September 2009
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.
From the Director - The Church often needs apparent failure
03.09.2009t’s an irony of life that when we are successful we believe that God must be on our side and when our works fail then we despair and feel deserted by God. more
Editorial - Know your facts
03.09.2009We have to learn to live together both in our Church and also in our world. more
My mother’s insight Tae-moon Kwon
03.09.2009Now my prayer is not only for you but for all the people you encounter. I did not understand why the object of my prayer had changed in this way because it was not my intention to change it. But now that I have met the people whom you know in China, I understand why I pray like this. more
The Mix-up
03.09.2009“We discussed swapping the children so that we would both have our rightful sons but it was too difficult,” Sofia said later. “We both wanted to take our real son but neither of us could part with the child we had been rearing.” more
Return of martyr’s church
03.09.2009A group of guerrillas entered the church as Fr Leonard was beginning Mass. Sensing danger, he took the hosts from the tabernacle to consume them, but the bandits seized them and scattered them over the floor. They led Fr Leonard away with a rope around his neck. more
Celebrating 60 years
03.09.2009We congratulate Fr Hubert (Hub) Hunter on 60 years of dedication to God and St Columban’s Mission Society. more
Creation Christmas Cards
03.09.2009Creation Christmas Cards are handcrafted by disadvantaged Subanen women who live in the mountains of northwest Midanao in the Philippines. more
The circus is in town
03.09.2009f I was thinking of running away this would be a good week to do it as the circus has set up in our local park more
Father, I am not happy...
03.09.2009Does Professor Lovat wish us to believe that it was the ‘institutionalisation’ of Christianity that caused the Coptic Christians of Egypt to be conquered by the colonialist forces of Arab Muslims in the middle of the seventh century? more
Rain that thunders down
03.09.2009I continued with the Eucharist, maintaining as much dignity as I could whilst every few seconds slapping at little blood-suckers feasting on my exposed parts. more
Mayhem in Mexico
03.09.2009was approached by a young, tearful woman who asked me to pray for a special intention. I agreed to do so and enquired if she wished to share the nature of her request with me. She replied that she had the trunk of her husband’s body - recently executed in the ongoing Mexican Drug War - but was unable to find his head! more
Mission World - September, 2009
03.09.2009Children cut up pages of an old book to use as ticker tape to shower on the wedding party. They had unknowingly cut up pages from an old school book of Islamic Studies. When some Muslims found pieces of paper with Arabic script and some Qur’anic verses scattered about, there was an uproar more
Beauty has its own authority
03.09.2009These paintings and images have inspired and nourished Christians for centuries. They can give us an insight, sensitivity, the energy and vision to keep working for a united, just and sustainable world. I hope the 2010 calendar helps you become better people with bigger hearts and minds. more
Breaking and entering
03.09.2009After about an hour, my entertainment was disturbed by a young couple. Initially they were angry to find a stranger in their home, watching their television. more
No help to the poor
03.09.2009GM crops have made a fortune for biotech companies. Monsanto’s monopoly position has meant that it can increase both the price of its GM seeds and herbicide even when food prices are increasing, thus pushing more and more people into poverty. more
The Way We Were - Brazil welcomes Columbans
03.09.2009The Columbans were responding to a call to help the Church’s “most Catholic country” on earth – 120 million, or more Catholics than Mexico and Italy combined more
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