September-October 2006

By Father Paul Glynn

A Columban priest lives with Muslims in Mindanao to help break down centuries of Muslim-Christian enmity.

It is 3:30am: time to get up and prepare our breakfast before the sun rises at 4:15. Once we hear the Call to Prayer from the local mosques, we know we won’t be able to eat a single bite or let a drop of water pass our lips until the sun sets and we have heard the welcome sound of the evening call, ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is Greater), once again from the mosques. This will remind us that it is time to break our fast after a long, hot day of hunger and, worse still, thirst.

by Sister Alicia Alambra FMM

It was a call that scared me. I did not know what awaited me and it meant giving up all my plans in the Philippines. I was at that time working as Assistant to the Provincial Treasurer and doing chaplaincy to university students. But I was finally persuaded and hooked. It was April 1989 and my provincial was greatly worried that a missionary bound for Bolivia-Chile could not make it for health reasons. I volunteered to replace her and the great journey began in my life.