the United Kingdom became an overnight YouTube sensation worldwide and appears to be well on her way to an entirely new lifestyle. When a typhoon struck Myanmar, the rest of the world heard about it and geared up to send aid within hours.

The communication technologies available today make helping our global neighbors easier than at any other time in history. However, with this amazing gift of technology comes responsibility. Just a couple of weeks ago, a new strain of flu with the current moniker H1N1 struck in Mexico. Within hours, the rest of the world knew about it. Over the course of the next several days, news agencies were posting almost minute by minute updates of outbreaks around the world. Every time the CDC raised the awareness level, the news was transmitted. Many news anchors used the phrase, “I don’t want to freak out anyone,” while continuing to report on the possibilities of a global pandemic.

Fortunately, it appears as though the H1N1 will be milder than previously reported. The rate of infection is slowing, and Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak, is slowly returning to normal. While the virus could always morph into something else, it appears as though the world will be able to handle it with current stocks of antiviral medication.

However, I do wonder if the pandemic hysteria might have been avoided if the world hadn’t been bombarded with minute by minute updates about the spread of the virus. Perhaps if news anchors hadn’t continually used the phrase “freak out,” my local superstore wouldn’t have run out of hand sanitizer. I would like to think that the media wasn’t bored and looking for something that would whip the world into a frenzy. I would like to believe that helping people was at the forefront of the reporting and not ratings.

And just once, I would like to see the same sort of attention paid to the winner of the local spelling bee, the teacher who retired after 45 years teaching second grade or the young man who mowed lawns during the summer to pay for college.

Connie Wacha, Communications/Mission Education Associate, The Columban Fathers

"War is always a defeat for humanity."

2009-05-18T10:33:00.000-05:00

“War is always a defeat for humanity.”
--Pope John Paul II

At www.nationalpriorities.org, you can see the up to the minute cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Furthermore, you can find out how much money your state has spent on war spending since 2001 and what that money could have purchased in other areas.

The following information is for the state of Nebraska as of May 8, 2009:

Taxpayers in Nebraska will pay $6.5 billion for total Iraq & Afghanistan war spending (approved & pending) since 2001. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:

1,795,978 People with Health Care for One Year OR
6,136,815 Homes with Renewable Electricity for One Year OR
157,386 Public Safety Officers for One year OR
110,641 Music and Arts Teachers for One Year OR
1,111,924 Scholarships for University Students for One Year OR
1,219,375 Students receiving Pell Grants of $5350 OR
72,712 Affordable Housing Units OR
2,393,238 Children with Health Care for One Year OR
929,163 Head Start Places for Children for One Year OR
121,597 Elementary School Teachers for One Year OR
104,274 Port Container Inspectors for One year

How could your state have spent the money?

Sr. Jeanne Janssen, CSJ, Communications/Mission Education Director, The Columban Fathers

Dancing for the World

2009-05-11T11:31:00.002-05:00

Dancing for the World presents Crossroads 2009, an evening of cultural presentations of music and dance from countries where the Columban Fathers serve.

When: July 19, 2009, 6 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.

Where: Friendship Auditorium, 3201 Riverside Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90027

Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m., and the dance program will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are available at the Columban Mission House, 2600 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027.

For more information, please call 323.665.4289 or 213.422.7598

--Ariel Presbitero, Columban Mission Outreach Coordinator, Los Angeles, CA

The Mother’s Day Squirrel

2009-05-07T08:21:00.001-05:00

Mother’s Day falls on Sunday, May 10, 2009 in the U.S. this year. Mother’s Day was founded in 1912 by Anna Jarvis, two years after her mother’s death. By 1914, Mother’s Day was a nationally recognized holiday. It was U.S. President Woodrow Wilson who signed the bill into law. Miss Jarvis was very specific about the meaning of the holiday. She meant for each family to honor their mother not to commemorate all mothers in the world.

In 1972, my husband purchased a decorative squirrel with intriguing rhinestone eyes at a garage sale for his mom for Mother’s Day. I believe the purchase price was one nickel which might have been a bit high given the artistic quality of the animal. The squirrel has a place of honor in the china cabinet nestled securely among the stemware. My mother-in-law holds no affection for squirrels in general but stated that if the house were to catch on fire, she’d grab the squirrel on her way out. Why? The squirrel was given by a young boy to the mom he loved.

Fast forward to Mother’s Day 2008, and my five year old son gave me a concrete squirrel festooned with rhinestones and glitter. I’m hoping to receive another one this year and turn them into bookends.

Some people give chocolates and flowers to their mothers on Mother’s Day. We give decorative squirrels. The gifts and customs may differ by age, gender and financial means, but they help us convey our affection and gratitude to the women of our families.

Kate Kenny, Managing Editor, Columban Mission magazine

Middle School Promotion

2009-04-28T09:09:00.001-05:00

I recently received an eighth grade promotion announcement in the mail. Quite frankly, it has me a bit stymied. The ceremony used to be called eighth grade graduation, and I gather that both parents and educators are endeavoring to move away from the graduation aspect of the exercise. While many young people may be unable to pursue college degrees due to cost or poor academic achievement, in the U.S. everyone is expected to attend high school. Fortunately the days of heading off to the coal mine or other full-time employment after completing eighth grade are well behind us.

Sadly, not all fourteen year olds are feted with cake and presents after eighth grade. Young people across the globe are forced to leave school due to economic, political and social concerns at young ages. Many of them go to work often in dangerous fields. The young girls may get married and become completely reliant on their husbands. Whatever their circumstances, their potential is stunted which is a sad fact that everyone should mourn.

I will celebrate the achievements of the newly minted middle school graduate, mark the occasion with a card and give thanks that she will be going to high school in three months. I will give thanks that she has the opportunity to take Latin, algebra, English and biology even though she may very well dislike some of her classes. I will give thanks that her biggest complaint about junior high was the fact that her mom didn’t let her wear make-up.

And I will pray for all children who are forced to leave school without completing their educations due to circumstances beyond their control.

In Memory of Cardinal Kim Suhwan

2009-04-21T10:18:00.000-05:00

In Memory of Cardinal Kim Suhwan

Dust of snow,
a wind that chills to the bone,
pinched mourning faces,
collars raised, hats pulled low,
the shiver of death everywhere.
Cardinal Kim Suhwan
is lowered to his final resting place.

He brought forth simplicity,
a water simplicity that quickened
every root it touched.
He brought forth patience,
a medicament patience that salved
the wounds of the poor.
He brought forth compassion,
a loving compassion that embraced the world.
Simplicity, patience, compassion,
these three:
timber for a master carpenter,
clay for a master potter,
the hub of a master priest’s wheel.
“If you bring forth what is inside,
what you bring forth will save.”

Fr. Kevin O'Rourke

A poem for Fr. Noel Ryan

2009-04-13T13:20:00.000-05:00

Death Song –
After a poem by the Koryo monk Ch’ungji

Seventy years have passed;
now all is consummated.
The road home is smooth;
there will be no more pain.
Your faith and the love of your friends
is all you carry, but it is enough.
For our part memory assuages,
a medicament that cannot be bought
for a thousand pieces of gold.

2009 Ecumenical Advocacy Days Conference in Washington, D.C.

2009-04-06T08:42:00.000-05:00

On Friday March 13th 2009, over 700 people from almost every Christian denomination gathered at the Hilton Alexandria Center in Washington for the annual Ecumenical Advocacy Event. The theme for 2009 was climate change. The event began with a prayer service focused on God’s creation. The opening meditation traced both the emergent journey of the Cosmos during the past 13.7 billion years and highlighted the contemporary challenge to protect creation which is so wantonly being destroyed in many parts of the world. The opening prayer captured the theme of the celebration. O Eternal Wisdom, who laid the foundations of the earth, and breathed life into every creature, creating us in our variety to cherish your world and seek your face: we praise you and give you thanks for your abundant love towards this earth violated with our injustice and polluted by our sin.

The gospel reading was from John 10: 1-18 celebrating the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Jesus tells us that “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” (Jn. 10:10). I was asked to preach and attempted to link climate change with the gospel of Jesus. I recalled that Christians are called like Jesus to be truth tellers. In order to be authentic truth tellers in relation to climate change we need to listen to the voice of scientists especially those associated with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). They argue that the climate change we are now experiencing goes beyond the range of natural fluctuation and that it is caused by human activity, particularly the burning of fossil fuel. Furthermore, they are telling us that unless we drastically reduce the amount of carbon dioxide which we are emitting the consequences, in terms of extreme weather, melting of glaciers and significant rise in sea-levels, will be horrific, especially for the poor, who have done least to cause the problem. In such a rundown and depleted world, life to the full would not be possible for the vast majority of people.

During Saturday and Sunday a variety of seminars took place on the theme of Economic Justice particular as it charts how climate change is affecting the poor. On Saturday afternoon I led a seminar on how climate change and other ecological issues such as deforestation and currently mining are having a detrimental impact on the ecosystems and habitat in the Philippines.

On Saturday evening and Sunday morning each denomination celebrated their liturgy. The Presider at the Catholic Eucharist was Rev. Msgr. Raymond East, Executive Director, Office of Black Catholics, Archdiocese of Washington, DC. On Sunday afternoon, in collaboration with Sister Miriam Therese MacGillis, OP, Genesis Farm, I attempted to tease out how ecological issues, such as climate change are challenging many of the assumptions of contemporary economics. Most basic of all, can we still promote economic growth even though we are living on a planet with both finite resources and a limited ability to absorb high levels of human-generated pollution?

On Monday the participants headed for the U.S. Congress to lobby their Congress Men and Women and Senators on the urgency of framing effective legislation on climate change. The baseline request was that legislation be enacted which would ensure that the earth’s temperature does not increase by more than 2 o Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

I visited with both Republican and Democrat Congress people and Senators from areas of the country were Columbans were living and ministering. I was accompanied by staff and interns from the Columban Justice and Peace Office in Washington who had researched how conversant a particular lawmaker was on issues of climate change. I found that the spectrum ran from those who were still sceptical about whether climate change was being caused by human activity to those who were actively promoting climate legislation.

