Misyon Online - May-June 2008
They too Mourned for Him
Fr Jesus Reynaldo A. Roda OMI, ‘Father Rey', expected it all along. But not the people of Tabawan, whom he had served for ten years before his brutal murder on 15 January at the hands of his abductors. One of Father Rey's Muslim scholars described the immediate reaction of the local people: ‘It was as if a big bomb was dropped in our midst and we got the shock of our lives. The whole island mourned. Some lost their appetite. Some kids don't want to go to school anymore'.
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Adventure in the Philippines
After a total of seventeen hours flying time from Dublin we arrived in Cagayan de Oro City, Mindanao, on 19 October 2006 where we were welcomed by the officers of the Senatus of the Southern Philippines. Our accommodation was in the Archbishop's house where we were graciously received by Archbishop Antonio Ledesma SJ. In the evening we joined the Senatus officers and the Spiritual Director Monsignor Rodolfo C. Roa for a meal.
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An Urgent Need: Engaging Other Faiths
The Columban Superior General says understanding other religions helps us better understand God. This is an extract from an interview by Father Barry Maguire, now the editor of the Columban magazine in Korea.
Fr Tommy Murphy, who became Columban Superior General in 2006, says Catholic missionaries such as the Columbans must engage with people of other faiths and religious traditions. He worked as a missionary in Korea beginning in 1974 and later continued his work in Taiwan.
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Sitting at the Feet of a Beggar
For more than a year now, I have been among a new people, learning to be one of them in order to become part of their life and their history. As I study the language, I have also learned to study the people I daily meet on the streets as a way of learning to live my religious life in dialogue with their life. I feel there is much I can learn specially from the poor and suffering, those easily pushed aside into the margins of society.