December 2015 - Columban Missionaries Britain

MAGAZINE OF THE COLUMBAN MISSIONARIES
The Subanen Christmas Story
A group of indigenous Filipinos express their
version of the Christmas story in art.
Not Without You
A Columban Sister found kindness and
acceptance among Seoul’s prostitutes.
A Modern-Day Prophet
A Japanese novelist with unique insights into
Christ’s acceptance of human weakness.
CONTENTS - DECEMBER 2015
PANORAMA
Panorama
08
10
12
The Way arose in 1964 through the work
of Kiko Arguello and Carmen Hernandez
to evangelise the slums of Madrid,
Spain. It is implemented in small parishbased communities of between 20-50
members. There are around 40,000 such
communities throughout the world, an
estimated million members. Resisting
such terms as organisation or movement,
the Way describes itself as a community,
at the service of the local bishop. Since
its foundation the Way has encountered
its fair share of criticism from both clergy
and theologians, but the dedication of its
missionary families has to be admired.
14
16
06
- Vida Nueva
05.Do You Know My Name?
Fr Tim Mulroy describes an
encounter with a homeless
man and his heartfelt plea to
be remembered by name.
10.Mission to the People’s Mall
Fr Mike Hoban saw an
opportunity to evangelise in
the annual Christmas Fair in
Santiago, Chile.
16.A Modern-day Prophet
Fr Barry Cairns writes about
Japanese novelist Shusaku
Endu and his novel “Silence”
shortly to be made into a film.
06.The Subanens and
the Story of Christmas
Fr Vincent Busch worked with
the indigenous Subanens to
express Christmas in art.
12. The Greatest Learning
Fr Cathal Gallagher, who
works with HIV/AIDS patients,
noticed a change between the
patients and their families.
18.Obituaries
19.Reflections
20. Saints for our Times
21. Stories from the Bible
22. Children’s Section
08.Not Without You
Sr Miriam Cousins remembers
her work with prostitutes in
Seoul, Korea and the kindness
she found among them.
14.A Church in the Firing Line
An interview with Bishop
Raymond Sumlut Gam, whose
diocese is in the north-east,
the Kachin area of Myanmar.
2 –– FAR EAST
Youngest ‘Auditor’
Three-month-old Davide, was brought
along each day to the recent Synod on the
Family by his parents Massimo (45) and
Patrizia (41). Both Romans by birth, they
have twelve children, six boys and six girls.
They are itinerant catechists, members of
the Neocatechumenal Way, also known
as the NCW or The Way. In 2004, the
couple made themselves available to
be sent anywhere in the world as a
missionary family. Their present location
is in Maastricht, in the Dutch Diocese of
Roermond. Invited by Pope Francis to
participate in the Synod on the Family, they
arrived each morning at the Synod Hall, with
young Davide in his baby-carriage.
Fidelity to Promises is a Masterpiece
of Humanity
At his General Audience during the second
week of the Synod on the Family, Pope
Francis reflected on the promise of love and
fidelity made between husbands and wives,
which, he said, is the basis of all family life.
Highlighting how the family is founded on
promise, he said, “A family that closes in on
itself is the death of the promise that gave it
birth,” for the identity of a family is a promise
that expands all humanity.
The Argentine Pope admitted that
nowadays this promise is at times called
into question, and seen as somehow
opposed to personal freedom. The truth,
however, he underscored, is that our
freedom is shaped and sustained by our
fidelity to the choices and commitments we
make throughout life. In our daily efforts to
keep our word, he told those gathered, our
fidelity grows. - Zenit
The Blue Marists of Syria
Robert J. Wicks reported that he was
back from Beirut, where he presented
a workshop on resilience to a group of
laywomen, laymen and Marist Brothers of St
John of God, known locally as Blue Marists,
serving refugees in war-ravaged Aleppo,
Syria. For them, remaining resilient takes
enormous effort and great faith that must be
focused if it is to remain and maybe flourish
rather than burn out. When resilience does
deepen and grow, those who experience
it realise that it is not the darkness that
matters; it is how we stand in that darkness.
They discovered key words that can aid any
of us during experiences of loss, betrayal,
anxiety, stress and darkness. They are
community, faithfulness, prayerfulness
and humility. Community represents a
psychological and spiritual stalwart in times
of challenge. It helps us to appreciate the
Cameroonian saying, “If you wish to go fast,
go alone. If you wish to go far, go together.”
Faithfulness is also an essential word,
especially when we are up against such
great odds. When the caregivers were
ready to scream in frustration and with a
sense of failure, “I can’t do it any longer
— I must leave what I am doing,” they also
began to appreciate the need to recast their
perspectives to recognise that success is
not what really matters. It is faithfulness.
Prayerfulness is a third key aspect that
surfaced. What is needed is a prayer life
that is open to seeing God everywhere and
finding meaning in new and deeper ways
when life is traumatic and tough.
Three-month-old Davide at the
Synod on the Family with his
parents Massimo and Patrizia.
“
Invited by Pope
Francis to participate
in the Synod on the
Family, they arrived
each morning at the
Synod Hall, with
young Davide in his
baby-carriage.
”
The final word is humility. Experiencing this
virtue helps us to not be guilty of either the
extreme of inordinate self-doubt on the one
hand, or unwarranted self-confidence on the
other. The Blue Marists who work and live in
Syria are surrounded in darkness, but a light
within leads them to stay and help. They
have learned to resiliently face the darkness.
