By Fr Joseph Panabang SVD

Where am I?
When you have malaria for the first time, you dread having it again. But if you have had it more than three times, it becomes ordinary: you begin to play with it not knowing by doing so you are courting more troubles. That was how it happened. Thinking it will be over tomorrow, on the third day, it got much worse. Semi conscious, my fellow priest brought me to the Holy Family Hospital. I could hear the voice of a Sister commanding her nurses, “quick, quick...” Late in the morning I was awakened by strange gurgling noise, the splash of water, and the cries of babies. I mumbled to my nurse, “Where am i?” At the maternity ward,” said she with squeals of delight.

Naglilihi
That morning, the news spread that a priest was admitted at the maternity ward the previous night. By fluke or fate, on that day, only sour mangoes could whet my appetite. “No wonder you are tat the maternity ward,” said the Sister.

Headless
Before the Sister could take her leave, she asked tenderly, “How is your head, Father? “The ache is gone but the head is still there,” I said.

Secret Table
Wanting to be sure I have no typhoid fever, I  was sent to St. Dominic’s Hospital, run by the Dominican Sisters. Sister Lucaris was in charge of me. after all the necessary check-ups, while waiting for the results, at her office I pestered her with many question from her laminated posters to her seating arrangement. Then she gave me my medicines which were many. I wanted to know the use of every tablet until I reached one that looked special. “And what is this?” I asked. “That is Septrim.” “For what?” that is to prevent you from talking too much.” Right at that moment, the Septrim began to take effect.

Special English
Here in Ghana, their English is British – oriented. So many terms are used, which for hose brought up on American English seem strange. For example, Mrs. Daisy Salazar, a Filipina working in Accra, the capital of Ghana, told me that she saw a signboard which reads: “For sale: Chickens and Spare Parts.” To mention other examples. If you want to repair your car, they will tell you, Go to the Magazine.” Magazine is the compound were all the all he mechanic shops are found. “Theater” means operating room. “Tap” means faucet. And in a competition if two get a tie, they say, “We have a bracket.” But the one I found amusing  was when I asked my tennis opponent why he was late, he said, “Sorry I was engaged.” That means he was busy.

Confidence is what Matters
“God news, Fr. Joe! I would like to inform you that I did not pass the NCEE with an average of 45 percent.” “What is good in this?”, was my natural reaction  when I read this letter from my niece. Below the quoted part of the letter, she continued, “Seguro, you laugh but I accept it.. perhaps I have still a chance. That God I finished my high school with self-confidence.” Then I understood why it is good news. CONFIDENCE.. ....yes keep trying.

 

By: Fr. Arsenio Redulla, SCC

Arsenio (Dodong) Redulla, a Diocesan priest from the Diocese of Iligan, volunteered to work with the Columbans for three years. He was appointed to Chile. Subsequently, he decided to stay on for another three years. Here shares a little of his Chilean odyssey.

Off to Chile
From 1983 to 1989 I work as a volunteer missionary priest with the Columban Fathers in the Diocese of Iquique, Chile, South America.

Iquique
Iquique is a port city in the north Chile; it is about 2000 kilometers from the city Santiago, the capital of Chile. The Diocese of Iquique comprises the parishes within the city itself and the villages on the pre- Cordillera of Los Andes. Cordillera refers to the mountain ranges. There are around 60 villages which belong to the Diocese. The population varies; five to 50 families may live in the village.

4000 Meters Up!
To be able to reach some of the villages on the Cordillera one has to travel as far 250 kilometers or more; it takes a far 12 hours or even longer to travel, defending on time or season of the year. Some are located as high 4000 meters above the see level or even higher. The high altitude sometimes made me dizzy and it also causes nose bleeding.

The Aymara
The Aymara are indigenous people who live on the Andes Mountains in Bolivia, Chile and Peru. They used to live along the shores of Lake Titicaca which is situated between Peru and Bolivia. They had occupied these areas and had been there long before the arrival of the Spaniards.

