First Steps for Peace
My name is Fr. Thomas Seugnwon Nam, and I am a South Korean Columban missionary priest. Currently, I am the Vice regional director of Korean region and in charge of the Vocation Office, Associate Priest and the Peace Office.
The Call of Cicadas
A young girl and her mother went to the riverbank looking for wild vegetables and leaves. The girl and her mother thought that the river split somewhere above and then came to meet again so that they would form an island.
Zooming Into Interreligious Dailogue
The Columban Interreligious Dialogue Desk in Fiji was initiated in May 2019. I was asked to advise and guide the coordinator, Ms. Priscilla Magdalin. Priscilla had worked for some years with Interfaith Search Fiji and had many contacts among leaders of religious groups in Fiji.
The Gospel of Joy, Mission and the Visual Arts
In his well-received book, The Gospel of Joy, Pope Francis writes: “Each particular Church should encourage the use of the arts in evangelization, building on the treasures of the past but also drawing upon the wide variety of contemporary expressions so as to transmit the faith in a new ‘languag
God Speaks in Mysterious Ways
God speaks to us through the Scriptures but also through events in our lives. For example, Jeremiah, the Old Testament prophet, was locked in his room depressed about the progress of his life and mission. Then he decided he needed a change of atmosphere. He went to watch a potter at his wheel.
Granny MaHong
Granny MaHong is the aunt of Vesu the parish catechist here in the mountains of central Taiwan where I work among the indigenous Tayal people.
Any Twelve Individuals!
Since childhood, Holy Thursday for me meant the washing of the feet. I missed it in 2019 when in accordance with the directives from Rome it was left aside due to the coronavirus pandemic. Nonetheless, its absence provoked a moment of reflection on the Gospel message.
Scavengers in Our Own Land
The Kachin State is located in the northernmost region of Myanmar and is covered with natural resources and thousands of mountains. Every morning begins with waking up to the chirping of birds and to sounds of a variety of creatures. To me, Kachin land is the most beautiful place in the world.
Black Pain Matters
As we look back at the last year, there probably are few people who would name 2020 as among their favorite years. Surely, though, we must have learned something from COVID-19, and the Black Lives Matter protests. Certainly, the virus made us stop and think about who are the most essential workers in this country. And the death of George Floyd made the country stop and reflect on how people of color lead their lives – or should have made us reflect on it.
The American Catholic Church, and I mean all of us Catholics, can profitably do an examination of conscience. Although we do not want to admit it, racism “as American as apple pie” and segregation have been part of the life of our beloved Church.
Even our fellow Black Catholics have been long- suffering. Consider the case of Venerable Father Augustus Tolton. He was the first recognized African American Roman Catholic priest in the history of the United States. He was born into slavery in Missouri on April 1, 1854, but his family later escaped to Illinois. He was raised Catholic and later expressed his desire for the priesthood. With the help of an Irish Franciscan, Fr. Peter McGirr, the young Tolton applied to various American seminaries but was rejected by every one of them.
100 Years of Shared Faith
On April 25, 1921 St., Mary’s Catholic Church, Bellevue, Nebraska, was established as a parish by Archbishop Jeremiah J. Harty Bishop of Omaha. Three years later, in March 1927, Bishop Beckman of the Omaha Diocese “committed the parish to the direction of the Columban Fathers.” Rev. E. J.
Before-COVID and Post-COVID
I suspect that in future years rather than BC and AD we will have BC and PC (Before-COVID and Post- COVID) as this “experience” has had immense effects on all aspects of our lives.
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.