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 $15 per year. Sign up to receive our next issue. Read more about Columban Mission magazine.
The blind beggar heard the crowd passing him on the road. Feet hurrying, people talking, all moving quickly along. What was going on? "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." It was enough. Immediately the beggar shouted, "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!" He was making a nuisance of himself.
Since 2014, St. Joseph's Parish in Ballymun, Ireland, started to look at ways to respond to the needs of young people in the parish. Parents asked if there was a program that could help them nourish the spiritual aspect of the lives of their teenage sons and daughters.
As part of my process of priestly formation, in 2015 I was assigned to Taiwan to perform my First Missionary Assignment (FMA).
I clearly remember the first time I visited Julie Santiago. To reach her house, I had to pass by several narrow lanes in the area where I lived. It was daytime, but it was quite dark inside her house because they didn't have lights.
I went to China because we used to get The Far East magazine (the magazine of Columban missionaries published in Ireland). I was the eldest of six children: four girls and then two boys. We grew up between Roscommon and Castlerea in Ireland.
Adai is a grandmother and faithful member of the Catholic community in TianGou village in the mountains of Taiwan. Like all the residents of the mountain villages along the DaAn River, Adai is a member of the Tayal tribal group.
I grew up with nothing but fear and distance from my father. It seems there was a mountain between us. I envied my friends who had great relationships with their fathers. But this changed. I grew up. One of the last few things we did was climb the highest peak in Iligan City.
The Ai Jia Development Center was founded by the Hsinchu Catholic diocese in Taiwan to help and support mentally challenged adult students. Like in many other countries, mentally challenged people in Taiwan are not considered as important.
My only contact with the Columbans before going to the seminary in Suva, Fiji, was when Columban Fr. Frank Hoare visited my home in Tonga to interview me about becoming a Columban missionary priest.
Pope Francis continually reminds us that the Church is missionary and is called to reach out to the poor, to sinners, to unbelievers and to those who live on the margins of modern society.
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.