Language Under Siege
The term Ayrama also refers to the language spoken by the people. In some areas the language is still widely spoken; It is still their first language. In others it is disappearing; it is bi lingual. The gradual disappearance of their native language is unfortunate because language is very important and very significant part of culture. Such painful reality weakens the cultural identity of the people who are already constantly confronted with and perpetually subjected to external forces and pressures. Yet, as a people in struggle they still manage to maintain their culture and identify as Ayramas.

 

Not so Simple
My work in Iquique involved working among the Ayrama people. My first interest in popular religiosity was revived. I felt challenged by their seemingly simple expression of faith which I realized afterwards was not simple as I first thought. Those people have been abandoned pastorally for various reasons of which politics was one. This area originally belonged to Peru until it was annexed to Chile when Peru-Bolivia lost to Chile during a war more than a hundred years ago.

Popular Devotions
It is also fascinating to learn that despite the lack of priest and catechists the Indians were able to hand down the faith to the next generations. Popular devotions are considered as one of the factor in keeping the faith alive. These people were able to invent some paraliturgical celebrations with out a priest. In fairness to the Spaniards missionaries they have left some religious practices, arts, and music, which also served for catechetical purposes.

Adoring the Llama
Some of the Cultural expressions of the Ayrama are very challenging: in fact they teach us. For example, their ritual of pouring a few drops of wine for Pachamama (mother earth) to express their care and gratitude for giving them nourishment may be a challenge for us care for the earth which is still ruthlessly exploited. The ceremony for adoring the Llama and the Alpaca (a sort of Llama) with colorful ribbons and laces on their necks may be a message for us when some animals are on the brink of extinction either because they are killed indiscriminate for profit or because their habitat is being destroyed.
In March 1989, I left Chile for Ireland where I worked with the mission promotion of the Columban Fathers. I was there for almost two years. It was as occasion for me to share with Irish people about the mission of the Columbans with whom I worked in Mindanao, Philippines, and in Chile. It was also an opportunity for me to thank the sending Church for their collaboration in the missionary activities in our sisters churches in many different parts of the world. Finally, to challenge the people that the Church is always missionary is, in self, a challenge for me as well.

The gradual disappearance of their native language is unfortunate because language is very important and very significant part of culture.

 

 

Gabriela, a Korean lay missionary working with the Columban Fathers in Luzon, shows us that lay mission is also ‘learning’.

No Stairs
Romy has not walked for five years. Since that day the car it him he has been depending on a wheelchairs to  get around. That’s easy enough in his own house because it is designed without stairs. That’s the house he shares with eighteen others in wheelchairs. “The house of the  Handicapable” – in Novaliches, a Manila suburb, and my first parish assignment as a lay missionary from Korea. It was there that I first met Romy. He and his companions have taught me many things in the past six months.

Suddenly Romy Called out...
Tina and I lived with a Filipino family nearby, and we welcomed a visit from Romy and other wheelchairists’ one afternoon. Sensitive to their being an imposition on our landlady’s space, they insisted that we could chat together in the garden. Tina was fetching the snacks, I was getting a lesson in another Tagalog verb, when suddenly Romy called my attention.

‘Gaby, Gaby, look at the chicken”, he said to me.  actually there were six chickens in the coup at the garden wall, but I saw clearly what he meant. One of the chickens had got its foot caught in the wire mesh walling of the coup and was suspended head-down in the cage.

“Gaby, help it, help it, please,” continued Romy, and then, after a pause, added shyly and somewhat sadly, “or it will become like me.”

Afraid
I was afraid of the other chickens flying in my face, but I felt compassion for the bird which was  caught, so I went ito the coup and released it. the ten steps over and back to the chicken coup became a journey of deeper discovery for me as I realized that where I had felt compassion, Romy had experienced pain. Where I identified with the helpers, the do-gooders, those who set others free, Romy identified with the victim.

Where we stand
The world looks very different to those who stand in different places and especially to those who like Romy, cannot stand up straight because their legs will not support them anymore.