As a Missionary Society that works among the poor, we decided to focus on two aspects of climate change: The International Adaptation measures which will be necessary to help poor people cope with the changes which are already in the pipeline due to climate change and, secondly, climate refugees whose habitat will be destroyed by rising oceans levels or melting glaciers. Even Senator Whitehouse’s staff, who are active in framing legislation, were not focusing on these aspects of climate change, and therefore were very open to receiving first-hand stories and data from Columban missionaries so that these elements are addressed in any legislation. Such Advocacy is one way to shine the light of the Gospel on contemporary issues.

Fr. Sean McDonagh, SSC

Cell phones, solar power and the deserts of Pakistan

2009-04-01T10:16:00.001-05:00

Columban Fr. Tomas King is living and working in Pakistan. He provided the following information about cell phone use in the desert:

I was recently out in a place called Nagar Parkar, an area that comes under Columban commitment. It's near the desert. The town of Nagar itself is developing, but there are still many isolated villages. However, they do have mobile phone and wireless phone access. I asked a guy who has both a mobile phone and wireless phone acces and whose village is many miles from electricity how he recharged his batteries. So he pointed to the roof of his mud house, where he had a solar panel which generated 12 volts, enough to charge the batteries.

Mobile masts are everywhere while there's a great shortage of clinics and schools. That said, I think mobile phones are about the most genuinely democratic thing to happen to this country.

Releant Radio

2009-03-26T09:42:00.001-05:00

On April 15, 2009 Columban Associate Sr. Colleen Nolan, OP, will be a guest speaker on a local Chicago area show on Releant Radio at 9:30 a.m. 950 AM. For those in the Chicago area, Colleen and Sister Madge Karecki, Director of the Catholic Mission Office in the Archdiocese of Chicago, and Maureen, Associate Director and coordinator of the Holy Childhood Association will be speaking about Mission and Global Awareness. They will talk about initiatives in mission they are presently working on especially in the area of mission education.

No Fear, All Faith

2009-03-19T13:47:00.000-05:00

The German-American theologian Paul Tillich (August 20, 1886 – October 20, 1965) wrote that “fear is the absence of faith.” During this global economic collapse, when it seems like everyone is afraid, I wonder how Tillich would respond.

Even during economic boom times, most of us fear losing our jobs, our health insurance or our ability to provide food, clothing and shelter for ourselves and our children. In response to fear bred by economic uncertainty, the American public is saving at higher rates, consuming less and looking for ways to cut their spending. In addition, communities are working together to help those who just can not pay their bills and put food on the table.

Is this the silver lining? The renewed sense of community and purpose? An invitation to the table that holds fewer material goods but more spiritual ones and opportunities for fellowship?

My church received two dozen new members on Sunday. Twenty-four men, women and children made a public proclamation of faith, of their desire to help build God’s kingdom, of their commitment to helping others. No fear – all faith.

Kate Kenny, managing editor, Columban Mission magazine

Preda Award

2009-03-16T08:08:00.000-05:00

Meteor Music Gives Humanitarian Award to PREDA.

PREDA has been awarded the Ireland Humanitarian Award from Meteor Music in recognition of the importance of their work in combating child abuse, trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors and youth. On St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2009, the award will be presented to Columban Fr. Shay Cullen.

A few of the previous winners of this award were: Sir Elton John for his AIDS foundation; Christina Noble for her work with street children in Vietnam and Mongolia; Bono who donated it to Goal and Concern; Sister Stanislaus Kennedy for her work with immigrants and children in Ireland; Adi Roche for her work with the children of Chernobyl.

For more information about PREDA, please visit:

http://www.preda.org

Border Exposure Trip, March 12-17, 2009

2009-03-09T09:03:00.000-05:00

“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things - air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky - all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.”
--Cesare Pavese

On March 12, 2009, I am leaving Omaha, Nebraska for El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico. Three fellow Columban employees are going on the trip as well. We are participating in the Society’s Border Exposure Experience, a cross-cultural mission trip designed to introduce people to Columbans, our mission and the people we serve. The program is new in 2009, and we’re working out the logistical kinks by sending members of the home team on the first trip to the Border.

We go without expectations, trusting in God’s plan (and the itinerary provided by Columbans in the area). I’ll post an update and perhaps a photo or two after our return on 3/17.

Kate Kenny, managing editor, Columban Mission magazine

A 100th Birthday Celebration

2009-03-06T11:02:00.003-06:00

On February 7, 2009, Daniel Hoare, father of Columban Father Frank Hoare, celebrated his 100th birthday. Fr. Frank celebrated the Mass and dedicated his homily to his father on the most unique and joyful birthday occasion.

After Mass, the group had lunch in a pub beside the church where the publican asked Mr. Hoare to have a photo taken as he pulled a pint. After pulling the pint, Mr. Hoare asked, "Anyone else for one?"

Congratulations to the entire Hoare family on the extraordinary gift of Daniel Hoare’s 100th birthday.

Fr. Frank Hoare currently is working in Myanmar where he has experienced a warm welcome from the people.

Entering, Eating and Breaking

2009-03-02T09:08:00.002-06:00

Recently I perpetrated a new crime: Entering, Eating, Breaking and Being Caught Red-Handed! No one would accuse me of being a criminal mastermind after the events transpired.

It happened when I was on a two-week Columban Mission magazine promotion in Mt. Vernon, Washington. Mt. Vernon is north of Seattle, Washington, and has a cluster of parishes with one pastor, Fr. Martin Bourke. Fr. Bourke is a former Columban, a friend of mine and very kind. My first weekend would be in St. Elizabeth parish, several miles from where Fr. Bourke resides.

Prior to my trip, Martin mailed me the keys to the church and the rectory in case the resident priest might take a holiday since I would be celebrating all the Masses that weekend. I arrived in the rain and visited the empty church. I then asked the only person in sight which house was the rectory. He confidently pointed across the street and said “the white house.” I was surprised to find the door open and the house empty. The bedroom on the left, which Fr. Bourke said would be mine for the weekend, had an unmade bed as did the bedroom on the right. Having lived with other priests for so many years, I just smiled. Failing to find any bed linen, I decided to take the chance that the last occupant didn’t have anything contagious.

I would have loved a cup of coffee but had to settle for a tea bag and cup of water heated in the microwave. I also treated myself to a good slice of pumpkin pie that I found in the refrigerator. Then, I did something I hadn’t done in sixty years. I dropped the cup, and it shattered into many pieces. Since it didn’t appear to be part of a set, I decided the best solution was to collect the fragments and put them in my car. Having dabbled in Cannon Law, I knew the danger of habeas corpus.

I looked around and found a widescreen television, so I sat down to watch a golf tournament. After about an hour, my entertainment was disturbed by a young couple. Initially they were quite angry to find a stranger in their home, watching their television. However, after I explained the mix up, they were very understanding and friendly even though they were not Catholic. We had a good laugh before they directed me to the red brick rectory three doors down.

Later in the evening they arrived at the rectory with the sandwich and fries that I had left in their refrigerator. We laughed again, exchanged business cards, shook hands and went our separate ways. It is fortunate they didn’t call the police when they found me in their home. I’m not sure how a police officer would ticket me for eating their pie!

As a missionary who constantly meets new people in new places, I have found that a good laugh, sometimes at my own expense, is a special grace. -- Fr. Peter Kenny, March 2009

South Korea mourns the father of democracy

2009-02-23T10:47:00.000-06:00

South Korea paused to mourn the former archbishop of Seoul, Stephen Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan, who died quietly of old age on February 13, 2009. As the body of the 86-year-old cardinal lay in state in the church, over 400,000 people filed past to bid their last farewell.

Widely revered as the custodian of human rights in South Korea, Cardinal Kim had a further vision, democracy. “The will of the people is the will of God, and the will of the people is for democracy,” become his mantra.

Born in Taegu in May 1922, while Korea was under Japanese rule, Cardinal Kim was conscripted into military service by the occupying power during WWII but went to the seminary immediately upon discharge and was later ordained a priest in 1951. He ministered during the Korean War and then watched as his country’s newly-won national freedom was squandered by a series of corrupt and incompetent governments, culminating in the ousting of Rhee Syngman as president in April 1960.

Worldwide fame never sat easily with Cardinal Kim. In is autobiography, he reveals a humble man of doubt. He denies that he was at the forefront of the democracy movement and writes, “I tended to tell the younger priests not to keep holding the emergency prayer meetings.” He then adds, “Rumours that I was the godfather of the Catholic Priests Association for Justice were mistaken.”

Credited as a key influence in bringing an end to the violent government crackdown on the Democratization Movement in Kwanju in May 1980, Cardinal Kim writes, “When someone asks me if I did all I could at that time, I don’t have the confidence to say I did. If I’m then asked if I did nothing, I want to say I worked in my own way to stop what happened.”

Following his retirement in 1998, Cardinal Kim could be found at the Demilitarized Zone, offering Mass for reunification of a people separated by the concrete symbol of a divided country. His concern for the people of North Korea was life-long, constantly saying, “We need to be ready to help North Korea’s people, in any form and in any way, to realize our national aspiration, reunification.”

Priests working in the archdiocese of Seoul say that the Church did indeed grow prolifically under his care. The quiet leadership of what they describe as a gracious and graced man injected a spirit among the people which saw the aspirations of the council take root.

May he rest in peace.

Fr. Jim Mulroney, Hong Kong

After the fire, opportunities abound in Australia

2009-02-18T08:05:00.000-06:00

Kevin Rudd, prime minister of Australia, addressed the national parliament as thousands of homes in the far north lay submerged under murky flood waters and the south was engulfed in a blazing ring of fire.

