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February 2021

Fr. Thomas with parishioners

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.

By Fr. Thomas Seungwon Nam
February 25, 2021

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.

By Fr. Kurt Zion Pala
February 22, 2021

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.

By Fr. Frank Hoare
February 18, 2021
Fr. Jason at work.

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

By Fr. Jason Antiquera
February 15, 2021

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.

By Fr. Barry Cairns
February 12, 2021
Fr. Larry Barnett with Granny MaHong, seated wearing head scarf

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.

By Fr. Larry Barnett
February 10, 2021
Columban seminarian Aminiasi and friends in Peru

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.

By Aminiasi Ravuwai
February 8, 2021

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.

By Peter Sut Ring
February 4, 2021

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.

By Fr. John Burger
February 1, 2021

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.

By Becky Feagan
February 1, 2021

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.

By Fr. Michael Riordan
February 1, 2021

About us

Columban logoThe 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.

We go in the name of the Church to announce, by deed and word, the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Quick Contact

Missionary Society of St. Columban
1902 N. Calhoun
St. Columbans, NE 68056
Phone: 877-299-1920
Fax: 402-291-4984
email: mission@columban.org