 

By: Fr. Ed Fugoso, SVD

I am a missionary working in the Vicariate of El Guasmo, Guayaquil, Ecuador. A growing problem in my adopted country is the onslaught of aggressive proselytizing Fundamentalist originating in North America.

Forty Hours
Recently, to culminate our traditional “Las 40 Horas” (40 hours exposition of the Blessed Sacrament) we organized a procession around a different parish distinct before finally ending with the holy Mass. We stopped in 10 different stations and prayed for the families who received us and all the residents of their sector.

Stone Thrown
Everything seemed to be going well as I went along holding high monstrance of the Blessed Sacrament. However, before reaching the 8th station, all of a sudden, one of the acolytes walking in front of me fell injured to the ground. A big fist stone had been thrown from somewhere. Either it had to me or the Blessed Sacrament as the target. Since we were in the sector where most of the Fundamentalist live, we suspected that one of their misguided members did it. The religious Sister who was holding the megaphone said in the clear voice, “We must go on and forgive, as Jesus forgave on the cross.

I Had Doubts
The idea of the public procession arose because I hope to do something about the obvious RELIGIOUS IGNORANCE and RELIGIOUS INDIFFIRENCE pervading the community. But through the insistence of the more active and faithful parishioners I knew the Holy Spirit was inspiring me to go ahead with it. “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?” After all, if we keep our religion to ourselves and do not proclaim our faith, then we would be helping to being about a “ghetto Christianity”.

Proselytizing Master Plan
Then in a meeting of all priests and religious working in the vicariate of EL Guasmo, our Bishops told us about the leaked information taken from the recent meeting in Quito (the country’s capital) of all fundamentalist sects working in Ecuador. Their target is to convert this populous El Guasmo, still a primarily Catholic sector, to at least 50% and 50% Fundamentalist by 1992. Every morning one sees a swam of them knocking from door to door; while at night this dry season, you can hardly sleep before midnight for their loud sound system on streets corners all in favor of their proselytizing activities. What we are having now is another form of invasion which is causing greater division in this community already plagued with political and social division.

 

 

Basic Christian Communities
To make the matters worse, or at least more pastorally challenging for us, Ecuador will soon receive more foreign financial aid for its Family Planning Program which advocates anti- conception methods. To counteract these programs, which some say are part of a “Low Intensity Conflict” program, we were holding Bible seminars with the objective of building more small basic communities which can be forums for community reflection under the light of God’s word. We have also taken advantage of the materials available from Human Life International. Last July we held various video presentations of “Eclipse of Reason” (dubbed in Spanish) to different groups of youth and adults. The 25-minutes video tackles the evil and horror of abortions. To follow it up, we have scheduled a seminar on natural family planning methods, We invited parents who, would be promoters and teachers themselves of these methods. This gives us hope.

 

 

 

By: Sr. Brenda Villarin, D. C.

Missionary in Ethiopia

Throughout the 14 years of my missionary work in Ethiopia our Lord has filled me with “good things.” What good things? The opportunity to minister to His needy people in the re-settlement village, people relocated by the government from the famine stricken area to more verdant farm lands

Famine
I am a Filipino Daughters of Charity working in Ethiopia for the last 14 years. By now everyone knows of the terrible famine affecting millions of people which have hit this land in the last decade. The government has relocated many of these starving people from drought stricken areas of special resettlement sites, are much fertile.

Sheep without Shepherd
In their first year as settlers these people are like sheep without a shepherd.” They landed on virgin lands with almost nothing but little huts made from dry grain and corn stalks for their shelter. Our response as a Church to their need was to provide for their basic needs: food, clothing, shelter, health care. Once they have picked up in health, they work away with great determination not to stay in a state of utter poverty.

Hope
As I journey along with Mary and these needy people, they make me experience their strong sense of HOPE in spite of all their sufferings. They are blest with optimism in life.

Seventh Year
They are now in their seventh year as settler and have bettered their life. I’m now the recipient of their generosity with simple gifts coming from their riches; vegetable, corn eggs, chickens. These are gifts more precious than gold. For these people have come a long way to recapture their dignity as people of God.

