The May issue of The Far East offers many examples of how the Holy Spirit continues to be poured out upon all kinds of people and situations across the world. This year Pentecost Sunday falls on May 15.
After working in Hong Kong for 67 years, the Missionary Sisters of St Columban have decided to leave. We offer a special tribute to the work of these valiant women in health care, education and pastoral care across almost seven decades. The Sisters do not leave their Hong Kong mission lightly.
Other valiant people whose stories we offer in this May issue include modern day Japanese novelist, Shusaku Endo and Myeong Sek, a Korean women with special needs. The Far East magazine congratulates Columban Fr Thomas Rouse on the 40th anniversary of his ordination to priesthood.
Columban Fr Paul McMahon helps survivors of trauma from the conflict in Northern Ireland tell their story. Columban Fr Noel Connelly offers a powerful reflection on the recent interview of Cardinal George Pell in Rome by the Australian Royal Commission. According to Fr Noel, the dignified presence at this interview in Rome of the victims of sex abuse by members of the clergy was both essential and redeeming.
After working for 10 years in China, Dallon Ryall and his wife approached the Holy Family Catholic Church in Wuhan to have their baby girl baptised. There he met Columban Fr Dan Troy who helped him breakthrough to a deeper understanding of his faith.
During a violent break-in and robbery of a small business in Japan, Shoda Akira and his gang brutally murdered the owner. At his trial, he was sentenced to death. Before execution he embraced the Christian faith and was baptised. Columban Fr Paddy Clarke tells his story.
Columban Fr John Keenan shares with us the story of the faith of the people of Parola, whose shantytown, one of the largest in the Philippines, was recently destroyed by fire.
At the end of 1975, Cardinal Raul Silva Henriquez, the Archbishop of Santiago, Chile, set up the Vicariate of Solidarity to document the systematic abuse of human rights by the military dictatorship and to support the victims and seek justice for them. The Vicariate has recently completed its 40th anniversary.
As we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost this year, let us keep in mind the work of Columban Missionaries across the world, and the power of the Holy Spirit that continues to guide and empower them.
Fr Daniel Harding
tfe@columban.org.au
Read more from The Far East, May 2016