- National Catholic Reporter
DECEMBER 2015 –– 3
The Far East: Published
seven times yearly by the
Missionary Society of St
Columban (Maynooth
Mission to China).
Its purpose: To promote an
awareness of the missionary
dimension of the Church
among readers; report
on the work of Columban
priests, Sisters and lay
missionaries; seek spiritual
and material support for
missionaries.
Subscription:
£5 a year. Cheques/postal
orders to be made payable
to: “The Columban Fathers”
Editor: Cyril Lovett SSC
[email protected]
Assistant Editor:
Sr Redempta Twomey
Layout & Editorial Assistant:
Breda Rogers
Manager: Tom O’Reilly SSC
Original Design: Tanika, Dublin
Printers:
Southern Print, Dorset
Columban Websites
News, reports, reflections etc.
www.columbans.co.uk
www.columbansisters.org
Missionary Society of
St Columban
Widney Manor Road,
Knowle, Solihull, West
Midlands, B93 9AB.
Tel: (01564) 772096
Columban Sisters
209 Quebec Drive, East
Kilbride, Glasgow, G75 8BB.
Tel: (013552) 38312
Cover: A Subanen family from
the forested mountains of the
Zamboanga peninsula in the
Philippines (see pp 6-7).
4 –– FAR EAST
EDITORIAL
JAPAN
Unto Us A Child Is Born
Do You Know My Name?
By Fr Tim Mulroy
Christmas is the feast that celebrates
the ultimate Good News. We celebrate
the fact that the God of all creation
has brought his extraordinary plan to
completion. Over millennia, this God
guided his chosen people. With infinite
patience he gradually purified their
concept of himself; he clarified the
false images in the deities of their more
powerful neighbours, and gave rise to
the hope of a Redeemer, a suffering
servant to come.
When, at last, the event came to
pass, it was even more amazing than
we could possibly have imagined.
God sent his only Son in the form
of a helpless baby - frail, vulnerable,
dependent as only a human infant can
be. Our ignorance, fear and guilt had
made us distance ourselves from God.
In the Incarnation, we celebrate “Godwith-us”, a tiny child, reaching out in
friendship and love.
God in the child Jesus is not asking
to be served in any way that implies
that we are supplying his need,
or supporting him, or offering him
something that he does not own by
right. In other words, if we want what
Jesus has to give us we can’t buy it,
we can’t earn it, or trade for it. All we
can do is to submit to his extraordinary
offer to be our servant.
And this submission is called faith - a
willingness to let him be God; to trust
him to be the Supplier, the Counselor,
the Guide and Saviour of our lives.
Christmas is not about us, it is about
God. We are invited to be satisfied
with all that God is for us in Jesus. It
means that the infinitely self-sufficient
God has come be enjoyed by us.
He assures us that his love is total,
and that he loves us exactly as we are.
Nothing that we have done in our lives
can ever change, or has ever changed,
his love for us. He simply can’t stop
loving us, warts and all. And his mercy
is everlasting.
“
Why does he
seem more
concerned
about his name
than about the
hot tea and
rice cakes I am
offering him?
”
Unto us a child is born.
What is asked of us is to let him be
God: to acknowledge his offer to be
our servant. We are asked to let him
into our hearts. We are asked to stop
trying to earn his love. Surely he came
as a helpless new-born baby into a
poor family, in a forgotten corner of the
Roman Empire, so that we might not
be scared, might no longer distance
ourselves, but might accept him with
warm, open, loving hearts.
Christmas is all about this child. It is
all about the gift freely offered that
we cannot buy. He is the gift offered
for our life, for our enjoyment: he is
the ground of our hope. If we humbly
accept his love as we do when we
open ourselves to any new-born child,
he can and will transform us from
within. There must be peace between
us and God: our unbelief, the wrath
that we so unjustly project onto him
must be removed. That is our deepest
peace - and our deepest need at
Christmas. Once there is peace
between God and ourselves, there is a
real possibility of peace on earth.
H
e was another homeless man who
had found himself a place to sleep
alongside ten or fifteen others in the
underground walkway of Fujisawa train
station. After ten o'clock at night, when the
station had grown quiet, these men used
to set out their mats and settle down for
the night. Before they fell asleep, however,
a small group of us, drawn from the
membership of several Christian churches,
provided them with hot tea, rice cakes and
warm blankets. We also used to spend a
few moments chatting with each of them.
One night after I had exchanged greetings
with one of these men, he looked me
straight in the eye and asked, “Do you know
my name?” His question surprised me. “No,
I don’t”, I replied sheepishly. Then I started
wondering to myself, as the only nonJapanese person in this group of volunteers,
why is he asking me this question? Why
does he seem more concerned about his
name than about the hot tea and rice cakes
I am offering him? However, he just stood
there looking at me. Then he said gently,
“My name is Honda. Can you remember it?
Please don’t forget it.”
C.L.
In that very moment, it was as a window
opened in my mind, and I no longer saw this
man simply as another homeless person,
but rather as a unique human being who
longed to be recognised and called by his
name: Mr Honda. Living as a homeless
man who had already lost his job, his home
and his family, the threat of losing even his
name must have felt like the loss of his very
self. He was in grave danger of becoming a
‘nobody’.