Civil war
Ethiopia has yet more tragedies. Tens of thousands of poor farmers have fled from neighboring Sudan because of civil war and religious persecution. These people have crossed over to Ethiopia on foot. Many have walked for 3 to 4 months. Many have died on the journey of sickness and starvation. Presently they number 380,000. It’s a vast number to minister to; among them are an estimated 20,000 Catholics.

 

Lay Helper
But we were blessed with enthusiastic lay people who assist the Sudaness priest who came along with them. Through their own initiative, they have organized formation programs for catechists. In this way we can reach out to the huge population. A couple of months ago, our Ethiopian Bishops (a Vincentian) administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to 965 people.

Widow’s Mite
I was greatly impressed by the great desire and determination of these Sudanese Christians to keep the Church alive and strong even in difficult and most tying situations.
As refugees, they receive food rations, soap, sugar, and other items. Most of them would set aside a portion of their ration as a Church offering to support their priest and catechist.

Different Languages
Because of the diversity of language, their Eucharistic celebration is often translated into four or five different languages.

Salamat sa Dios
For me it is a privilege to be able to help a little. I could go on enumerating all the good things that the son of Mary has given me and is still giving me but the main thing I would like to share with you is the “boundless goodness” of our God who loves us tremendously.
Together with Mary, I could say....”The Almighty works marvels for me, Holy is his name.

 

‘These people have come a long way to recapture their dignity as People of God’

‘I was impressed by the desire of these  Sudanese Christians to keep the Church alive.’

The Venerable Phra Prachak is a quiet Buddhist monk. But for his effort to save the forests from destruction, he has become a target of the Thai military’s National Peace Keeping Council

Beautiful Forest
In 1989, after 12 years in monastic robes, Venerable Phra arrived at a forest named Dong Yai in the Prakum district of northeast Thailand. With the encouragement of the villagers, he agreed to establish a monastery on the condition that the villagers help him protect 5000 hectares of forest for the practice of dharma, an aspect of the Buddhist religion, and ecological conservation.

Villagers Threatened
The monk soon learned that the 12 villages in the area were in dispute with the authorities, in particular the military, which had been trying to relocate them on to the poorer plots of land, ostensibly because their land was a national forest preserve.

No Longer Needed
When the villagers had first settled in the forest several decades ago, it was with the permission of the military, who used them as a front in the fight against an armed insurgency in the area. Now that the military’s need had been met and the insurgency put down, the villagers are no longer needed. In fact they were impeding a newer interest of the military: commercial explotation of the forest.

Private Paper Company
The military-allowed a private paper concern to plant eucalyptus and bamboo on the villager’s land. the villagers, in response, twice burned the plantations, leading to the arrest of their leaders.

Plot to cut Trees
To head off the resistance, the local authorities allowed local businessmen to pay the villagers to cut down the bigger  trees in the forest. Once the big trees are cut, that tract of forest can be classified as “degraded” and subjected to reforestation – that is, planting with fast-growing pulpwood.

Imaginative Response
Venerable Phra responded with “tree ordination.” Traditionally, Thai people tie yellow robes around sacred trees, especially Bhodhi trees, believing there is a spirit which can do good or harm to people in the vicinity. Hence the trees should be respected.

Monk now the Enemy
The tree ordinations turned Venerable Phra into the main enemy of those wanting to exploit the forest. There was a machine gun attack on his monastery. Moves were made to divide the villagers by discriminatory measures against those who supported the monk. Renewed efforts were  made to drive the villagers from the area.

Monk Arrested
After the 1991 coup harassment increased, as the military destroyed parts of the villages with tractors, subsequently arresting Venerable Phra when he protested against this action.

Press Conference
After speaking at a press conference at the Foreign correspondents Club in Bangkok September 25, Venerable Phra left his home village escorted by reporters, monks, students and environmental activists.

Arrested Again
In October, Venerable Phra was arrested again, this time for rallying a local environment group of 400 to lend nonviolent support to a nearby village where the military had cut down crops.

