Error message

Deprecated function: implode(): Passing glue string after array is deprecated. Swap the parameters in Drupal\gmap\GmapDefaults->__construct() (line 107 of /home/cfmain/prev/public_html/sites/all/modules/gmap/lib/Drupal/gmap/GmapDefaults.php).

June/July 2019

Light in the Darkest Places

I have just completed 40 years in Chile and for 25 of these I have been going to the oldest jail in Santiago called the “Peni,” which is pronounced like “penny.” It was built almost 200 years ago for 500 men. Today there are 5,000 prisoners, and two years ago it held 7,000 men.

By Sr. Angela McKeever
July 29, 2019

Twenty Years

More than 20 years ago, I left the Philippines for the first time as a Columban lay missionary assigned to Brazil. It was a very long journey that started from Manila to Salvador, Bahia, situated in the northeast of Brazil, its first capital, and where the Columbans worked.

By John Din
July 22, 2019

A Belief Challenged

I arrived in Pakistan in 1994 after joining the Columban lay missionary orientation program which included a focused study on Islam and the Pakistani culture. After four months of language study and immersion into the culture, I was excited to enter more deeply into my new world.

By Aurora C. Luceenpo
July 15, 2019
Columban Lay Missionary Irma Cantago

Life Is a Mission

I am Irma Lara Cantago, a Columban lay missionary for many years. A high school teacher by profession, I was teaching for 15 years and at the same time involved in the parish, helping the catechist and lay leadership formation. I had the passion to serve and be with the people.

By Irma Cantago
July 8, 2019

The Emmaus Story

The story begins with Cleophas and his companion traveling from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Their outward journey is a symbol of an inward search. But they are traveling in the wrong direction! They are walking away from Jerusalem and moving away from the place of pain! They are unable to face Jerusalem, because Jerusalem is associated with failure. It is natural therefore for them to want to leave it. However, one cannot leave failure behind even if one leaves the place of failure. Life is a process of letting go, a dying and rising.

By Sr. Kathleen Coyle
July 1, 2019

Music Eases My Journey

Learning a new language is really difficult. One has to become a child again and enter an entirely new culture. The most frequent question that people ask about language studies is, "why learn a new language?"

By Vasemaca Ratu
June 24, 2019

Creating Bridges

As he ends his tenure as Columban Superior General, Fr. Kevin O'Neill, shares that the 2018 centennial was an opportunity to look to the past with gratitude and "to celebrate our continuing participation in God's mission today."

By Fr. Kevin O'Neill
June 17, 2019

Hope Center Reflections

I Am Still Lucky
By Columban Seminarians
June 10, 2019

Bartimaeus, the Blind Beggar

Bartimaeus, a beggar, was sitting on the roadside, outside Jericho, blind, begging, isolated, speechless, mute. When he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by He waited. How long did he wait?

By Sr. Kathleen Coyle

June 3, 2019

The Immensity of God

Recently I have been fascinated by the news of two black holes circling each other and heading towards a massive explosion. All the physics of it is beyond me but that this happened nine billion years ago is amazing to me.

By Fr. Trevor Trotter

June 1, 2019

Patience and Perseverance

People around the globe report increasing levels of stress. Our lives are so busy that day-to-day we feel hurried and harried. I think many of us yearn for a quiet respite. But if we do take the time to turn off the TV and the computer and press the "pause" button in our lives, we often do not know what to do next. What can we do that will allow us to go deeper and tap into the wellsprings of inspiration and sources of courage for living? Years ago a spiritual director introduced me to four questions:

The first of these questions is, "What do you treasure in your heart?" As St. Matthew's Gospel tells us, "For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also." I think for most of us, the answer is really 

By Fr. John Burger
June 1, 2019

About us

Columban logoThe Columbans are a society of missionaries, including priests and lay people, who minister to people of various cultures as a way of witnessing to the universal love of God.

We go in the name of the Church to announce, by deed and word, the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Quick Contact

Missionary Society of St. Columban
1902 N. Calhoun
St. Columbans, NE 68056
Phone: 877-299-1920
Fax: 402-291-4984
email: mission@columban.org