His government’s response revealed the magnitude of human suffering, as he outlined programs to address everything from providing toothbrushes for immediate use to rebuilding community structures down to trauma counselling and helping people verify their very identities.

Rudd spoke of “the rolling miracle of the Australian volunteer community, of the Church and charitable sector, this great army of people immediately comes and is there, without complaint, without request for anything in particular… An extraordinary testament to the Church and the charitable communities…”

Father Frank Marriott, from the fire-struck city of Bendigo, is calling for a renewed commitment to the biblical call to stewardship. “We have had fires before and have not learned,” he recalled. He said that 80 homes were destroyed in his city and one man died, but as he reflected on the cure of the lepers in the gospel for February 15, he wondered if the fires are the leprosy of modern Australia.

“In the beginning, the touch of Jesus healed the leprosy,” he reflected. “But as stewards of creation, we learned how to cure and prevent the disease. We need to be good stewards of creation for our environment too,” he went on. “We must use our brains to find a way to live with the threat and the terror of fire.”

Australians know that their country will always burn. Its unique flora demands it. Some plants require heat and smoke to release their seeds and its prolific eucalypts need fire to generate new growth. “As stewards of creation we need to figure out ways to live with this,” Father Marriott said. “Actually, we already know how to do things, but without the healing touch of the Lord, we misuse them to satisfy our desires.” He explained, “We need to be sensitive to the touch of the Lord in the fires. We can learn how to live with them too.”

Father Marriott prayed that this tragedy may sensitize us to the touch of the Lord, which is so necessary to begin the process of healing.

Fr. Jim Mulroney submitted this update from the Columban office in Hong Kong.

Fr. Ollie C. Kennedy Retirement

2009-02-12T11:46:00.001-06:00

On February 9, 2009, the Missionary Society of St. Columban feted Fr. Ollie C. Kennedy with a retirement celebration. After ordination Fr. Kennedy was assigned to Burma (now Myanmar). Unfortunately, when he arrived, no visas were being granted. He then went to Korea until the war forced him to Japan. Fr. Kennedy went back to Korea after the war and then on to Jamaica. After Jamaica, Fr. Kennedy was assigned to the U.S. mission office in St. Columbans, Nebraska, where he served for thirty-three years in numerous capacities.

Fr. Kennedy continues to work in the office before his departure for Bristol, Rhode Island in Spring 2009. Fr. Kennedy’s cheerful greetings, his dignified bearing and gallant manner will be missed in the halls of the house and the mission office.

L-R in the photo: Jeff Norton, Fr. Ollie C. Kennedy, Fr. Arturo Aguilar at the retirement celebration.

Summer Youth Mission Experience

2009-02-06T09:42:00.000-06:00

The Missionary Society of St. Columban is proud to announce our co-sponsorship of the Summer Youth Mission Experience (SYME).

The Summer Youth Mission Experience (SYME) is intended for both youths and adults who would like to immerse themselves in border issues and immigration issues through the lens of Catholic social teaching without traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border. The program has been co-sponsored by the Diocese of Gaylord, the Missionary Society of St. Columban and the Justice and Peace Awareness Center of Traverse City, Michigan.

The Summer Youth Mission Experience will be offered twice during 2009:
Sunday, July 5 - Thursday, July 9, 2009
Sunday, August 16 - Thursday, August 20, 2009

You may have noticed that immigration issues are an important concern to the Obama administration. Experiencing SYME will put you right at the interface between Catholic Social Teaching and headline news!

For more information, please contact:

Reverend Wayne DziekanSecretariat for Justice and Peace
wdziekan@dioceseofgaylord.org
Diocese of Gaylord611 West North St.Gaylord, MI 49735
Cell #: 231-409-1387
www.dioceseofgaylord.org

The Food Bank

2009-02-02T09:28:00.002-06:00

One of my mother’s most often used phrases during my childhood was “Eat that. Children are starving in China.” Apparently, children in China would have been thankful for my uneaten lima beans and would not have suggested to their mothers that they would have preferred corn.

Fast forward to 2009, and I am the mother shaking her head over my kids’ eating habits. Unlike my mother, I do not tell Andrew and Beth that children starving in China would like their vegetables. Times have changed, and I could list Darfur, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe or any number of countries with starving children. Or, I could say that kids in their own hometown, Omaha, Nebraska, are hungry when they go to bed.

In the end, I don’t say anything about anyone starving. I leave that to another more age appropriate time. I scrape the plates into the trash wondering why they didn’t eat the nutritious yet delicious (ok, average tasting) meat loaf I prepared. And when everyone is tucked in safe and sound for the night, I write a check to my local food bank and give thanks for all that I have been given.

And then I call my mom and apologize for my misguided, failed and ultimately smelly attempt to mail lima beans to China in 1975.

Kate Kenny is the managing editor of Columban Mission magazine.

Flowers in the Desert

2009-01-26T09:56:00.001-06:00

I would like to take this opportunity to direct you to the blog written by David and Anna Draper, Columban lay missionaries in Chile. Their blog is www.flowersinthedesertblog.blogspot.com and details their personal and professional lives in Chile.

Their posts are open, honest and personal and provide an excellent glimpse into the life of a young married missionary couple. David and Anna recently became parents to son Joshua whose cuteness defies a written description.

Check out their blog. You’ll be glad you spent some time with them.

Kate Kenny, managing editor Columban Mission magazine

President Barack Obama

2009-01-20T09:45:00.002-06:00

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. day on January 19, 2009, the Columban office in Omaha, Nebraska was closed. Yesterday we celebrated the life of a man dedicated to social justice whose mission was far from complete when he was assassinated.

And today, January 20, 2009, president-elect Obama will become President Obama, the 44th President of the United States and the first African American president in our history. Certainly Rev. King would have been proud to see the election of President Obama.

President Obama’s official mission begins today. Let us wish him well as he begins the journey.

Kate Kenny, Managing Editor, Columban Mission magazine

The Knowing

2009-01-12T08:51:00.001-06:00

The Knowing
by Roseanna Walters

I am a river flowing through life – endlessly, effortlessly without strife.

Life is a river flowing through me – endlessly, effortlessly into the sea.

“I Am that I Am,” gurgled the river to life, “sometimes cutting through that
Which can feel like a knife.”

Cutting away the grief and despair – opening up to the light and the air.

The Light to see and the air to breathe.

Opening up the Heart to perceive, that the I Am that I am is all that there is.

This is all there is is more than enough, and so it will be – life flowing
From you back into me.

From me to the sea again and again.

On and on – without end.

Roseanna Walters is a Columban associate working in the Omaha, Nebraska office.

JPIC Action Alert

2009-01-05T13:14:00.000-06:00

January 2, 2009

THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON THE HOLY LAND IS ENGULFED IN VIOLENCE:
URGE PRESIDENT BUSH TO HELP NEGOTIATE A CEASEFIRE NOW

TAKE ACTION NOW! Visit the CRS Action Center now to contact President Bush and urge him to send a high level personal representative to the Holy Land immediately to help negotiate a ceasefire and ensure that the people of Gaza receive humanitarian assistance.

WHAT IS THE CURRENT SITUATION IN THE HOLY LAND? Escalating violence between Hamas, the Palestinian party that controls Gaza, and Israel has caused death, destruction and great suffering in recent days among Israelis and Palestinian civilians. Unjustified rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and the disproportionate Israeli military actions causing unacceptable casualties among Palestinian civilians will have serious negative effects on any progress in peace negotiations and risk a wider war.

WHY SHOULD CATHOLICS CARE ABOUT THE HOLY LAND? Our Catholic faith teaches us to be peacemakers. The U.S. Bishops wrote in The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our Response, “Peacemaking is not an optional commitment. It is a requirement of our faith. We are called to be peacemakers, not by some movement of the moment, but by our Lord Jesus.”

Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has called on the international community to help Israelis and Palestinians to discard the “dead end” of violence and pursue instead “the path of dialogue and negotiations.” Immediate, visible and decisive U.S. leadership is urgently needed.
In a December 30 letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, Chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), wrote:

“At a time when the attention of Christians is drawn naturally to the birthplace of the Prince of Peace, it is tragic that innocent civilians are once again the victims of armed conflict and a humanitarian crisis.” A ceasefire and humanitarian relief are indispensable initial steps on the road to a two-state solution—a secure Israel living in peace with a viable Palestinian state—with justice and peace for both peoples.”

WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH DOING TO PROMOTE PEACE IN THE HOLY LAND? In 2005, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) launched the Catholic Campaign for Peace in the Holy Land. The campaign’s goal is to create a shared commitment to the broad outlines of a just resolution of the conflict and to raise a united voice with policy makers and the wider public. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has worked in the Holy Land for nearly half a century, supporting peace with justice for all people, while responding to the humanitarian and sustainable development needs of Palestinians.

Together, USCCB and CRS are advocating for stronger U.S. leadership to hold both parties to the conflict accountable in building a just peace. We also support U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority to increase its ability to govern as well as urgently needed humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people.

For more information contact:
Dr. Stephen Colecchi, Director, USCCB Office of International Justice and Peace, scolecchi@usccb.org, 202-541-3196
Tina Rodousakis, Grassroots Advocacy Manager, CRS, trodousa@crs.org; (410) 951-7462

Committee on International Justice and Peace
3211 FOURTH STREET NE • WASHINGTON DC 20017-1194 • 202-541-3160
WEBSITE: WWW.USCCB.ORG/JPHD • FAX 202-541-3339

December 30, 2008

The Honorable Dr. Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Secretary Rice:

As Chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, I urge you to take immediate action to help end the escalation of violence between Hamas and Israel. The rocket attacks on Israel must be stopped, and Israel’s military attacks on Gaza halted. Our Conference believes that more than words are needed. We ask you to urge the President to send a high level personal representative to the region immediately to help negotiate a ceasefire and make provision for humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

The toll in human deaths and suffering, the negative effects on progress in negotiations for peace and the risks of wider war caused by this escalation of violence cannot be allowed to continue. Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has called on the international community to help Israelis and Palestinians to discard the “dead end” of violence and pursue instead “the path of dialogue and negotiations.” Immediate, visible and decisive U.S. leadership is urgently needed.