 

By: Fr. Joseph Panabang, SVD

A longing Invades the Heart
You can take the Filipino out of the Philippines but not the Philippines out of the Filipino, says the cover page of Fr. Ben Carreon’s JOKE ONLY. Living outside the Philippines, we the Filipino missionaries, priest, sisters and brothers finds this truth a brutal reality. As a stranger working in a foreign country where you are the only obruni koko (foreigner) in a black community, the longing to be with co- Filipinos at times invades your heart so strongly that you cannot help from wanting it. For this reasons, once a year, in the second week of Easter, in particular, all of us Filipino priest, sisters, brothers (with Filipino lay people working here in Ghana invited) gather for a reunion that lasts usually four days. We call this reunion UMIPIG - Ugnayan ng mga Misyonerong Pinoy sa Ghana (at Toga din)

Forty Pinoys
In this Umipig, six congregations came together: The Society of the Divine Word (SVD), Religious of the Virgin Mary (RVM), Holy Spirit Sisters (SSpS), Franciscan Missionaries (FMM), Medical Mission Sisters (MMS) and recently White Fathers (SMA). Interesting, they (more than 40 people) are coming from all over the Philippines from Aparri to Jolo. Such composition of the group makes the reunion enriching in every way and more enjoyable.

Miss World
Activities vary. In the first day we welcome each other, introduce one to the other, have common evening prayer and a Mass after which Lupang Hinirang is sung with the Philippines national flag spread in front. In the second day, we have Recollection, usually given by one of us. Silence, the guardian of recollection, is seized upon to keep us from talking too much. Within the recollection is Mission sharing the climax of all activities. Here, we share our own joy, fulfillments, works, success and failure, pains and loneliness, and what have you. In the evening there is a Grand Recollection. At times it is formal, that is, the men with their barongs (some with rubber shoes) and the women with their Maria Clara gowns (borrowed or relief pero imported naman from Germany). Dances from Pandango sa Ilaw to Maglalatik to aerobics (a biological dance) would follow. With drinks and Filipino dishes served, the reaction ends with the coronation of Miss Umipig, done in a Miss World Beauty Pageant fashion.

Tuloy ang Ligaya
Tired but full of spirit, we go for picnic on the third day, as expected, sharing continues. Pick your choice. Tuloy ang ligaya and to update ourselves and renew contact with our own culture, there is a video showing in the evening.

 

Sad Goodbyes
The following day, we have the evaluation and planning of the next Umipig. Then without warning, the air goes dank unceremoniously with “Oh it’s crying time again, you gonna leave me”? Which sears the heart and forces us to say goodbye but not farewell to one another.

Healing for Homesickness
For us Umipigans (participants to the Umipig), after four days of reliving the Buhay Pinoy, eating, and drinking and praying the Filipino way, talking to Mother Tongue, and working many other things Filipino, we feel very much encouraged, strengthened and healed (of homesickness, especially). The feeling that you belong to one culture, the assurance that we are Filipinos around, the reliving of our own culture and tradition in a foreign land alone, is a whirlpool of moral support and inspiration. We suddenly realize how to rich and important our own culture is. Thee, begin to appreciate and be sensitive to the richness of another culture in which we are working. In the end, we feel that in the Umipig, you are but waft back to the beauty of your roots that you can be at home without being home. Come join us.

NOTE: One Umipigan, Fr. Pablo Garay, SVD from Bayombong, Pangasinan while officiating the concluding Umipig Mass told us the during the Last Supper, Christ was about to give the New Commandments but with no reason at all found Himself tongue-tied and said “Mag-Umipigan kayo” instead of saying “mag –ibigan kayo”.

 

Memories of Ethiopia

By: Fr. Edgardo Espiritu, SDB

Ethiopia has just emerged from a turbulent period in it’s history. Fr. Espiritu lived there during those 15 traumatic years. He shares with us some of his experiences.

