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