In that moment I realised that for Mr
Honda, being called by his name was
much more important than hot tea and rice
cakes. I quickly reassured him that I would
remember his name, and after I had said
good-night to him I promised myself that
from then on I would always greet him as Mr
Honda. My heart was still full of the emotion
of that encounter as I returned to the church
around midnight.
The next morning, as I entered the parish
office, the parish administrator looked
unusually serious. “What’s up?”, I inquired.
His response was slow and deliberate.
“Remember the homeless man with whom
you had a long chat at the station last
night?” “Yes”, I responded, “Mr Honda”.
Then he continued, “Late last night he
became ill and was rushed to the local
hospital. He died there a short time ago.”
As I tried to grasp this sad news, suddenly
I got a glimpse of the immense joy that Mr
Honda must have felt when God called him
by his name and led him home. v
Fr Tim Mulroy served in Japan and is at present
the Director of the US Region.
Pictured above is of a
homeless man in a Tokyo
railway station.
DECEMBER 2015 –– 5
PHILIPPINES
The Subanens and
the Story of Christmas
Like Mary, Subanen women also give
birth in simple shelters with their farm
animals kept safely nearby. Subanens know
that, in such circumstances, a mother needs
supportive care and so when we created
manger scenes we portrayed a helpful
Joseph who cleaned the stable, repaired
the manger, gathered firewood, fetched
water, made a warming fire, cooked a meal,
and watched over Jesus as Mary rested.
l
By Fr Vincent Busch
carried out military operations which often
included indiscriminate killing. And now,
mining companies want to bulldoze their
remaining habitat. Slowly, the Subanens are
being evicted from their forest home. The
“innkeepers” of extractive industries and of
warring political factions have no room for
the Subanens in their world.
01
“
When Subanens
hear the Christmas
story they say
Joseph and Mary
are like us.
”
T
he Gospels give us a good idea of
the joys, fears, and struggles that
Mary and Joseph experienced that
first Christmas. Jesus was born after his
parents had walked 100 kilometers often
over rugged terrain. Mary gave birth in
a stable because there was no room for
them in the Inn. Then, after visits from
shepherds and wise men, Mary and Joseph
had to flee to avoid Herod’s soldiers. Over
the past several decades the Subanen
people have experienced similar joys, fears,
and struggles. When Subanens hear the
Christmas story they say Joseph and Mary
are like us.
The Subanens are an indigenous people
who live in the forested mountains of the
Zamboanga peninsula in the Philippines. For
centuries, they fished, hunted, gardened,
and foraged for their food, medicine, and
household needs. They also formed a close
spiritual relationship with their tropical
habitat and they celebrated that relationship
in song, dance, and ritual. Since the 1950s
land-hungry settlers from other parts of
the Philippines pushed the shy Subanens
deeper into the forest. In the 1960’s and
70’s logging companies chain-sawed
their forest. Then, in the 1970’s and 80’s,
armed conflict broke out in the peninsula
as government and anti-government forces
6 –– FAR EAST
Responding to the beauty and to the pain
of the Subanen people the Columban
Sisters started the Subanen Ministry. For
over 30 years the Sisters have worked with
Subanen elders and leaders to find healthy
and sustainable ways to protect, nurture,
and celebrate the Subanen culture and their
endangered habitat. In 2001, with the help
of the Subanen Ministry, I began working
with Subanens to form a livelihood project
in which they could use of their traditional
crafting skills to make saleable jewelry,
mandalas, children’s books, and cards.
Income from the Subanen Craft Project
helps the Subanen artists provide food,
education, housing, and health care for their
families. This income is especially useful
during the “hunger season” which is the
lean time between harvests.
Subanens have seen armed
men killing innocent people,
and they know the fear and
sorrow of having to evacuate
their homes and farms to save
themselves and their children
from such killings. And so
when we created cards about
their Flight to Egypt we drew
attention a frightened and
sorrowful Mary and Joseph as
they fled Herod soldiers and
wept for the innocents.
l
Over the years the Subanen artists have
crafted Christmas cards whose subject
matter connected their experiences with
the experiences of Mary and Joseph in
Bethlehem. My contribution to the cardmaking process is to listen carefully to
the Subanens and to study their habitat.
Then, with their corrective help, I draw and
re-draw card designs until we agree that
the images were true to the Christmas
story and true to the Subanen story. Then,
after the finished designs are printed on
card stock, the Subanen artists transform
the images into works of art. With colored
pencils they carefully tint each mountain,
hill, and stone, and with razor-sharp blades
they cut out each human figure and inlay
the figures with colored paper. Each year
it takes us about 2 months to design the
cards and another 5 months to craft them.
Here are four examples:
l Subanens walk every day over
precarious mountain trails, and so when we
designed cards about the journey of Joseph
and Mary to Bethlehem we highlighted
how they carefully helped each other and
their donkey through the rugged hills to
Bethlehem.
Subanens know that the
food they eat, the water they drink, the
homes they build, the air they breathe, and
the beauty they behold, depend on the soil,
rivers, plants and animals of their habitat.
They also know that their habitat is a gift
from God. And so we
crafted cards that thanked
the God of Creation who
so loved the world that He
sent us His Son.
l
My journey with the
Subanen artists is an
ongoing reflection about
living and working within
the limits of God’s
creation. It is a mutually
beneficial experience.
The Subanen artists get
to work in a project that
provides them with modest livelihoods
and I get to behold the miracle of creation
through the eyes of a people who gracefully
cooperate with that miracle. v
Fr Vincent has worked in Mindanao since 1975.