The panoramic view I daily enjoy from my room, perched high on the tower of the Don Bosco  Retreat House in Mambucal, reminds me daily of a far away country, Ethiopia, where I spent almost fifteen years as a missionary. Of course, Mambucal except for the letter Mhas nothing to compare with Makale. Where I now see verdant forest, Makale can only boast of brownish desert sands. But then Makale was 9,000feet above see level, where as now I am only at a barely 1,000 feet. Each has a beauty all its own, as well as memories that are dear to me. One such memorable event would be my first meeting with the young who on May 3, 1992 will be ordained the FIRST ETHIOPIAN PRIEST.

I meet Fessehatson, in a very strange way.
It was early morning on Monday the third week of September 1982. I had gone to market and was preparing to o back to our Technical school when at the moment a young man of about 17 years old leaned on the hood of our Landrover. He looked tired, perspiring, panting as he unslung a huge grayish bag from his shoulder. As he massaged his aching shoulder he looked around, bewildered by the Divisoria like crowed of the Market, hawkers with their wares, children running around, the cacophony of braying, meighing, bleating and mooing of animals, the shouts of animal drivers and the throaty invitations of the market vendors.
While still mesmerized by this vision I approach him, “Salaam,” I said, “May I help you.” Salaam, I am lost, I would like to get in touch with a certain Abba Zememfes Qedus, of Don Bosco. But as you can see Sir, I am utterly lost.” The young man explained. Since I never wore any distinctive sign of my being priest, (Ethiopia was then a rigid Stalinist communist state as well as a rabid anti- Catholic Orthodox country) the young man never suspected my true identity, much less to ever think I was actually Zememfes Qedus. My name of Abba Zememfes Qedus is an Ethiopian name given to me by the Catholics. Abba means ‘father’ and Zememfes Qedus means ‘gift of the Holy Spirit’. Thus my name is ‘Father Gift of the Holy Spirit!’ “What do you want with Abba Zememfes Qedus, may I ask?” I inquired, “Well, I would like to be come a Salesian priest if he will accept me. I have finished my third year high school; soon I will pass the government exams and be ready for Philosophy, after that, regency, then Theology...”hey wait not so fast,” I interrupted his machine gun like enumeration of his life program. “I think Abba Zememfes Qedus will ask you, why do you want to join them. What will answer to that? “Well” he begun to with a toothy smile fit for a toothpaste commercial, “First of all my intentions is to do what Don Bosco did in Italy, that I will also do for the poor and abandoned youth of my country. Then I know that Salesians way of sanctity is a joyful one, no extraordinary penances, no special uniforms in other words they are normal! Lastly the technical work that too fascinates me. Well I can also say that I can contribute my years of study of Ethiopian Chant and Liturgy. I am almost a Debtera.” Almost a Debtera,” I thought. Well a Debtera is one who form boyhood had been trained by monks to help in the Liturgical functions in the churches. Then I saw him lift up his bag about to go in search of me. “Could I give you a ride,” I told him I know the Don Bosco residence, “just wait for a while I get some chalk for the school.” I came back ten minutes later and we rode off.
As we entered the compound of our Salesians residence I look back to see this young man seated on the back of the car, and I said, “Well here we are” I got out of the car he followed me. As soon as he was out of the car he knelt down and kissed my knees-out of filial respect and then give me nine kisses on the check as a sign of filial love.
“How did you know that I am Abba Zememfes Qedus?” I asked him in surprise. “The camel driver and the young man near the salt merchants shop told me so. But then I saw you surrounded by dozens of kids when you went off to buy the chalk. No Salesians priest is ever alone!! He will always have kids and young men around. I read and reread that in the book, ‘Smiling Don Bosco
I embrace him and said “Welcome son. Let pray that God who has begun all these will bring it to completion.” Little did I know then that would take place, on the very day that I would be installed as parish priest in Mambucal Don Bosco. Fessehatsion Andemariam on that same day will also be ordained! Lord how marvelous are your ways how inscrutable your deeds.

‘My intention is that what Don Bosco did in Italy, I will also do for the poor and abandoned youth in my country,