Past Magazine Stories

Sr. Bríd Kenny from Coolmeen in Co. Clare, Ireland, joined the Missionary Sisters of St. Columban on April 9, 1942. She got to know the Sisters because her cousin Laura…

As I sat in my office at the Columban Mission Center in El Paso, Texas, I felt that something was missing. It had been a busy morning so far, on that hot day. We still had…

Chileans are hardworking people. Mothers and fathers instill their work ethic in their children from an early age, in many families that I have come to know, by…

“For me, life began at 40,” laughs Fr. Tony Coney, remembering how he arrived in Lima on August 30, the Feast Day of the city’s patron, St. Rose of Lima, which also…

Ma Hkawn was married for 20 years. She lived with eight family members including her five children, their grandmother as well as her sister-in-law and her husband in the…

On Feb 13, 2024, Andonie, one of the four original Subanen Crafters, died in childbirth. She died in her hut, on a remote hillside, in the middle of the night. Her husband…

As a child, one might say I did have an active Catholic faith much to my parents’ efforts. We never missed Mass, and we all received the sacraments of Eucharist and…

I am writing this crouched under a lazy ceiling fan, dripping with sweat and staring out at the squalid, chaotic, dust-blown bedlam that is Karachi, the biggest city in…

In a country racked by poverty, civil war and military dictatorship, Columban missionaries like Deacon Francis Xavier help shine small lights of hope. It is often said…

The Korean proverb “A neighbor nearby is better than a distant relative” emphasizes the importance of having a good relationship with neighbors, as neighbors are often…

My Mom, Marie, was a happy mother, giving me, together with Dad, a wonderful sense of security that I appreciated from my earliest years. I treasure the reassuring…

On May 19, 1973, I was ordained a priest at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne, Australia, along with eleven other candidates. I was in Form 5 at St. Joseph’s CBC North…