Chosen for God’s team - Fr. Charles O’Mahoney
"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ" (1 Cor 12:12).
I first came to the Columbans as a student in 1938, aged 19. I was ordained a priest in December, 1944, so I have been a Columban priest for 60 years.
At the end of a long life I give thanks to God first for the gift of priesthood. It is a gift freely given which one can never deserve. It is a sharing in Christ’s power to bring people to salvation.
I give thanks also for the gift of missionary priesthood. The Church which Christ founded is a “Go, teach all nations” Church. If it is not faithful to this command it is not the Church which Christ founded. It must always be raising up the best of its young men and women and sending them forth to fulfill this command.
I also give thanks for the gift of the Columban missionary priesthood. There are many great missionary orders but I found, by accident or by God’s providence, the one that was right for me.
I look at the countries where Columbans have worked, and are still working – China, Burma, Korea, Philippines, Chile, Peru, Fiji, Taiwan, Pakistan – and I know the Church in these countries has been strengthened by the input of Columban priests over the years.
Their ministry is directed to the sacramental life of the people but it is much wider than that. It is concerned with the eradication of poverty, of combating degradation of the environment, with education and health -- with the salvation of the whole person.
My contribution over the years was to be involved in the formation of future missionaries, and with promotion of support for missionaries by prayer, by interest and by money.
My contribution was not to go to far away places but to be a member of the support team at home and I am proud to share in the Columbans’ successes.
Fr. Charles O’Mahoney
"Christ is like a single body with its many limbs and organs, which, many as they are, together make up one body" (1 Cor 12:12).