Unfortunately, we do not currently have these
cards in stock. However, they can be preordered in packs of five for Christmas 2016 by
contacting Stephen Awre at our Solihull office.
01. Fr Vincent with a young
Subanen mother and her
children.
02. Another Subanen works to
create Christmas cards.
This page - samples of the
Christmas cards available.
Photos courtesy of the author.
02
DECEMBER 2015 –– 7
KOREA
Not Without You
By Sr Miriam Cousins
I
f I were to describe my
twelve years ministering to
prostitutes, I would have
to say I felt truly powerless
on the one hand and deeply
aware of God’s presence
on the other. God’s love and
compassion seemed very
much alive in that dark and
pain-filled world. Sometimes I
could almost feel God’s tears
as I looked into the eyes of
someone not much more
than a child waiting…
The area I visited in
downtown Seoul had nearly
200 brothels with around
1,500 young women working
in them. Cut off from the
outside world, there were big
notices forbidding anyone
under 18 years to enter. The
streets were too narrow for
any kind of transport which
meant that when walking
past the brothels you were
very close to the girls. They
were sitting in what only can
be described as large shop
windows, right on to the
narrow streets. The french
doors were always fully open
even in the cold of winter.
01
“
One evening
one of them
said, ‘You will
surely go to
Heaven.’ ‘Not
without you,’
I answered.
I won’t go to
Heaven alone.
”
8 –– FAR EAST
I used to visit every evening. I will never
forget my very first visit to the area;
embarrassed, uneasy and even ashamed,
I wanted to run away. Looking at ranks of
young girls sitting in neat rows, waiting for
some man to come in and pick them out
from their companions, to take them into a
back room and there to do as they pleased
with them was horrifying. I knew from the
beginning that I was not welcome. On
the third night I was questioned by three
different people in that notorious red-light
district. I thought, ‘They’re on to me’. They
had to be the men, maybe pimps, on the
lookout for intruders and no doubt I fitted
that category. But I also felt that the only
thing to do was to take the bull by the horns
and go again the next evening even though
my legs were shaking. But nobody stopped
me and I never again got the feeling I was
being followed. In fact sometimes if a
customer annoyed me the girls immediately
came to my rescue. As I got into things and
became accepted, I sometimes sat with the
girls as they waited for the men. On more
than one occasion a customer pointed me
out, in spite of my greying hair and dowdy
dress. The girls would immediately shout,
“No! No! You can’t have her!”
From the beginning I decided that the
best way to carry out this ministry was to
go alone. I did not want to be a threat to
anyone. My vulnerability made contacts
easier. At first I just went around and said
hello to the young girls sitting in neat rows
behind the large french doors under a blaze
of neon lights. There was also a Madame
out on the street doing her best to get
the men, who were usually in groups, to
come into their brothel before the next door
Madame took over. There was on-going
competition between them.
The young girls were not what is usually
thought of as a prostitute - scantily dressed
with heavy makeup, bold and unafraid,
walking the street and trying to attract any
male who happened to walk past. In these
brothels the girls were dressed to give the
impression of innocent, docile, obedient
young ladies. In those days many of them
dressed in white gowns which looked more
like wedding dresses. People often say
that prostitution is a free choice. I think a
lot depends on what you mean by freely
chosen. Many of these young girls came
from broken or abusive families. One girl
told me of how she was gang raped. She
was one of the few who went to the police.
When her family heard she went to the
police they totally rejected her. She was
sent away and, with no place to go, she
ended up in a brothel. Many were teenagers
who had run away from home; they went
looking for work in job centres which were
often only a front for pimps. The staff there
gave the girls large sums of money to buy
some new clothes and make-up and come
back in a few days. They were then caught
in a web, unable to break free.
03
02
And so there was I, in this hellish place, like
some kind of mad woman saying ‘Hello’ to
this most uninterested group of women, as
I walked slowly past one brightly lit brothel
after another. It was some time before
anyone answered my greeting. But it came
like Christ and with Christmas.
I had been visiting the area every evening
for three months. There were a few girls
who answered my greeting. So I prepared
Christmas cards for them and delivered
them in person on Christmas Eve. I then
took a week’s break before venturing out
again. Then to my great surprise at the end
of one street a girl jumped up from her seat,
ran towards me and handed me a gift. I was
so touched. I have no idea what I said to
her but I’m sure my reaction spoke volumes.
When I got home I opened the gift – three
white furry miniature dogs who seemed
to look up at me. I brought them to the
convent and placed them in the Crib with
the other animals where they appeared year
after year. They were a gentle reminder to
all of us of these lost young women and of
Christ’s great love for them.
Slowly more and more people began to
accept me and even look forward to my
coming. I would sit chatting with a group
of Madams; they knew I was not there to
exploit them, that I had great respect for
the girls, that I did not judge them. In some
cases I was even welcomed into the brothel
where I would sit with the girls who were
waiting for their customers. But I knew that
the owner was watching my every move
through a one-way glass window. I hoped
to give the girls my phone number and
invite them to the small shelter I had set up
for those who wished to come. Usually only
those who had courage to leave the brothel
came, and not without risk. One night a girl
ran out to me and asked if I would teach her
English. This was an opportunity I could not
miss. “Of course,” I said and invited her to
come to the small shelter where I lived in
community with girls like her, all hoping for a
way out of prostitution. She came and when
I told her she was welcome to stay she was
so surprised, she could not believe it was
really happening to her. We were able to
help her recover her true self and then get
her a job and a new beginning in life. She
is a friend to this day and often cries when
she remembers and talks of how she might
have been if I had not opened this door for
her. She is a good Protestant but always
wears my Rosary ring.
