When planning the June issue of The Far East magazine it was unintentional that the edition would feature so many heroic stories.
Of course, Columban priests would never see their work as heroic but I choose to think otherwise and I’m sure that many supporters of Columban Mission would agree.
Columban Fr Liam O’Callaghan is working in Pakistan where the heat is relentless and rising. It is causing deaths at an alarming rate.
In the Philippines Columban Fr Shay Cullen writes about the lack of human rights of the oppressed, particularly the 600 workers in shelters at the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait.
The Reflection, by Columban Fr Bobby Gilmore, ‘Mission in fragmentation’ gives five examples of how mission might be accomplished in an urbanising, migrating and fragmenting world of great wealth and want.
In our centenary spread, Melbourne born Fr Peter Kelly is featured in ‘Where are they now'. Fr Peter’s first appointment was to Korea where he worked for 21 years.
We meet another hero, Columban Fr Peter Gabriel who was the first South Australian to join the Society and the first Australian Columban to die. In his short life he set the bar high for those who followed him.
It is hard to imagine our children and grand-children working at eight years of age on a rotting rubbish dump to earn enough money to buy a meal for the day. Thank God for Columban Lay Missionaries like Sunhee (Sunny) Kim who spends time with the children, tending to their physical and spiritual needs.
Things took a turn for the worse when Columban Fr Gerard Desmond went to the bank to withdraw $2,000.00 (US). He was confronted by a couple of thugs who shot him in both legs and hit him over the head with the butt of a revolver. He was released from hospital a few days later and ‘apparently none the worse for what happened’. Now that is tough!
In his column, From the Director, Fr Brian Vale reflects on what can eventuate from a meal shared with strangers. This is what happened to one of the Columban founders, Fr Edward Galvin who unexpectedly shared a meal with a Canadian priest who spoke passionately about his work in China and its dire need for priests. The rest is history!
Columban Fr Alo Connaughton interviews a Korean Columban Priest who has worked for eight years in the high Andean region of Peru where life is tough for everyone.
In this issue we feature four Australian Columbans who are celebrating 50 years of missionary priesthood and five celebrating 40 years.
Tributes poured in after the death of Irish Columban Fr PJ McGlinchey who died on April 23, 2018 in South Korea including one from the President.
This issue is packed with good news stories of ‘ordinary people’ doing ‘extraordinary things'. These ‘ordinary people’ are those who have dedicated their lives in service to the poor and all those who support them.
Janette Mentha
Related links
- Read more from The Far East, June 2018
