Volcano Priest
Chased from his parish by a volcano! That is the story of Fr. Laurence Lulkon. Little did I think when I taught Laurence as a seminarian in Fiji that I was preparing him to deal with volcanoes.
Wedding Season in Sindh
December, January and February are the wedding months. All the Parkari parishes here are busy attending weddings and being involved in some of the preparations. The wider Sindhi society is much the same. There are weddings on the move constantly.
My Morning Dose of Happiness
Every morning on my way to the office I often see a woman with a dog in a small playground outside the Columban office gate in Hong Kong. I often see both of them sitting on a bench while she would be talking on her phone.
The Princess of Paradise
I want to tell you about my friend David. Mind you, he prefers to be called Princess. He is known as the “Princess of Paradise.” Since I arrived on the Gold Coast (Australia) a little over two years ago, I usually rise before 5 a.m. and go for a walk along the beach.
Angel
"As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near, I have fought the good race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me, the crown of the righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of His return.
Inspiring One Another
On my first day of prison visitation, Ate (big sister) Sally accompanied me to Stanley prison where she gave me an introduction to the process from initial registration at the gate to visiting the inmates on the inside.
Goodbye to a Faith-Full Catechist
Then a young priest, I was appointed in 1975 to the islands of Kadavu, Fiji, which is about 60 miles from the capital of Suva. Over the years, Kadavu had not been well served. There were not enough priests, and so parishioners were visited only once in a while.
When the White Van Arrives ...
Situated close to the center of Birmingham, United Kingdom, Fatima House is operated by the Birmingham Archdiocese and the Columban Fathers and offers shelter for women asylum seekers.
Visit to Myanmar
It was a great privilege to have had the opportunity to visit Myanmar (formerly Burma) this year. As a Columban missionary it is a country that has always fascinated me.
Surrounded with Love
In her autobiography, St. Therese tells of a dream she had about a year before her death. At the time she was in a dark place, a storm was raging very strongly in her soul with no relief at all.
Keep Searching for God
I have been trying to track down the source of this quotation: “The first prerequisite for education is a willingness to sacrifice your prejudice on the altar of your spiritual growth.”
If I want to avoid prejudice, myself, maybe I should not concentrate on who said it, but on the thought content. It is an interesting quote in several ways. For one thing, whether it was written recently or decades ago, I think it is saying something important for our situation in contemporary American society. It seems that in many areas of our lives these days it is a rare person who has the willingness to sacrifice his or her prejudices on any “altar.”
The Columbans are a society of missionaries, including priests and lay people, who minister to people of various cultures as a way of witnessing to the universal love of God.