I was probably a good while in the area
when some of the women started calling
me Angel. “Here comes the Angel,” they
would say. One evening one of them said,
“You will surely go to Heaven.” “Not without
you,” I answered. I won’t go to Heaven
alone. I hope she remembers these words.
They came from my heart.
I will never know if my years with these
women was any help to most of them, it
was an experience of powerlessness for
me. But I do know that God was with me in
it all, and I learned a lot about God’s gentle
presence and compassion as I walked
those streets. v
Sr Miriam Cousins has served for almost
40 years in Korea. She was also honoured
by the Korean Government for her work with
HIV/AIDS patients.
01. Sr Miriam Cousins
outside one of the brothels.
02. Madame’s post outside
on the street.
03. The closed door of a
brothel.
Photos courtesy of the author.
DECEMBER 2015 –– 9
CHILE
Mission to the People’s Mall
xxxxx
01
02
W
There is no doubt
that the Ferias
Navideñas are
a tribute to the
resourcefulness
of the poor but
at the same time
they present a
challenge to the
way in which
Chileans have
celebrated
Christmas.
”
10 –– FAR EAST
St Columban Stamp
nights before Christmas, a group of eight
missionaries joined me in a plaza in the
middle of the Feria Navideña. Armed with
a portable amplifying system, we sang
traditional Chilean Christmas hymns. The
Christmas story was read from one of
the Gospels and I gave a short homily
reminding the shoppers of the meaning of
the Birth of Christ and the way in which
Chileans traditionally have celebrated the
feast of the Incarnation. Then we prayed
together for all the families in the area.
“
”
“
By Fr Michael Hoban
ith the return of democracy,
Chile began to experience a new
prosperity. The signs of that new
prosperity are visible in the many new cars
on the road, the building of skyscrapers in
the center of Santiago, the use of credit
cards and the new shopping malls which
have sprung up in different parts of the city.
The problem with this new prosperity is that
the country’s wealth is not fairly distributed.
The OECD (Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development) publishes
a Better Life Index which reveals that the
top 20% of Chile’s population has a median
income of US $38,697 dollars per year
while the bottom 20% live on less than
US$3,000 dollars per year.
In the days before Christmas, Santiago’s
shopping malls are crowded with
consumers window-shopping or buying gifts
for Christmas. The malls are not located
close to the poorest areas of the city, and
families in these areas prefer to avoid the
costs of travelling to the shopping malls.
Instead, they have found another solution:
La Feria Navideña (The Christmas Fair).
These are open-air markets where local
residents set up stalls on the street and sell
all kinds of things: costume jewelry, toys,
clothes, perfumes and toiletries, handicrafts,
DVDs, books etc. Many of the stalls sell
food: sandwiches, ice cream, pastries etc.
In the evenings of the Chilean summer,
03
04
the ferias are packed with people doing
the exact same things which the better-off
are doing in the shopping malls: windowshopping, eating and buying affordable
gifts. The stalls open around 7.00 p.m. and
close shortly after midnight.
There is no doubt that the Ferias Navideñas
are a tribute to the resourcefulness of the
poor but at the same time they present a
challenge to the way in which Chileans
have celebrated Christmas. The traditional
Chilean way of celebrating Christmas had a
very set order: participation in the Misa del
Gallo (Midnight Mass), the family Christmas
supper, exchange of gifts and visits to
neighbors. The celebration of Christmas
was centered on faith and family. Now, on
Christmas Eve, most of the stalls stay open
until after midnight accommodating last
minute shoppers. That means that they do
not participate in the Misa del Gallo and
instead rush home to prepare the Christmas
supper. So Christmas celebrations are less
centered on faith and family and more on
consumerism.
In the Columban parish of San Matías
on the outskirts of Santiago, a group of
lay people decided to do something to
remind their fellow pobladores (residents
of the poorer housing estates) of the real
meaning of Christmas. A mission to one of
the local markets was organised. Several
Once this short liturgy was finished, the
missionaries spread out through the market
to hand out a simple poster which could be
placed in the window of the homes of the
people. The message of the poster was “En
esta familia esperamos la venida de Jesús”
(In this family, we are waiting for the coming
of Jesus.) We repeated the same liturgy in
two more locations in the market. When the
missionaries handed out the posters, they
invited their friends and neighbors to place
the poster in one of the windows of their
homes. With few exceptions, the poster
was accepted gratefully. The missionaries
also extended an invitation to participate in
the Misa del Gallo on Christmas Eve. I am
happy to report that the Mission worked.
On Christmas Eve, the local chapel of
Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) was packed.
Some of the stalls were still open but many
had packed up and gone home to celebrate
Christmas the proper Chilean way. Next
year, we hope to continue the Mission in
several more Ferias Navideñas. v
Michael, an American Columban, has worked in
Chile for more than 40 years.
01. Poster distributed for family homes reads:
“In this familia we are waiting for the coming of
Jesus”.
02. One of the stall-holders at the Fair.
0.3, 04. Parishioners spreading the Good News.
Photos courtesy of the author.