Our Conference will encourage Catholics to support active U.S. engagement to achieve a ceasefire and we are prepared to do whatever we can to be helpful to efforts to halt the violence and restore progress toward peace.

At a time when the attention of Christians is drawn naturally to the birthplace of the Prince of Peace, it is tragic that innocent civilians are once again the victims of armed conflict and a humanitarian crisis. A ceasefire and humanitarian relief are indispensable initial steps on the road to a two-state solution—a secure Israel living in peace with a viable Palestinian state—with justice and peace for both peoples.

Sincerely yours,

Most Reverend Howard J. Hubbard

Bishop of Albany
Chairman, Committee on International Justice and Peace

Join UNIFEM's Campaign to End Violence Against Women

2009-01-05T11:18:00.001-06:00

Statistics indicate that one in three women will be the victim of violence in her lifetime. Violence against women can include beatings, coerced sex or other forms of abuse. It is a universal problem that devastates lives, fractures communities and impedes development.

Violence against women and girls continues unabated in every continent, country and culture. It takes a devastating toll on women's lives, on their families, and on society as a whole. Most societies prohibit such violence — yet the reality is that too often, it is covered up or tacitly condoned. — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, 8 March 2007

Currently UNIFEM is collecting signatures online in a campaign to Say No To Violence. The goal is to deliver one million signatures to the Secretary General on November 25 in order to send a strong message to the world's decision makers that ending violence against women should be a top priority in the global agenda.

Action: Add your voice to this campaign by signing on at: http://www.saynotoviolence.org/

Background Information:

Statistics paint a horrifying picture of the social and health consequences of violence against women. For women aged 15 to 44 years, violence is a major cause of death and disability. In a 1994 study based on World Bank data about ten selected risk factors facing women in this age group, rape and domestic violence rated higher than cancer, motor vehicle accidents, war and malaria.

The economic cost of violence against women is considerable. A 2003 report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the costs of intimate partner violence in the United States alone exceed US$5.8 billion per year: US$4.1 billion are for direct medical and health care services, while productivity losses account for nearly US$1.8 billion. Violence against women impoverishes individuals, families and communities, reducing the economic development of each nation.

In many societies, rape victims, women suspected of engaging in premarital sex, and women accused of adultery have been murdered by their relatives because the violation of a woman's chastity is viewed as an affront to the family's honor. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that the annual world-wide number of "honor killing" victims may be as high as 5000 women.

Women's bodies have become part of the battleground for those who use terror as a tactic of war. Women are raped, abducted, humiliated and made to endure forced pregnancy, sexual abuse and slavery. Violence against women during or after armed conflicts has been reported in every international or non-international war-zone, including Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Peru, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Chechnya/Russian Federation, Darfur, Sudan, northern Uganda and the former Yugoslavia.

Several studies have revealed increasing links between violence against women and HIV/AIDS. Women who have experienced violence are at a higher risk of HIV infection. A survey among 1,366 South African women showed that women who were beaten by their partners were 48 percent more likely to be infected with HIV than those who were not victims of battery.

For further information:

www.unifem.org
www.who.int/gender/violence
www.un.org/womenwatch/directory/violence_against_women_3004.htm
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/ViolenceAgainstWomen.aspx

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

2008-12-29T11:28:00.001-06:00

Whereas, recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. Whereas, disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people.

These opening words of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, whose 60th anniversary we celebrate this year, help us to understand the dignity and value of the human person. They were first said in 1948 after the most vicious of inhuman atrocities on a scale never before endured by the human species.It was just after the horrors of WWII that the nations of the world realized the evil that had been perpetrated on millions of innocent people. The unspeakable horrors of torture, genocide, and mass murder are the shocking evidence that human beings are a flawed and dangerous species capable of the destruction of their entire species, every other species and even the planet itself.

The human race came together in 1948 to say never again would such atrocities be allowed to rise unchallenged or occur with impunity. Once the universal rights of the individual were established "once and for all," they would be protected and defended by all nations who declared they would honor and uphold them. Unfortunately, the rule of law and respect for the individual are weak when the lust for power, crass desire and destructive selfishness sweeps away the rights of others.

We can see the global crises of the present in the greed of the recent past. The global economy is at the brink of implosion, and millions are on the brink of starvation. The rights of others are almost completely forgotten and ignored.“Never again,” they said. Yet here it is again, staring at us from the television, the newspapers and the internet. The bloated bodies of the hungry, the shrunken bodies of the cholera victims of Zimbabwe tell of a world spiritually paralyzed and the declaration of human rights becomes nothing but a wet sheet of paper. Then there is the Eastern Congo, Iraq, Afghanistan, and before that Palestine, Rwanda, and Bosnia.

"Never again" is all too frequently repeated.The few that strive to promote and persuade mankind to embrace the values of generosity, peace, cooperation, respect, equality, compassion and care, are the people whom we need to be, united in our goal of making those universal rights a reality for as many as possible.

Fr. Shay's columns are published in The Manila Times, in publications in Ireland, the UK, Hong Kong, and on-line. Contact Fr. Shay Cullen at the Preda Center, Upper Kalaklan, Olongapo City, Philippines. e-mail: preda@info.com.ph Visit www.preda.org for more articles.

Missionary Society of St. Columban receives Presidential Medallion from Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska.

2008-12-23T14:36:00.001-06:00

Winter weather did not deter more than 225 students, their family and friends from gathering Saturday, Dec. 20 to celebrate Creighton University’s winter commencement. The ceremony took place on campus at the Kiewit Convocation and Fitness Center. Presiding at the ceremony was the Rev. John P. Schlegel, S.J, Creighton University President.

About 131 baccalaureate degrees were conferred with 95 students receiving advanced degrees.

Several awards honoring people and organizations that have made positive differences in the Omaha community and across the nation were given.

The Rev. Arturo Aguilar, SSC, Regional Director for the Missionary Society of St. Columban, USA, accepted the University’s Presidential Medallion on behalf of the Society, which celebrated the 90th anniversary of their founding in 2008.

In the photo, from left to right, Rev. Roc O’Connor, S.J. Rector of the Jesuit Community; Rev. Arturo Aguilar, S.S.C receiving award; Rev. John P. Schlegel, S.J. Creighton University President.

The Message of Christmas

2008-12-22T09:43:00.000-06:00

By Fr. Shay Cullen

Soon the Christian churches in the Philippines and around the world will be full on Christmas night celebrating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, savior of the world. Christians believe that Jesus came to save us from sin, not only from our personal sin by calling us to repent and believe the good news, but also from the"sins of the world," or from the sinners in the world.

The really big thing about Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ (and even non-Christians can welcome this), is that Christ brought a message of equality for all, and established the dignity and rights of women and children. Amazingly, the poor learned that the individual was not a slave of the state but has profound inalienable rights as a human being, a child of God.

So if ever you are made feel inferior by others, empower yourself with the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth and know that all humans are equal before God which should be the basis of justice and equality before the law of land.Jesus was born as an impoverished child and stories spread that there was a rival born that would establish a new kingdom in Palestine. King Herod the Great, a bloodthirsty tyrant, ordered all boys two years and younger to be killed. What a slaughter on the word of one cruel, power-crazed man determined to prolong his family dynasty. Jesus and his parents were refugees, asylum seekers in Egypt.

Unfortunately today, we still have killers like this doing away with outspoken people pursuing the truth and social justice, even priests and pastors. The sins of the world are very much with us. We have, in different degrees, failed to accept and follow Jesus and live up to His teachings to love and respect one another, share the wealth and live in peace.

We must continue to try to make Jesus better known and admired and his teachings more accepted. We can only do this by practicing, as Jesus said, “By your love for one another they will know you are my disciples."His message is just as dangerous now as it was for His disciples. After His birth, He spread the news that all are equal in the eyes of the creator and have equal rights, dignity and a place in God's Kingdom of love and justice.

It was an electrifying message and subversive to the theological and political rulers whose position had never been challenged. But poor people were lifted up and empowered by Jesus. “You can believe in me,” Jesus said, “God wants all to be respected and to love each other and share the blessings of the earth fairly and equally”. That's the message of Christmas.

Contact Fr. Shay Cullen at the Preda Center, Upper Kalaklan, Olongapo City, Philippines. e-mail: preda@info.com.ph; Visit www.preda.org for more related articles.

The Negros Nine

2008-12-15T10:58:00.000-06:00

Dear Friends,

Over the years I have been a little disturbed by the fact that the story of the Negros Nine is often inaccurate and incomplete. I am attempting, for historical purposes, to set the record straight.

With the establishment of the Negros Nine Human Development Foundation Inc. in the year 2000, it was inevitable that we would one day have a website. Please bear with us as we develop our site. Hopefully the site will be self explanatory in terms of our purpose in having the webpage. Your comments will be appreciated. The past should be our mentor as we move to the future.

Please visit our website at www.negrosnine.com.

Peace, Fr. Brian Gore

Columban Mission Office Collects Toys for Tots

2008-12-08T10:35:00.002-06:00

The Columban Mission office in Omaha, Nebraska jump started their holiday giving with their annual Toys for Tots collection. Employees donated to the Toys for Tots campaign throughout the month of October. Although we are a small office, we collected several boxes of toys for needy children. Two local marines, SSgt. Geist & SSgt. Nelson, Inspector Instructor Staff, Engineer Maintenance Company, joined us for lunch on Friday October 31 and picked up the toys. SSgt. Geist and SSgt. Nelson conveyed the toys to the local distribution point which they described to us as a gymnasium which by mid-December is filled from floor to ceiling with presents for children.

The office extends our gratitude to all participating employees and the marines for distributing the toys during the holiday season.

