Below are stories from past issues of Columban Mission magazine. The Columban Fathers publish Columban Mission magazine eight times a year. Subscriptions are available for just $10 per year. Sign up to receive our next issue. Read more about Columban Mission magazine.
Sharing my vocation story stirs up mixed feelings within me. On the one hand I think of a vocation as something personal and sacred, but I remember that such stories shared by priests, the religious, and lay people have helped me throughout my faith journey.
“Hope springs eternal” goes the phrase, even in the saddest of situations, and surely none can be sadder than the case of young Andrea Alvarez.
There are many days when I am at home in the tribal villages in Sindh, Pakistan.
Our mission partners and benefactors are very essential in the day-to-day life of the missionaries. They play a significant role in helping the Society proclaim the good news to the marginalized and the poor in the form of prayer, financial support or words of encouragement.
Every Saturday afternoon, Fr. Paul drove off faithfully in the car by himself. For several years, all I knew was that he was heading to a Gamblers Anonymous meeting somewhere in the local area. There was nothing more that he said, or that I said, about this weekly outing.
It is almost impossible to describe the appreciation and love that Catholic Kachins in Myanmar have for Columban missionaries, and at times, it can be almost embarrassing.
Myanmar is far behind in terms of education, compared to other countries, having been shut off from the outside world for 50 years by the military junta. Now, they are struggling to catch up with the rest of the world. I feel that the education system here can be so oppressive.
I had just arrived in the Philippines shortly after ordination. It was 1973 and something unprecedented was happening back home in Ireland. Limerick had made it to the all Ireland hurling final!
“Ask the beasts and they will teach you the beauty of the earth.” – St. Francis of Assisi
October with its blue skies and bright leaves is a time for appreciating the beauty of the earth. Appropriately, October 4 is the feast day of St. Francis.
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.