A new postage stamp commerating the 1,400th anniversary of the
death of St Columban was launched by An Post at St Columbans,
Dalgan Park, Navan on 22nd October 2015. The stamp features a
photograph of the Harry Clarke stained-glass window in Mount St
Joseph’s Abbey, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary.
Making
your
Will?
Please
remember
the needs of
the Columban
missions.
Without
your help
we cannot
continue
our work.
Missionary Society
of St Columban,
Widney Manor Road,
Knowle, Solihull,
West Midlands,
B93 9AB.
Any
Old Irish
Currency?
Sincere thanks
to our readers
who have sent their
pre-Euro currency as
a donation for
the missions.
We are most grateful
for your generosity.
Donations can
be sent to
Missionary Society
of St Columban,
Widney Manor Road,
Knowle, Solihull,
West Midlands,
B93 9AB.
DECEMBER 2015 –– 11
PERU
The Greatest Learning
By Fr Cathal Gallagher
to speak to Him. Someone said to Him,
“Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are
standing outside seeking to speak to You.”
But Jesus answered the one who was
telling Him and said, “Who is My mother
and who are My brothers?” And stretching
out His hand toward His disciples, He
said, “Behold My mother and My brothers!
For whoever does the will of My Father
who is in heaven, he is My brother and
sister and mother.”
It costs those of us who work in educational
activities or advocacy, or the influencing
of public policy in the context of HIV and
AIDS, to become aware of the necessary
biblical, theological and pastoral re-reading
of Scripture, that dialogue with individuals
and groups affected by the HIV epidemic
demands from us. We resist considering
that for us Christians the epidemic goes
way beyond the medical aspects, and is
not exclusively a health issue. The hub that
moves our Christian communities cannot
be the virus, or the modes of transmission
or the effects on the immune system, but
rather we must look at the effects our work
has on our system of beliefs.
01
“
By far the greatest
change that I
have witnessed
is the change
in relationships
between those who
are affected and
their families.
”
12 –– FAR EAST
I
have often been asked, “What is the
biggest change you have seen since
you started working pastorally with
people affected by HIV and AIDS?” I have
pondered this question. I could say that
seeing those affected, self-manage and
re-take their lives, is one of the most obvious
changes that has occurred during these last
10 years, but that would be to stay on the
superficial level of what is happening. By far
the greatest change that I have witnessed is
the change in relationships between those
who are affected and their families.
I am reminded of the verses in Matthew’s
Gospel: “While He was still speaking
to the crowds, behold, His mother and
brothers were standing outside, seeking
The central concern for Christian
communities is not the virus but rather the
misconceptions of purity that arise from
a mistaken and fundamentalist reading of
Scripture. As Christians we are moved by
the stigma and marginalization that still
affects and impacts on our brothers and
sisters living with HIV. Many church people
still look on people living with HIV as
promiscuous, as more impure than the rest
of us, showing the very essence of attitudes
that Jesus challenged the church people of
his time to re-examine.
It is always very dangerous and ideologically
incorrect to interpret social reality in terms
of better and worse, above and below,
because soon we tend to juxtapose and
reach conclusions of, upper and lower,
more and less, North and South, black
and white, heterosexual and homosexual.
This way of seeing reality and life is totally
contrary to the call we receive from Jesus
of Nazareth to live the Gospel. Many of
02
our ways of describing reality come from
imposed conventions. Let us take the
example of maps of the world with the
North on top and the South below. This
view corresponds to an ideological position
that has nothing to do with reality. It would
be equally correct to have maps of the
world where Africa and South America
faced North, and Europe, Asia and North
America were placed below towards the
South, but the power of our conventions
inhibits us from seeing that we live with
ideological prejudices. We must constantly
ask ourselves if our way of thinking and
expressing ourselves can lead to prejudice
and the marginalization of others.
Jesus of Nazareth has shown us that God is
a very personalised living presence among
his people and all peoples; Emmanuel, God
with us. Within the promise of His project
comes a full life for all. Christians are those
who, with others, come together in the
common purpose of building more human
relationships, based on equality, where
the weak, the excluded and those who
are marginalised, occupy a special place,
because we believe that difference does not
change the need to recognise that all have
the same rights and the same dignity.
However, for a change towards the
recognition of the dignity and rights of all
to happen, experience has shown us that
all sides need to be cured and healed, and
03
not only those living with illnesses. Those
outside are treated as different; those with
HIV need to regain confidence and hope in
the Christian community and to know that
Christians neither want to be triumphalist
nor judgmental. Christian communities
need to show that the core of our pastoral
action is to build bridges of inclusion and
reconciliation. This healing can only take
place when everyone recognises that we
all need the intervention and mediation of
Jesus of Nazareth. Rich and poor, Jew and
Greek, young and old, black and white, gay
and straight, we all need to be healed of our
disbelief, doubts, fears and prejudices.
This is the change that I have seen in the
families of those who are affected by a
member living with HIV. Many of them
have been able to make the necessary
transition to overcome prejudice, stigma and
discrimination and accept the person living
with HIV as a sister or brother, daughter or
son. We have a lot to learn from the families
thus affected and we need to open up the
doors of our communities to make them
welcome and learn from them.
“Behold My mother and My brothers! For
whoever does the will of My Father who is
in heaven, he is My brother and sister and
mother.” v
Cathal has worked in Peru for thirty years.
01. Fr Cathal Gallagher, left,
with a member of his team.
The notice reads “It is better
to know: take the test”.