Save the Refugees in the Eastern Congo

2008-12-01T13:38:00.000-06:00

Fr. Shay Cullen

A stronger, better-armed UN force is urgently needed to protect the hundreds of thousands of innocent women and children in the Eastern Congo. Five million people have died in that region over the past several years. If the people of the Eastern Congo are not killed by machetes, bullets and bombs, then they die of starvation and disease. In these recent weeks thousands of people caught in the crossfire are fleeing from one temporary refugee camp to another.

Charities have appealed for donations to ease the plight of refugees in and around Goma, the capital of the Eastern Congo. There are 17,000 UN peace keepers in the Eastern Congo, the biggest in the world, yet there is no peace — only continual fighting by rival forces.The situation is complex as the Congolese government troops and their allied militia called the Mai-Mai battle with the rebel group led by a Rwandan Tutsi leader General Laurent Nkunda. Also fighting him are the Hutu militia who fled Rwanda after the genocide was stopped by the returning force of Tutsi exiles. There are persistent reports that all groups are recruiting child soldiers.

Government troops have also clashed with the Mai-Mai militia who are supposedly their allies. Government troops have set up their own lucrative mining business profiting from selling tin ore, diamonds and gold and other precious minerals that end up in the laptops and cell phones of consumers around the world. Laurent Nkunda (supported by President Kagame of Rwanda) claims that his goal is to protect the thousands Rwandan Tutsis living in the Eastern Congo who fled there during the genocide unleashed against them by the Hutus in 1994. His enemies say he is aiming to seize power and the mineral wealth of the region. He is the key player in solving the conflict and peace talks have to be pursued with him. President Kagame is also playing a role as he sent troop across the border into the Eastern Congo a few weeks ago.

The world community cannot allow more killing and massacres in the Eastern Congo. They turned away from the Rwandan genocide. Will they do it again? The French foreign minister said the UN force is in disarray and can't protect the people. The French and Spanish commanders have resigned in frustration. How many times are we all to say “never again” to genocide, mass murder and a "catastrophic" situation?

Fr. Shay's columns are published in The Manila Times,in publications in Ireland, the UK, Hong Kong, and on-line.Visit www.preda.org for more related articles.Contact Fr. Shay Cullen at the Preda Center, Upper Kalaklan, Olongapo City, the Philippines. e-mail: preda@info.com.ph

Columban Fathers recognized as founding members of NCDC

2008-11-20T11:34:00.002-06:00

During the 40th anniversary National Catholic Development Conference in September 2008, the Missionary Society of St. Columban was recognized as a founding member. In 1968, Columban Father Richard Steinhilber, who was at that time the U.S. Regional Director, and Columban Fr. Charles Coulter, who was at that time head of development and promotion for the society, were instrumental in the launch of the NCDC. Today, the NCDC is the largest single organization dedicated to Catholic philanthropy. The NCDC leads the Catholic development community toward excellence in the ministry of ethical fundraising through education, resources, networking and advocacy.

In the photo, Jeff Norton, Director of Operations for the U.S. region, accepts the plaque honoring the Columban Fathers from NCDC board chairperson Fr. Robert Colaresi.

The Real Cost of Debt

2008-11-18T10:13:00.000-06:00

Fr. Sean McDonagh, SSC

During the past few weeks I have been writing about the current financial turmoil and calling attention to the fact that this is not the first time in recent decades that banks have impoverished people and destroyed the environment through their irresponsible lending policies. Previously, I focused on the horrible consequences of reckless lending to countries in the third world in the 1970s. Servicing these loans has caused pain, suffering and death to many people during the past 30 years. It also devastated the environment in crucial ecosystems across the world.

Third World debt repayment benefitted the first world countries in two ways. Firstly, the economist Susan George estimated that, in the period from 1982 until 1990, US$418 billion was transferred from poor countries to rich countries to service the foreign debt. This money ought to have been spent on education, health care, social services for the vulnerable in poor countries and on building up a diversified, local economy. Instead it subsidized the economies of rich countries and increased consumption. Secondly, most poor countries had very little manufacturing activity and were almost exclusively commodity-producing countries. Between 1974 and 1988, the price of a basket of 28 basic commodities, including lead, tin, zinc, sugar, coffee and teach, fell by a staggering 48%. The Economist magazine estimated that the first world saved US$65 billion in 1985 alone. This, of course, kept inflation low in developed countries during the 1980s and 1990s.

There were two reasons for the drop in commodity prices. The first had to do with the recession in the rich countries, caused by the hike in oil prices in 1973 and again in 1979. The second reason was a direct result of the economic policies forced on third world countries by multilateral financial agencies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. These policies dictated that poor counties reshape their agriculture programs away from subsistence agriculture, geared to feeding the local population, to planting export-oriented crops. For example, many more poor countries were encouraged to plant coffee. This led to a glut in the market and the subsequent collapse in the price of coffee on the world market in the mid-1980s.
Low inflation in the first world during the 1990s and the early part of this decade was not due to shrewd economic policies designed by politicians and central bankers as they would like us to believe. It was as a result of an ever larger variety of cheap goods being imported from China. As a consequence, China began to run up huge financial surpluses, particularly with the United States. Some of this saving went into US government bonds, but the bulk was invested in various assets, often property, in various parts of the world. These assets began to increase in value driving up property prices around the globe.

In response to these trends central bankers around the world were faced with a dilemma. They could either target consumer inflation, even though cheap Chinese consumer goods was keeping inflation low anyway, or they could address the asset inflation side of the equation.

Unfortunately, the Federal Reserve in the United States, under the chairmanship of Alan Greenspan, decided not to interfere in the market and thus curb the explosive growth of risky and often fraudulent mortgage lending. On October 4th 2008, he told a Congressional hearing that the largely unregulated business of spreading financial risk widely through the use of exotic financial instruments called derivatives, had gotten out of control and had added to the havoc of today’s crisis. As far back as 1994 he had resolutely opposed tougher regulation on derivatives. His status as an economic guru in the eyes of both Republicans and Democrats blocked any effective regulation.

As the property market collapsed many banks had too much debt and too little capital to provide sufficient credit to keep the economy moving. Some of the banks have tried to meet their debts by selling assets. Because confidence in the financial system has evaporated, the value of these assets has fallen through the floor, reducing banks’ capital even further. Governments have tried to step in with a number of schemes, some to guarantee depositors, others to buy bank shares, reduce interest rates and/or recapitalize the banks.

Thus far the financial markets have not responded as confidence in the system is at a very low ebb, probably the lowest it has been since the Great Depression.

Fr. Arturo Aguilar on YouTube

2008-11-10T13:29:00.001-06:00

Fr. Arturo Aguilar recently spoke at the U. S. Catholic Mission Association. His remarks are available on youtube at the following address:

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=CatholicMissions&view=videos

The Bible, Church Teaching and Debt

2008-11-04T10:58:00.000-06:00

Fr. Sean McDonagh, SSC

At a time of chaos on the financial markets, which is now beginning to hit the real economy, and threatens the well-being of millions of people, the first reading on Sunday, October 26th 2008, was appropriate. It warned about usury. It read, “if you lend money to any of my people, to any poor man among you, you must not play the usurer with him/her: you must not demand interest from him/her.” (Ex.22: 24). Israel was a community shaped by its belief that God had rescued them from slavery in Egypt and had obliged them to develop genuine bonds of mutual support within their community. There could be no genuine community if a small proportion of the population owned most of the land and wealth and exploited the poor, starving masses at every opportunity.

Because Israel had experienced Yahweh’s compassion, it is understandable that the laws governing lending would be sensitive to the plight of debtors. Exodus 22: 25,”If you take another’s cloak as a pledge, you must give it back to him before sunset. It is all the covering he has; it is the cloak he wraps his body in; what else would be sleep in? If he cries to me, I will listen, for I am full of pity” was also read on the October 26th 2008. It warns creditors that they must not impoverish the poor. Charging interest was seen as a way of impaling the poor on the treadmill of debt that might deprive them of the necessities of life.

Chapter 24 of the Book of Deuteronomy goes even further and forbids a creditor from acting in a high-handed and haughty way towards a debtor, by entering a debtor’s house to recover a pledge. The creditor is expected to wait outside the house until the debtor carries out the pledge himself. In the biblical perspective, if the creditor entered the house of the debtor without permission it would be seen as an insult to the dignity of the debtor. The same chapter also forbids (Deut. 24: 26) confiscating the means of livelihood of a person as collateral on a debt. This was very understandable in an agricultural society where most people lived from hand to mouth. Where a creditor to take a mill stone as a pledge, this would literally deprive the debtor and his family of a basic life-supporting instrument. The author of Deuteronomy would consider this intolerable, as I am sure he would condemn banks that are foreclosing on loans which they should not have made, and throwing people out of their houses.

Jesus was well aware of the damage which debt does to individuals and society as a whole. The harsh socio-economic realities that obtained in Roman-occupied Palestine at the time of Jesus were marked by indebtedness, heavy taxes, widespread begging and slavery. Many poor country people had to hire out their labor just to get food for themselves and their families. This was the context of Jesus’ preaching which was meant to be good news for the poor. The second petition in the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew’s Gospel asks God to forgive us our debts as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us (Mt. 6: 12). Jesus was well aware that cancelling debt freed poor people from a culture of dependency and gave people hope and real freedom of choice.

The teaching of the early Church, especially from the fourth and fifth century, is full of denunciations of those who prey on the poor though usurious practices. Condemnations of usury continued into the Middle Ages. The Third Council of Lateran (1179) and the Second Council of Lyons (1274) condemned usurers.

The teaching on usury in the Christian Churches began to change in the wake of the Reformation in the 16th century. While Luther, Melanchthon and Zwingli condemned taking interest on a loan, Calvin permitted it, especially if the loan was made to rich people. According to Professor Thomas Neill of St. Louis University in his book, The Makers of the Modern Mind, it is difficult to overestimate the influence of Calvinism in the formation of the modern business conscience. [1]
Gradually even in the Catholic tradition interest on a loan became morally acceptable as long as it was not considered excessive. Maybe in the light of the suffering, hunger, death and political turmoil which this debt-induced crisis is wreaking on the poor of the world, it might be a timely moment for the Churches to revisit the whole question of usury and how debt has been used to drive economic growth.

