What the Pilgrims Say
Short Reflections on the Pilgrimage
Some of the pilgrims
Philippines
United with Father Vernon, a Pilgrimage to Remember
By Mary Joy Rile
The author is Editorial Assistant of MISYONonline.com and Columban Mission.
Prayer Service at St Mary Magdalene Parish Church, Pililla, Rizal
Columban missionaries and co-workers, with members of the Douglas family, gathered at 5:30am in Singalong St, Manila, on 28 September 2016, the feast day of the first Filipino martyr, St Lorenzo Ruiz. We were commemorating the life and death of Columban Father Francis Vernon Douglas, a New Zealander martyred in the Philippines in 1943. Riding on two buses, 68 of us started our pilgrimage with rain to grace our day, traffic to greet us in between and delays to test our endurance. But these challenges were a small sacrifice compared to the suffering that Fr Vernon bore.
The God of Surprises: Pilar and CLM Beginnings
By Fr Michael Martin
This is a slightly edited extract from the book Walking in Their Light, written by Columban Fr Michael Martin on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood last year, 2015. September 2016 marks the end of a year of events for the Silver Jubilee of the Columban Lay Missionaries (CLM).
L to R: Emma Pabera, Gloria Canama and Pilar Tilos
Three Filipinas, Emma Pabera, from Candoni, Pilar Tilos from Hinoba-an, both in Negros Occidental and the Diocese of Kabankalan, and Gloria Canama from Tangub City, Misamis Occidental, Archdiocese of Ozamiz, resigned from their work in 1990 and came together for an eight-month team-building program to prepare themselves to go as Columban Lay Missionaries to Pakistan. The three were hard-working and experienced teachers, all from families really close to the Columbans, and all exceptionally enthused about that missionary way of being Church, Pilar Tilos, who had coordinated physical education, and assisted in promoting sports, dance, and music in the public elementary schools of Hinoba-an, the southernmost municipality in Negros Occidental, had long felt called to mission. She applied, was accepted, and joined the first Columban Philippine Lay Mission Team, named ‘RP1’. ‘Larps’ - her nickname - was a great mimic and the life and soul of many a party and parish activity.
Meeting Mother Teresa
By Fr Michael Mohally
Mother Teresa with Fr Michael Mohally
Blessed Mother Teresa will be canonized by Pope Francis on Rome on 4 September. We are re-publishing this article by Columban Fr Michael Mohally who met the saint a number of times. We first printed it in the September-October 2003 issue of Misyon. Fr Mohally has spent most of his life as a priest working with Columban seminarians, in Ireland and the Philippines. He is now based in the Columban central house in Manila.
Logo for Canonization [Wikipedia]
The first time I was to have met Mother Teresa was in Hong Kong. I was asked to bring a package to her there from where she was to accompany Sisters into China to set up the first foundation of the Missionaries of Charity there. When I got to the convent I was told that the China foundation was on ‘hold’. Newspapers had got hold of the story and said that she was going there as the representative of the Pope. Rather than wait around, Mother Teresa had gone to Hanoi to set up a new foundation there.
By Their Sickbeds
By Louland Escabusa, cicm
The author, from Pilar, Bohol, is a seminarian of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (CICM). From 2011 until this year he was studying theology at CIFA - Communauté Internationale de Formation en Afrique (International Community for Formation in Africa). In September he is going to Hong Kong for a two- to three-year internship program.
Marina
Marina became a familiar scene. Every week there she was, seated on the bench just outside her room, often with her mother, a checkered shawl wrapped around her shoulders, her petite frame crowned with a contagious smile. The light in her eyes spoke of an enigmatic glee but couldn’t hide the pain and sorrow that almost gnawed away at her hope, her joy, and the very purpose of her being. Among the faces of patients that I encountered during my apostolate in the hospital hers was one of the few that left an indelible mark on me, making my apostolate meaningful and my integration in Cameroon enriching.
My Art Contribution for the Lay Mission Auction
By Cynthia Empleo
The author, from Bicol, worked as a Columban Lay Missionary in Fiji from 2000 until 2003. She is now the Administrative Assistant in the Mission Office at St Columban’s, Singalong Street, Manila.
It all started during the Advent retreat in 2015 for returned Columban Lay Missionaries (CLMs) living in Luzon. It was held at Little Flower Retreat House in Baguio. Columban Fr Finbar Maxwell, our retreat director, asked us to draw or just do any art thing to represent the reflections and emotions we were having during the retreat. I scribbled with the provided drawing paper and pastel colors. Over the course of two days I finished seven drawings.
A Man with a Heart of Flesh
Testimonies about Archbishop Patrick Cronin
Paulines RTV Davao Productions
Narrator: Brother Karl Gaspar CSsR
He would always speak well of people. ‘Don’t talk about their negative aspects or their weaknesses, but affirm people,’ he would say to us. I am very much reminded of Archbishop Patrick Cronin’s dedication to the Church as a good shepherd in the large Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro.
– Sr Mari Murillo FMM –
Saving the Blessed Sacrament
By John Lambert R. Minimo
The author graduated last March from the University of the East, Manila, where Columban Fr Bernard Martin, now 85, is chaplain. Lambert is a member of Opus Angelorum (The Third Order of the Order of the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross).
CDO Archdiocese Celebrates Archbishop Cronin’s 25th Death Anniversary
By Maria Monica L. Borja
This article was first published in Bag-ong Lamdag, the monthly newspaper of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, Vol. 4 No. 7, March 11- April 12, 2016. It has been slightly edited here.
February 19, 2016 marked the 25th death anniversary of Archbishop Patrick Henry Cronin SSC. The clergy, members of religious communities and the lay faithful of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro gathered for a tribute dedicated to his life and mission at Lourdes College auditorium on February 20.
Rising from the Ashes
By Fr John Keenan
The author is a Columban priest who celebrated the Golden Jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood last December and is from Ireland. Apart from some years working in Britain he has been in the Philippines since 1966.
Parola Compound, Tondo, Manila, is one of the largest shantytowns in the Philippines. It is in the capital, Manila, on a long stretch of low-lying land between the Pasig River and the busy North Harbor Shipping Terminal. It is the home to some 4,000 families. On 2 March 2015 a fire, which started from an unattended flame, swept swiftly through the whole area devouring everything in its path.