02. Another team-member
with the notice “December
1st: World Day of Struggle
against HIV/AIDS.” “Prison
is not prevention”.
03. A group workshop at
Cathal’s Centre.
DECEMBER 2015 –– 13
MYANMAR
A Church in the Firing Line
AC: What was the immediate cause of
the present conflict?
RSG: Since the 1960s several ethnic
groups have been in armed conflict
with the central government and some
have made agreements in recent years
but the Kachin problem got worse. The
immediate cause of the present conflict
was an armed confrontation between
Kachins and government forces near a
huge hydroelectric power construction on
Taping River about 21 miles to the north
east of Banmaw town which would have a
devastating impact on the local population.
01
Interview with Bishop
Raymond Sumlut Gam
from Myanmar (Burma)
“
At times when I
visit the camps
and see the
situation I
want to cry.
But thank God
faith remains, a
hoping against
hope. I can
still encourage
people and pray
for them, and
with them.
”
14 –– FAR EAST
Alo Connaughton: To start, can you
briefly describe your diocese?
Bishop Raymond: The diocese of
Banmaw is in the far north of Myanmar, in
Kachin State which is wedged in between
India and China. Our diocese covers an area
of 10,741 square kilometres and has a total
civil population of about 340,000 people.
AC: You became bishop of the new
Diocese of Banmaw in 2006. At the
time you had great dreams and plans;
have you been able to put them into
practice?
RSG: The answer is no and there are a
number of reasons for that. We began
making realistic plans for our new diocese
which had limited resources. We had been
promised funding from outside for our
educational and development projects and
just as we were ready to start the armed
conflict in Kachin State began again and we
could do very little.
AC: There are other underlying
political reasons?
RSG: Yes. The Kachins are one of many
very distinct ethnic groups in the country.
They are resisting central government
efforts at total assimilation at the expense
of their own quite different culture. They are
demanding respect for their basic rights.
They are not looking for independence but
for a federal arrangement.
AC: Have you as a Kachin experienced
discrimination?
RSG: Often. The first time was as a 16
year-old when I was imprisoned for two
days under suspicion of being an insurgent
because I had no ID card – something I
couldn’t get until I was 17. Kachin meant
‘suspect.’
AC: Are natural resources an issue in
the conflict?
RSG: Kachin State has great natural
resources including the largest jade
mine in the world, forests, minerals and
hydroelectric potential. Sadly now a lot of
land-grabbing is taking place all over the
country and poor people who have owned
the land for generations are being driven off.
AC: Are many people being killed and
injured in the conflict?
RSG: The death toll is not so high but
03
02
everywhere I go I meet people who are
missing some of their limbs or carrying
serious injury. This can almost be a fate
worse than death since so many are
manual workers. Because of the lack of
opportunities to earn a living there is an
increase in the trafficking of women, timber
and drugs in our area.
AC: What effect is the war having on
your diocese?
RSG: We have 13 parishes in the diocese
of Banmaw with a total population of about
30,000 Catholics. Many of these parishes
were started by Columban missionaries.
The people of nine of those 13 parishes
are now displaced. Of the 56,000 people
in camps for Internally Displaced People
(IDPs) about 20,000 are Catholics. We
spend a lot of our resources helping all
those in camps, Catholic or not. It is very
difficult to carry on normal Church life with
that kind of situation.
AC: Does that mean that everything
has come to a standstill?
RSG: No! The diocese has 22 priests, 62
sisters and 183 catechists and very good
involvement of lay volunteers. Early in 2014
we were finally able to hold a Diocesan
Synod with the involvement of many lay
people where we decided on our plans
and strategies for the future. We have
programmes in place for training in Bible
studies, faith formation and spirituality.
We also have programmes for the
promotion of justice and peace, education,
health and livelihood. And of course we
continue to help IDPs. A small example
of new initiatives in faith formation is the
involvement of teenage volunteers in the
teaching of catechism to children. They are
young and dynamic teachers and are very
successful.
AC: People look to you, the bishop,
for hope and inspiration in desperate
times. Is that a difficult situation to
find yourself in?
RSG: I get encouragement from the stories
the people tell me, for example stories of
the dangers they faced when they were
near the front lines of the conflict – some
thought they would never get out alive. They
go in faith, they pray and all kinds of small
miracles are happening all the time. At times
when I visit the camps and see the situation
I want to cry. But thank God faith remains,
a hoping against hope. I can still encourage
people and pray for them, and with them.
As we know from Scripture faith and hope
have a long and persistent history. v
Bishop Raymond was interviewed by Fr Alo
Connaughton in May of this year. Fr Alo presently
divides his time as a teacher between seminaries
in Bangkok and Beijing.
01. Bishop Raymond Sulut
Gam.
02. Bishop Raymond on
the occasion of his visit to
Dalgan. Seated on either
side of the bishop are, left,
Fr Colm Murphy and Fr
David Wall, both of whom
served in Burma.
DECEMBER 2015 –– 15
A Modern-day Prophet
By Fr Barry Cairns
For Endo, the Gospels have an eternal
present tense. Jesus himself experienced
human weakness, emptiness, betrayal,
bullying and misunderstanding. He
accepted his frail human disciples in their
failure and betrayal. Jesus is the same
today. Like his chief character in Silence,
Endo asks, did Judas too, in the end,
respond to Jesus’ tender compassion?
Endo trusts that he did. He writes, “I have
tried to depict the kind-hearted, maternal
aspect of God, revealed to us in the
personality of Jesus”.