[1] Thom Neill, 1947, Makers of the Modern Mind, “An the Good Shall Prosper”, Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee . (Paperback 2007).

URGENT ACTION: Support the people of Lomas de Poleo

2008-10-29T09:56:00.002-05:00

Columban Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Office

Dear Friends,

We have received an urgent request for action from Fr. Bill Morton, Columban missionary in El Paso, Texas. As many of you know, Fr. Bill and the entire Columban community have accompanied the families of Lomas de Poleo for many years and the violence continues with increasing intensity.

We are asking that you email a personalized version of the following letter to the Governor of Chihuahua, Sr. Jose Reyes Baeza, asking for his immediate intervention to bring peace and justice to the Lomas de Poleo community and hold the Pedro Zaragoza family accountable for their illegal actions.

Please circulate this action request widely.

Many thanks for your solidarity.
Amy Woolam Echeverria
Columban Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Office

Background:
In the last two weeks four more homes have been demolished, two elderly residents have been kidnapped and tortured by the Mexican military, and the residents’ access to water and electricity continues to be denied. A deep ditch has been dug around the elementary school house making it difficult for the students and their families to gain entry. The teachers are frequently absent, now, due to escalating violence and attempts by Zaragoza surrogates to close the school and force the families to go to another school in the relocation area.

On Saturday, October 18, 2008, a small group of the Lomas del Poleo Alliance of Las Cruces met with New Mexico Governor, Bill Richardson, who indicated he would be willing to intervene since the disputed land, literally, borders on his state of New Mexico. Lomas del Poleo is also in the path of a proposed multi-billion dollar, bi-national development plan involving major business figures from both sides of the border, as well as government officials from New Mexico and Chihuahua.
For a more detailed history of the situation visit: Paso Del Sur at http://www.pasodelsur.com/

Action Requested:
Please use the sample English or Spanish version of the letter below, and sign with your name, city/state and send via email, to the email addresses noted below. Please personalize the letter. Don't just forward this email. Please invite anyone in your network of friends, families, civic groups, church and other groups to do the same.

Send letters to:
webmaster@chihuahua.gob.mx
marcagob@chihuahua.gob.mx

Sample Letter – English

Honorable Jose Reyes Baeza
Governor of the State of Chihuahua
Republic of Mexico

Owing to the escalation of violence in recent weeks against the inhabitants of the Colonia of Lomas del Poleo by the employees of the brothers, Jorge and Pedro Zaragoza, we are asking your immediate intervention so that the appropriate authorities might guarantee the security of the residents in this Colonia. Also we urge that you order the State Attorney General's office to immediately investigate the crimes committed in this area which have already been presented to the Attorney General.

As you well know the lands in Lomas del Poleo are the subject of a legal dispute in the Agrarian Court Number Five in Chihuahua so we are also asking you to oblige the Zaragozas to respect the law and immediately stop the campaign of oppression and harassment against the inhabitants of Lomas del Poleo. It is obvious that these two businessmen are trying to get the inhabitants to abandon their lands before the courts make their decision.

In short, Mr. Governor we only ask that the law be followed and restored.

Sincerely:
(Your name, title, city, state, country)

Sample Letter: Spanish Version

Sr. José Reyes Baeza
Gobernador del Estado de Chihuahua, México.

Presente

Debido a la escalada de violencia desatada en las últimas semanas en contra de los habitantes de la parte alta de la colonia Granjas Lomas del Poleo, por parte de trabajadores al servicio de Pedro y Jorge Zaragoza Fuentes, le solicitamos su inmediata intervención para que las autoridades correspondientes garanticen la seguridad de los vecinos de esa colonia. Asimismo, le urgimos ordene a la Procuraduría de Justicia del Estado la inmediata investigación de los delitos cometidos en esa zona, los cuales han sido oportunamente denunciados ante esa representación.

Como debe ser de su amplio conocimiento, las tierras de la Colonia Granjas Lomas del Poleo están sujetas a una disputa legal que se dirime -- a través de distintas demandas en el Tribunal Unitario Agrario Número Cinco--, por lo que le solicitamos, también, obligue a los empresarios Zaragoza Fuentes respeten los tiempos de la ley y detengan inmediatamente la campaña de presión y hostigamiento que han levantado en contra de los vecinos en Lomas del Poleo. Es obvio que lo que pretenden estos dos empresarios es obligar a los colonos a que abandonen sus tierras, antes de que los tribunales competentes rindan su fallo final.

En suma, Sr Gobernador, lo único que le pedimos es que haga cumplir la ley y restaure el Estado de derecho en la colonia Lomas del Poleo.

Atentamente:
(Your name, title, city, state)

Perseverance Through Faith: A Priest's Prison Story

2008-10-23T13:27:00.000-05:00

The Missionary Society of St. Columban is pleased to announce the publication of Perseverance Through Faith: A Priest’s Prison Story by Father W. Aedan McGrath, edited by Theresa Marie Moreau.

In Perseverance Through Faith: A Priest’s Prison Story, the reader learns about Communism through the eyes of one Irishman caught up in the devastating political hurricane in China. Father W. Aedan McGrath took on a regime that knew no limit to its hatred and vengeance. Now, almost sixty years later, people in the West are looking with different eyes toward Communist China and its booming economy. The memoirs of Father W. Aedan McGrath are important. The China before us here and now is the China, still, in part, rooted in the drama of Father McGrath.

Father McGrath’s book is available in both paperback and hardback at www.xlibris.com/PerseveranceThroughFaith.html. Or, you may place an order via telephone through the Xlibris Book Ordering Department at 1.888.795.4274.

Making Sense of the Current Financial Turmoil

2008-10-16T08:34:00.001-05:00

Fr. Seán McDonagh, SSC

As I listen to commentators, politicians and so-called financial experts trying to make sense of what is happening on the financial markets, I am reminded of the statement from Lord Acton that “those who do not learn from history are domed to repeat it.”

The roots of this crisis goes back at least as far as the 1930s, though some would push it right back to Adam Smith, author of The Wealth of Nations, who is often considered the father of modern economics. .In the wake of the horror of World War I and the Great Depression, Marxists and Liberal Capitalist thinkers were attempting to revise their theories in the light of the World War and the experience of the Great Depression.

Two of the most famous thinkers on the capitalist side were, John Maynard Keynes (1883 to 1946) and Friedrich Hayek (1899 to 1992). Keynes’s father, John Neville, was an economist who taught at Cambridge. John Maynard had a broad education in classics and mathematics. He also taught economics at Cambridge, but his circle of friends reached far beyond the academia. He was an important member of the group of artists, philosophers and writers who became known as the Bloomsbury group. In fact, he married a Russian ballerina, Lydia Lopokona.

Keynes public persona was also enhanced by the fact that, as a journalist, he could explain the seemingly complex ideas of economics in a clear way, thus making economics available to a wider audience. His initial claim to fame came from writing a book in 1919 called The Economic Consequence of the Peace. It argued that the reparation demands on Germany were too onerous and that they would lead to economic chaos and future conflict. He argued, as did Pope Benedict XV, that every effort ought to be made to re-incorporate Germany into the European economic system.

Keynes was not a socialist. He supported market-based capitalism. Adam Smith had argued that the government should not intervene to control markets or other factors of production. To be fair to Smith he believed that governments had an obligation to provide resources to fund the public services. However, most liberal economists or the 19th and 20th century only focused on Smith’s opposition to governments interfering with the market.

Keynes broke with his fellow economists by pointing out that the market system alone was not capable of addressing modern economic circumstances. In his book, General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, he rejected the traditional laissez faire of unrestricted commercial freedom and argued that, in the modern era, markets had to be managed by governments.

He pointed out that, during a recession people did not normally invest in enterprises. This had a knock-on effect on the economy, leading to reduced demand, business failure and mass unemployment. Many of these points were highlighted in a 1932 article by Keynes, Hubert Henderson and Seebolm Rowntree entitled “We Can Conquer Unemployment”. They argued that it was precisely at this point in the downward swing of the economic cycle that governments needed to put money back into the economy, even if this meant deficit spending.

Naturally, when the economy was moving, full-steam ahead, the government should put money aside for the rainy day. Keynes argued that government intervention at a time of economic slow-down would have a multiplier effect. By putting money into the economy, governments were priming the pumps and, thereby, stimulating demand. This would allow companies to employ more workers, thus reducing unemployment levels. Workers would have money to buy good, thus stimulating growth.

It is not true to say that President Franklin Roosevelt fought the 1932 election on the promise of implementing Keynesian ideas. In fact, the opposite was true. He accused the Hoover Administration of being the “greatest spending Administration in peace time history”. It was only after a Black Tuesday on October 19th 1937 that Roosevelt’s Administration began to implement Keynesian policies. During World War II Keynesian economics spread to many other countries and remained the most dominant economic theory in the Capitalist countries of the world until the late 1970s.

In my next post, I will look at the economic theories of Friedrich Hayek (1899 to 1992) which were embraced by Margaret Thatcher and President Ronald Reagan. Like Keynes, he was opposed to socialism, but he was also hostile to any government intervention in the economy. The de-regulation mantra, “get the government off our back” slogan of the 1980s and 1990, which has led to the present crisis, owes much to writings of Hayek.

A Bit of Grit

2008-10-09T09:25:00.000-05:00

A Bit of Grit

A mighty force blows within
Bestows within
A Gift

Within this Gift a bit of grit
From which to build the
Gift of Life

A sprinkling of laughter, a thin
Veil of tears, a blanket of Love,
The music one hears, our hopes,
Our dreams, our fears – the
Ones we hold dear.

Layer upon layer does gradually
Build.

