Last month I attended a meeting of Columban leaders who came from the missionary countries where we Columbans work. As leaders, our common denominator is our Catholic faith with the Resurrection of Jesus Christ at the centre of our faith.
A meeting like this reveals the great richness of the Columban missionary experience in the many countries where we work.
In Asia, the Christian population is about three percent, with the Philippines making up most of that percentage. Nevertheless, at our Columban meeting, it became evident that the Korean Church is the most vibrant Church where we have missionaries. Columbans have helped the Korean Church develop a missionary outlook, making it more missionary.
Today, Korea has its own missionary society which Columbans helped set up. Many Korean diocesan priests spend six years in overseas missionary countries like Chile where they work with Columban missionary priests. When they return home to their home diocese, they have had a new experience of Church and a deeper appreciation of the universal Church. Korean Columban sisters work in countries like Myanmar and Peru and lay missionaries have their own authentic place in Columban mission.
A country like Japan has a small Catholic population in a large population so the Columban focus is on primary evangelization. This shapes their approach to Church and missionary activity. Both Peru and Chile have large populations of nominal Catholics so the Columban focus is towards building Basic Ecclesial and Basic Christian Communities. Some years ago, Columban Lay Missionaries from Fiji made a big impact in parishes in Ireland where they were assigned.
Death came before the Resurrection of Jesus. Similarly, 30 years of Columban missionary effort in China was wiped out when the Communists swept to power in 1948. Today Columban priests and sisters work in China in restricted circumstances, hoping for a better times.
Our Columban vocations in the West have dried up but our new vocations are from the missionary countries like Korea, the Philippines, Fiji, Chile and Peru. We are now a multicultural group of priests, religious sisters and lay missionaries.
Easter is an unexpected act of God bringing new life in the Resurrection of Jesus.
Pope Francis has unexpectedly taken the world by surprise. Through ups and downs we trust in the unexpectedness of God to bring life, we are open to God's call.
Reflecting on my time at the Columban Leader's meeting, I am reminded of how God acts in unexpected ways.
Fr Gary Walker
director@columban.org.au
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LISTEN TO: From the Director - The unexpectedness of Easter (Duration: 3.26mins, MP3, 1.56MB) |