By Fr Ray Scanlon

Until I did the pilgrimage I did not know much about St Columban. To me he was a mythical figure of ages long ago, one who was not so human and who had extraordinary powers, superhuman ideals and expectations.

As we travelled in St Columban’s footsteps we heard a number of accounts about his life. I began to understand and admire him. He became alive and real rather than a distant historical figure.

At the beginning of the pilgrimage our leader, Fr Derry Healy, said, ‘We are a group of lay people, sisters and priests hoping to be touched by the people, places and cultures where St Columban traveled, setting up schools and monastic communities at the end of the sixth and the beginning of the seventh centuries’.

The highlight of the pilgrimage was offering Mass with my classmate, Fr Brian Gore, on the occasion of our 40th anniversary of ordination. We celebrated beside St Columban’s tomb in the crypt of the basilica in Bobbio, Italy. I felt feelings of gratitude to God, to my family, Columbans, the people of Korea, the benefactors of our mission Society and to St Columban himself.

Through the pilgrimage I have come to know St Columban as someone I could pray to in a personal way.

Basilica of St Columban, Bobbio, Italy. The basilica was built between 1462 and 1522.

At 3'40" into the video our editor uses the expression 'non-active violence' when he means 'active non-violence'.

‘Cada Dia Dios Me Saluda Atraves de su Pueblo’

From Peru to the Philippines

The author is a Columban lay missionary from Peru working in Cagayan de Oro City. Fr Rolly Aniscal, from Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental, has worked in Peru as a Columban missionary and is now one of our vocation directors, based in Manila.

‘En un pueblo olvidado no sé porqué
y su danza de moreno lo hace mover
en el pueblo lo llamaban negro José
amigo negro José.’

‘In a forgotten town I don’t know why
and his dark man’s dance makes him move.
In the town they call him Black José,
friend Black José.’

So opens El Candombé para José by Roberto Ternán sung by the Chilean group Illapu. Listening to it, I can’t help but think of the many forgotten people around me, many living on the side of the road like the blind man of Jericho. Listening, I hear the sound of the charango and guitar, of the bamboo flute and harmonica and of other instruments. I can’t help but think of the many ‘Josés’, friends who are marginalized, discriminated against and exploited by a system that does not favor the poor or, shall we say, does not favor those already impoverished.

By Ric Vincent M. Dumaog
(Introduction by Fr Oliver McCrossan)

By any standards, Ric Dumaog is an extraordinary young man. He was stricken with polio when only nine months old leaving him paralyzed in both legs. Despite his disability, he graduated with a degree in accountancy. Married with three young children, Ric is a founding member and president of STAND, an organization actively campaigning for persons with disabilities in Ozamiz City. Being very determined, he took up law studies and is now in his final year. He writes below about his life.