The Far East - May, 2008
Contents
The Far East magazine is published by St Columban's Mission Society. It features articles and photographs by Columban missionaries from those countries where the missionaries work. The magazine was launched originally to promote mission interest in Catholic homes in Australia and New Zealand. The Far East magazine in Australia was published for the first time on 15th October 1920 and sample copies were sent to every parish and school in Australia and New Zealand.
Editorial - The lives of the saints
28.11.2008I am writing this editorial on the anniversary of Fr Sean Lavery, an Irish Columban from Lurgan. I met him in Jamaica where we had the western toe of the island to ourselves in contiguous parishes. more
Leave the Calendar Alone
28.11.2008The message from the people is clear. Leave the Columban calendar alone, it belongs to generations of Catholic people. more
Reaching Every Postcode
28.11.2008St Columban's Mission Society might not be as much in the public eye as Vegemite but a product of its missionary activities shares a couple of things in common with Australia's food icon. more
The rocky road from Bail
28.11.2008At the end of the Bali Conference Yvo de Boer, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said, "This is a real breakthrough, a real opportunity for the international community to successfully fight climate change." more
Where do you find hope?
28.11.2008Coming to Valparaiso after my first missionary experience in Santiago has been life-giving for me. It’s hard to grasp that I am now in my sixth year in Las Palmas, Valparaiso. I still have that feeling that I have only been here a day or two. more
Reflection - That is where you belong
28.11.2008Others feel it more honest to give up religion because it would be hypocritical of them to go to church. more
A place of hope
28.11.2008Columban Fr Peter Hughes describes the Assembly of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean at Aparecida, Sao Paulo, Brazil, last May, as "...a new moment of grace and hope for Latin America." more
Stones and tears that heal
28.11.2008Victims of Peru’s civil war are remembered and hearts are consoled at a park dedication in Lima. more
A journey to missionary Burma
28.11.2008The author tells us about a memorable visit to the lands where her uncle, Columban Fr Thomas Rillstone touched the lives of so many people. more
Mission World
28.11.2008Lima (FIDES) - The Bishops of the Ecclesial Jurisdictions of the Peruvian rainforest have issued a statement at the close of their Encounter for the Indigenous Pastoral Ministry of the Peruvian Rainforest. more
From the Director - Can you not see it?
28.11.2008I once heard a theologian describe some Christians as "so heavenly-minded they were no earthly good." There are many Christians who live for heaven. Popular devotion has encouraged us to look on this life as "a vale of tears." But this was not Jesus' attitude to the world. more
Muslim Indian healed by Fijian Catholic
28.11.2008In the village of Natunuku life goes on. It's a small Fijian village about 12kms from Ba, partly visible from the Kings Road as motorists drive towards Tavua. Ba is a large and prosperous sugarcane growing town on the western side of Viti Levu, one of the largest islands in the Fiji group. more
Receiving enlightenment
28.11.2008Then I first came to China I couldn't help feeling that the statues of Buddha that I saw in temples were ugly. As time went on, however, I began to find many of them attractive, indeed, beautiful. There was a sense of rest and peace in the posture, tranquility and concentration on the face. more
Sowing more than seeds
28.11.2008Tabitha Bark’s organic garden in Taiwan expresses an aboriginal people’s relationship with God’s creation. more
Daily pentecosts
28.11.2008Twenty-five years ago I began my second missionary journey. I had been away from Japan and its difficult language for 16 years. During my first missionary journey (1956-1969) I had been stationed in the far south in fishing villages. more
