I'm sure that many of you will be as surprised as I am that Easter has come upon us so quickly once again. It is surely indicative of how busy our lives have become. Thinking about ‘all things busy’ jolted me into questioning the relevance of leading such a chaotic life. Who is it for? Why am I doing it? Is it helping anyone? Hopefully Easter will provide a time to reflect on the fact that Christ died so that we might no longer live for ourselves alone. In this edition of The Far East magazine you will read many fine examples of those living for others.
One such example is the work of Columban Fr Neil Magill from Myanmar who is assisting in providing education, housing, food and medical assistance to young men.
In Peru, Columbans are preparing to say farewell to their parishioners in the parish of Our Lady of the Missions where they have ministered for 22 years.
The reflection on Easter by Columban Fr Pat O’Shea points out that ‘the devil is in the details’. A fascinating read.
Columban Fr Robert McCulloch is featured in the Centenary coverage of ‘Where are they now?’. He has worked in the Philippines, Pakistan and now in Rome as Procurator General for the Society of St Columban. ‘Your Columban Story’ featured in this section is another reminder of how faithful our Columban benefactors are.
It is heartening to receive articles of ordination to the priesthood and to the diaconate and of the diocesan seminarians from Adelaide who visited Chile recently.
In November, 2017, Fr Pat Visanti was ordained to the priesthood and was the first Columban priest from the island of Rotuma, nearly 600 kms north of Fiji.
In the Philippines a young Columban seminarian from China knelt before Bishop Honesto Ongtioco to be ordained a deacon.
Last year two Adelaide diocesan seminarians participated in a pastoral experience with Columban Fr Dan Harding in the parish of San Columbano, in Santiago, Chile.
In ‘Mission World’ we read of the Muslim faithful appealing for an end of spreading disinformation in Marawi, the Philippines, that could provoke discord between Christians and Muslims.
In his column, Fr Brian Vale reflects on Jesus’ post-Resurrection experiences noted in John’s Gospel. He quotes from well-known author, Fr Robert J. Schreiter, who reminds the reader that the shocked disciples had left Jerusalem behind after Jesus’ arrest, torture and execution to try and return to a normal life in Galilee.
The previous Editor of The Far East, Fr Daniel Harding gives a detailed account of his return to Chile after spending six years in Australia.
We read that days after the joyous ordination of Fr Visanti in Fiji, former Columban Lay Missionary Losana Ve’ehala from Tonga died unexpectedly in the Columban Lay Mission house in Suva. She was a woman of great faith. May she rest in peace.
Janette Mentha
Related links
- Read more from The Far East, April 2018