A power of reckoning from which
One can will…That Love and
Peace and Joy to Abide

All from the Gift of the grit inside.

A poem by Roseanna Walters, Columban Associate

Border Peace Vigil

2008-10-02T11:42:00.001-05:00

Dear Friends,

You are invited to participate in an Inter-faith (Christian, Muslim, Jewish) and Ecumenical (Catholic and Protestant) prayer vigil for Border Peace. There have been some 1,000 killings in Juarez, mostly drug related; and the violence continues to increase. There have been several incidents in El Paso also. Several clergy want to gather in prayer to seek a spiritual solution to the problem, to raise awareness of the link between US consumption of drugs and Juarez violence, and to pledge to promote peace along the US-Mexico border.

We plan to have three vigils throughout the year in different places unique to our respective religious traditions. The first one will be at St. Pius X Parish on Tuesday October 14th from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm. A social gathering will follow for the participants.

At the vigil we plan to have a reading from the Torah with a prayer for peace, a reading from the Koran with a prayer for peace, and from the Bible with a prayer for peace. Three presenters will speak about border violence and how they have been affected by this violence. In the end we will all make a pledge to promote peace and to work to stop the use of drugs in our society.

We ask that you encourage and invite your friends, family members, congregation and other groups to which you belong, to this important spiritual vigil for peace.

From our friends who are unable to join us at St. Pius X on October 14, 2008, we humbly ask for your prayerful support.

Thank you for your part in helping to spread God's peace which overcomes all fear.

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Bill Morton

At the Carwash

2008-09-25T13:43:00.000-05:00

God has a sense of humor; I’m convinced. Or at least He likes the element of surprise. A few weeks ago, the night before I was getting ready to go on vacation for a week with my children, I went out to fill the car up with gas and run it through the car wash. It was later in the day than I thought, and the sky was purplish-orange. The sun was ready to bid its final farewell for the day. The only carwash nearby is just a few blocks away, but it is in a notoriously unsafe neighborhood. Gang violence and drugs are constants. I hesitated and asked myself, should I go? I decided yes.

I pulled up to the pump, nervously got out and paid the clerk for the gas and wash. There were lots of people hanging around, sitting on the curb, leaning against the trees and buildings, anywhere but inside the small and overcrowded apartments that were all around. I hurriedly got back into my car and drove through the carwash.

I was ashamed of the unease I felt with my surroundings. I have dedicated my adult life to social justice; to understanding and respecting different cultures. My desire to go to Chile came from a deep sense of calling to live more closely and intimately with those less fortunate. How could I let stereotypes take hold of me as they did in that moment? As the carwash brushes swirled and banged around me, I asked myself if I had become too comfortable, too content?

This September marks the 5th anniversary of my return to the U.S. My previous five years were lived in some of the roughest neighborhoods in Santiago, Chile. I would often squeeze by drug dealers as I made my way up the steps to my apartment. Gun shots rang out in the night almost like church-bells. Domestic “arguments” could be heard with ease from house to house; no need for a neighborhood crier. There were times when I longed for the security of home, but most of the time I felt that what I had lost in physical comfort I had gained in spiritual growth. I felt that I was where Jesus wanted me to be.

Returning to my carwash experience, I began to wonder, am I where Jesus wants me to be? Some might say that living a mile away from this troubled neighborhood is close enough. But is it? It’s taken me ten years to come to believe myself a missionary. If ever there was an opportunity to be missionary in the U.S., it is in this neighborhood. It calls out for a ministry of presence.

I began to entertain the thought: could our family go on mission just around the corner? Lots of no’s started streaming into my head; a sure sign that God was trying to tell me something. This much I recognize from past experience. When I start justifying my way out of something, there’s a good chance I should do just the opposite.

While I didn’t have the courage to come to a definitive “yes!” that night, a seed has been planted. I’m sure it won’t be the last time God has something to say about it. As I pulled away from the carwash I thought, “God picks funny moments to speak to me.” Despite the drone of the carwash, He didn’t have to scream to be heard that night.

In peace,
Amy W.E.

Fr. Arturo Aguilar on CNBC's "On America"

2008-09-18T08:51:00.001-05:00

Earlier this year, Columban Father Arturo Aguilar attended Villanova’s program on church management. CNBC’s Mike Hegedus filmed a segment for “On America” discussing the program. Fr. Arturo is interviewed by Mr. Hegedus in the clip below.

www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=812441136

A $1.00 Mercedes Benz

2008-09-12T08:26:00.001-05:00

In 1996, Fr. Sean McGrath and I were assigned to the parish of St. Columban’s, LA. Fr. Sean recently had completed a ten year stint in Belize, and I had worked in a parish in Zambales on the island of Luzon, Philippines. Fr. Sean’s assignment was to raise funds for the education of our future Columbans in the Far East and Latin America. My assignment was to be pastoral administrator of the parish.

Fr. Sean started his work by holding a mammoth raffle. The first year he raffled off an automobile as the first prize. The results were phenomenal. Following the success of the first year, he decided to offer a Mercedes Benz the following year. I thought he was crazy, but it was successful beyond our wildest dreams. The next year, he offered two Mercedes Benz, and he doubled the funds raised for the education of future Columbans.

To increase the excitement and community involvement for the raffles, Fr. Sean booked a five star hotel to supply the venue. He convinced a local restaurateur to provide a delicious gourmet dinner at a very low price. And, he made sure that anyone could win a superb automobile for one dollar.

Fr. Sean literally brought people to the table for fellowship and fun. It was very rewarding and fulfilling work. Fr. Sean secured the future educations of Columban seminarians by involving local parishes and their parishioners in the fundraising process.

Fr. Colm Rafferty is retired after many years of mission work and currently resides in Ireland.

Columban Father Leo Baker Celebrates Diamond Jubilee

2008-09-05T08:18:00.003-05:00

By a kindly Providence three Baker sons - Leo, Chris and Pat - from the Baker family of 8 children became Columban missionary priests with each ordained in St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, Victoria, in 1948, 1950 and 1962 respectively. As the first brother ordained, Fr. Leo celebrated his Diamond Jubilee in Australia in July 2008.

Fr. Leo’s brothers, Fr. Chris and Fr. Pat, came back from their missions in the Philippines and Peru to join in the celebrations. Fr. Leo first went to Korea in 1950, but the war with the North Korean communists led to his permanent position in Japan. Following his mission work in Japan, Fr. Leo returned to Sydney and Melbourne.

With three missionary priests in the family, Fr. Leo’s Diamond Jubilee was not only a time of celebration and reflection on a lifetime of mission work but also a happy family reunion for the surviving Baker siblings. Frs. Leo, Chris and Pat were joined by two sisters and a brother for the celebratory Mass in Bendigo. The opportunity to celebrate together was a major milestone in the Baker family pilgrimage through life.

The Missionary Society of St. Columban honors Fr. Leo on his Diamond Jubilee with gratitude for years of faithful mission work.

Approaching The Table

2008-08-29T08:08:00.001-05:00

When I first went to Chile from the United States, one of the first differences I noticed was how Chileans celebrated Mass by approaching the altar to receive communion. I was shocked to see people rushing up in a very un-orderly fashion. I remember thinking to myself, “Are they afraid that it’s going to run out?” Having grown up being told when to approach the altar, I initially found myself feeling as though I were in a stampede.

Over time I got used to the scramble and even enjoyed the freedom of walking up when I was ready and not when I was told. It wasn’t until I returned to the United States that I was reminded of our more reserved approach to receiving the Eucharist. Rather quickly and a bit by force, I acclimated back to our one-row-at-a-time system.

In the five years I’ve been back, I haven’t given this point much thought until recently. Quite abnormally, I went to Mass by myself at my parish, a very multicultural and lively community. A visiting priest described our parish as “an awesome mosaic.” Indeed, it is a blessed community of faithful from all over the world including Africa, Latin America, Asia, and of course Anglo-Americans. The music is rich, and the message is powerful.

Normally, when I go to Mass with my family, we sit in the first row, near the choir, with the hope that my son and daughter will be engaged by what they see and hear. Since I was alone this time, I decide to sit in the back, almost by the door. I saw my community from a whole new angle. I was reminded of the first time I went to Mass in Chile and seeing the mad-dash to the altar.

I began to wonder, do my Latino sisters and brothers miss that freedom to approach the Table when the Spirit moves them? What about my African sisters and brothers? How do they approach the Table in their home countries? If it is anything like their music, I can only imagine they process in a joyful march. I thought, wouldn’t it be nice if we in the United States could learn something from our global neighbors about celebrating the Body and Blood of Christ?

The image stayed with me after mass. I began to wonder about the differences in how we approach the Table. I remembered a sermon given by a Columban priest about celebrating the Eucharist in Peru. He said that quite literally for many in the community where he lived, the bread that the people received at Mass was their only bread for the day. People approached the Table with real hunger. Likewise, the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer took on a whole different and practical dimension. As people prayed, “Give us this day, our daily bread . . .” it was not some theological interpretation, but a prayer for real survival.

In the face of the global food crisis, I am left with two questions: how do I approach the Table; and what can I do to help alleviate the hunger of my sisters and brothers who are faced with not enough to eat? And at the same time, I pray that I may learn to approach the Table with a sense of urgency as do my sisters in brothers in Chile and Peru.

Amy Woolam Echeverria, Missionary Society of St. Columban, JPIC office

A Clear Sign

2008-08-25T08:23:00.001-05:00

Having just retired to Ireland after many years overseas, I wondered what good advice I would give to others. Years ago, following a disagreement with another priest, I picked up a book on the visions of Mary to the visionaries in Medjugorje and asked Mary to please give me a message to help me heal the rift with my colleague. I opened the book at random and this was what I read:

The visionaries had been through a lot of suffering on account of the visions, and they didn’t know how to deal with the suffering. So they asked Mary for advice, and here is what she told them. “I want you to accept this suffering with great love, and unite it with the sufferings of Christ and with the members of the mystical body.”

I decided to commit the prayer to memory and went to bed, repeating it over and over in my mind. I had no recollection of falling asleep, but I woke up refreshed the following morning, went down for Mass and had breakfast. Imagine my joy and gladness when the priest with whom I’d had the disagreement came to sit beside me and the whole incident was history.

Although I was set to go on vacation a few short days later, the thought came to me to visit Medjugorje when I returned to Ireland. I put it out of my mind several times and made a firm resolution that I was going home to Ireland, putting my feet up and not travelling further. The thought became more persistent, and finally I said, “Mary, if you want me to go to Medjugorje, you must give me a clear sign. Now if the sign is fuzzy, forget it. It has to be clear, very clear.”

On the first leg of my vacation, I flew to Chicago where I had spent many happy years on vocation work. One night I was invited to offer Mass with good friends, Tom and Peggy. Towards the end of the Mass, I had a custom of inviting people to really listen to the Lord after receiving the Eucharist, and then to tell the others what good advice the Lord had shared with them. Imagine my surprise when Tom said, “I think Fr. Colm should visit Medjugorje when he returns to Ireland.”

I very deftly changed the subject and talked about something far removed that Medjugorje. I patted myself on the back on the way home for being so clever. However, the following day a courier arrived at the house I was staying to give me an envelope. I opened it and out fell a check in the amount of five hundred dollars and a message in large handwriting “We would like you to go to Medjugorie, Tom & Peggy.” I said, “Mary, I asked for a sign, but I didn’t expect one that clear.”

I returned to Ireland and did what they told me. It was one of the best visits of my life and I learned so much from the experience. Since that time I have told the story often and people have asked for a copy of the prayer. I am very sure it has helped many others to deal with the problem of suffering in their lives.

Suffering is a great mystery. Very few people understand the significance and meaning of suffering. Mary told the visionaries when they had suffered terribly and had accepted the suffering with great love, and united it with the sufferings of Christ, and with the members of the Mystical Body, that they had no idea how much good they had done by accepting their crosses in this way. I have used the prayer often since that time and while the pain and sufferings are still difficult to accept, it does help to know that the suffering is not worthless or useless, but really precious in God’s sight.

Columban Fr. Colm Rafferty recently retired to Ireland after many years of mission work and continues to reach out to others via this blog.

Beauty In Suffering by Sr. Anne Carbon

2008-08-15T09:34:00.002-05:00

Childhood is a very special time when the whole world is like a playground to be explored freely and with wonderment. My siblings and I had so much fun together that recalling them brings nothing but happiness to my heart and a deep gratitude to God for giving me that special time and space.

When I was a novice, my pastoral ministry took me to places that were labeled poor, depressed and marginalized. The reality that I saw shocked me beyond belief. I saw children malnourished, dirty, eating on top of garbage trucks, working very early in the morning until late at night selling candles, cigarettes or flowers. The children I saw had worn-out faces. As young as they were, they were already the breadwinners of their families. They seemed to have lost that time and space called childhood.

I have been in Peru as a religious missionary Sister for the past seven years. A few years ago, the Columban Sisters opened a mission in Vinchos, a place high in the mountains of Peru where the notorious terrorist group called ‘Sendero Luminoso’ (Shining Path) used to have their headquarters for many years. They are gone now, but they left behind many broken people. Many of those people are depressed, and a good number of them are children.

I was deeply touched by what I saw and started sharing my concerns with some of the men and women in the town. To my surprise, I found out that we had the same concerns. Some of us approached the Director of the only school in the town to help us do something for the children. With his help, we were able to track down around 20 children ranging in age from 7 to 12. They were either passive-aggressive, low in academic output, had difficulty in concentration or drop-outs from school.

Our first activity with the children was a drawing/painting contest. The results showed that they knew how to express themselves and that they knew what was going on around them. What struck me most was that a lot of them expressed the desire to die. A few of them even had details on how to do it! One painted a cemetery and when I asked him why, he said, ‘It is a peaceful place, nobody bothers me there.’ Another drew a coffin and said, ‘I want to die and be with my father.’ His father was killed during the political violence, and he was living with his mother and stepfather who was violent to him and his mother. Another painted a river and put himself floating in it. He said, ‘I want to get drowned and die.’ Although the results were alarming, the good thing was we were guided in our initial approach to reach out to the children.

Not wasting time, I went to Lima to look for a child psychiatrist. Luckily I found one who was willing to make that long journey to the mountains to see the children. Together we drew up a simple program starting with bi-monthly psychological attention given to the children. Sister Mary Nolan and I do the follow-up after the psychiatric evaluation of each one of them. These individual evaluations are kept in a file so that our follow-ups are done accurately. Right now some are receiving pharmacological treatment. There are also activities that facilitate how to express themselves like painting, drawing, working with plastiline, workshops on emotional therapy, social activities that will bring out their abilities, individual sessions with the children and home visitation. We found out that visiting the families is an effective tool as it helps us to get to know more about the family and the real situation they are in.

After a few months following this program, a tremendous change in the children was very noticeable. Thoughts of death and the desire to die have gradually disappeared. They are more relaxed now, and they are able to express their emotions of fear, anxiety and anger. Their grades in school have improved and violence in the family has lessened or has disappeared.
I feel I have created a special bond with these children. I also feel that I have bonded with the many people who are involved in this mental health program. I feel my life is connected to each one of them. Working in the area of mental health has been a very enriching experience for me. It has offered me a wider range of understanding what life is all about.

Earning back what they’ve lostAs I continue participating in the reality of the poor here in Peru, I am able to see beauty beyond their sufferings. I feel that working with the children has enabled me in some little way to let them experience the joys and laughter of that special time and space called childhood.

Currently living and working in Peru, Columban Sister Anne Carbon may be reached at musuq_05@hotmail.com

Peace, Social Justice and Care for Creation

2008-08-08T08:28:00.003-05:00

Greetings from the Columban Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Office, the national advocacy office for Columban missionaries in the United States, located in Silver Spring, MD just outside of Washington, D.C. Through advocacy, solidarity, and education, the JPIC Office is dedicated to raising the peace, social justice and care for creation concerns of Columban missioners and those people with whom we live and serve. As people of faith, we are both challenged and called to raise our voices with the voices of the most marginalized in our world.

My name is Amy Woolam Echeverria. Since 2005, I have had the privilege of coordinating the Columban JPIC ministry here in the United States. Before coming to Washington, D.C., I was the Columban JPIC Coordinator in Chile where I had been on mission since 1999, first with Sisters of Holy Child Jesus and then with Columbans.

Other “titles” that describe me are: wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, lay woman, closet writer, and speed-challenged runner. There are probably more titles yet to be discovered, but for the meantime I am content.

I suppose my newest title is “blogger” and one that I am very excited about. Since 2004 the Columban JPIC Office has distributed an e-newsletter which usually included an opening reflection from me on some aspect of social justice (check out archived issues of the Columban JPIC e-newsletter www.columban.org/content/view/69/52). So perhaps I’ve been a closet-blogger all these years and never knew it!

But now the virtual doors have been flung open wide, and I look forward to sharing with you my thoughts, feelings, reflections, and questions about life, mission, and faith.
An important image that Columbans embraced at our 2008 Regional Assembly was that of table-fellowship where we are both hosts and guests and all are equal. Please, let us walk together to the Table.

In peace,
Amy W.E.

The Keys to God's Kingdom

2008-08-01T08:23:00.003-05:00

The Keys to God’s Kingdom
A reflection by Fr. Jim O’Brien

As a young boy growing up in Boston, I vividly remember the experience of seeing my first movie. The name of the film was The Keys of the Kingdom, released in 1944 and starring Gregory Peck. It is the story of a young missionary priest, Fr. Chisholm (Gregory Peck) sent to China to establish a Catholic parish among the non-Christian Chinese. Fr. Chisholm struggles in China enduring isolation, disease and poverty. In the end, it was a film produced in Hollywood after all, he does succeed in China using patience and understanding.

However, I was puzzled when I left the theater since I still did not know who had the keys! Was it Fr. Chisholm? Or, did the Chinese people have the keys? Many years later, I read a book by the same title, and I thought I figured out the answer. It was the missionary who had the keys and could open up the gates of God’s kingdom. All would be welcome to enter and become members of God’s family.

In my vocation as a Columban Father, I was sent to Korea as a missionary. After a struggle with the language and the culture, I began to see that I wasn’t the only one with the keys. I came to a new understanding and insight into who had the keys. I began to see that the Korean people had already been blessed by God. It was an eye opener when I realized God had been there before me.

The culture and language of the Korean people spoke of spiritual blessings and the Great Spirit. God had already spoken to the people in a way far different from my previous experience. Realizing that God has been in Korea long before my arrival was a decisive moment in my life as a missionary.

The land, the people and the culture were sacred because God had blessed them in a special way. Acting on this important revelation and listening to their stories, I was able to share my faith experience with them and how I had come to know God.

Many people listened and in time asked for baptism and were received into the Church. Some were polite, heard the message but never joined us. However, we would meet from time to time and remained friends and enjoyed some non-church events together.

These positive experiences moved me to reflect on why I was Korea. If God was already there, why was I? I was there because I was sent to bring the Good News about Jesus and his teachings. My role was to be a witness for the gospel in a land far from home and help the Korean people come to know God in a new way.

The Church in Korea is alive and well. I was just one Columban among many who served in Korea. Along the way I kept seeing how God was present there, and I realized how blessed I have been to be there as well. Like Fr. Chisholm, I saw the Catholic church flourish among the missions. The keys of the kingdom are found among all nations and peoples in their cultures, their languages and their experiences.

Columban Father Jim O’Brien currently resides in Bristol, Rhode Island after many years on mission. For more information about The Keys of the Kingdom, check out http://www.imdb.com/. For more information about the Columban Fathers and their missionary work, go to http://www.columban.org.