02
01
“
Endo maintains
that it is
the human
experience of
weakness and
failure in our lives
that can give us
new depth in
understanding
Jesus and
Christianity.
”
S
husaku Endo, the famous Japanese
novelist, died in 1996, almost 20
years ago. He still features regularly
in TV programmes, articles and exhibitions.
Every bookstore still has its Endo section.
In Hollywood, director Martin Scorsese
is producing the film “Silence”, based on
Endo’s novel.
Endo was born in 1923; he was eleven
when he was baptised a Catholic with
his mother after her divorce. He spent
three years studying in France where he
experienced discrimination, loneliness
and doubts about his faith. He later
wrote, “Many times I felt I wanted to get
rid of my Catholicism but was unable... it
had penetrated so deeply in my youth to
become part of me ... I was struck once
again by its grandeur... to me Catholicism
is not a solo but a symphony... the full
symphony of humanity.”
After his return to Japan, Endo was
hospitalised for ten years with TB, pleurisy
and diabetes. He was supported by his
16 –– FAR EAST
wife Junko. In his sickness he experienced
great desolation which he called “the
silence of God”. And yet that silence was
not nothingness, as he somehow felt the
presence of Jesus suffering in Gethsemane
and on the cross as He cried out, “My God,
my God, why have you forsaken me?” Only
with the eyes of faith can we experience
the paradox of God’s silence, and yet also
the accompaniment of the suffering Godman, Jesus.
Endo’s own experience of weakness,
failure, suffering and doubt influenced his
writing. In the novel Silence, the 16th
century Portuguese missionary, Rodrigues,
seems, on the surface, to apostasise, but
he actually meets Jesus in a deeper way in
his failure - as did St Peter. Endo maintains
that it is the human experience of weakness
and failure in our lives that can give us
new depth in understanding Jesus and
Christianity.
In Silence, Rodrigues is interrogated with
the much-quoted question, “Can
Christianity survive in the mud-swamp that
is Japan?” (meaning that it will inevitably
rot and die.) Endo was greatly hurt by the
adverse comments of Catholic bishops
at the time of publication. He was saying
that if the Church was to flourish in
Japan, it must divest itself of its Western
dress and become truly Japanese by
in-depth inculturation. The true kerygma
(proclamation) needs to be now clothed
in a Japanese cultural context. Twenty
years after, the Japanese Bishops would
themselves express it succinctly when they
wrote, “We need to present Jesus with a
Japanese face”.
Over 22 years, Endo wrote many books
and articles including four books on the
life of Jesus. He portrays Jesus as being
intensely human, one who experiences joy,
sorrow, suffering and apparent failure. He
shows us the love of God and the God of
love. When we meet the human Jesus we
taste the love and compassion of the true
God. Endo uses two words frequently with
reference to Jesus. One is kyokan - which
means to feel with the person. The second
is dohansha - someone who walks the path
of life with us. This same Jesus is alive and
with us today.
I use the Gospels and Endo’s Life of
Jesus with my parishioners preparing for
Baptism. I also give each a copy of a small
ink-brush sketch of “The Smiling Jesus”
which Endo displayed in his study room.
He loved the joyful Jesus. He also had
a practical love of those who suffered.
He founded a movement called “WarmHearted Hospital Treatment”. Members
were taught to listen carefully to patients
- to both their spoken and their unspoken
words. They were always to sit at eye-level
with the patient, never towering over them.
With the guidance of doctors and staff,
these volunteers were trained to explain
the reasons for the patient’s medicines,
injections etc., and to gently inquire why
the patient might suffer from sleeplessness,
rather than relying in pills.
In 1985 Santa Clara University awarded
Endo an Honorary Doctorate of Letters; the
citation reads, “... where faith often seems
to be drowned in a sea of technology, you
have re-awoken in us the knowledge that
God still walks among us in unexpected
ways”. John Carroll University, Cleveland
conferring a similar award in 1991 said,
“You trace for us the earthly life of Jesus
- that man who shares our needs and
sorrows, allows for our weakness and
shows us God’s maternal face”. At his
funeral homily, his friend Fr Yoji Inoue, said,
“Endo was a man enraptured by the sad
eyes of Christ who shares the sorrow and
the misery of every single person”. v
Fr Barry Cairns has spent more than forty years
in Japan.
03
01. The late Shusaku Endo.
02. Endo’s sketch of “The
Smiling Jesus”.
03. The cover of one
edition of Endo’s classic
novel “Silence”.
DECEMBER 2015 –– 17
REFLECTIONS
OBITUARIES
Rest in Peace
Fr Desmond Quinn died in Our Lady’s
Hospital, Navan on 20 September 2015.
Born at Quignashee, Ballina, Co. Mayo on
14 December 1931. He was educated at
Behymór NS, and St Muredach’s College,
Ballina. He came to St Columban’s, Navan
on September 1948 and was ordained
priest on 21 December 1954.
After two years of post-graduate study
at South-Western Louisiana Institute,
Lafayette, LA he was appointed to the
Philippines and to the island of Negros.
From 1957 to 1962 he served in Cawayan,
La Castellana and Binalbagan. After his
first home vacation he was assigned to
promotion work in Britain where he would
spend the following ten years. In 1969 he
was appointed Rector of the new London
House at Hampstead NW3.
In October 1973, Des was reassigned
to the Philippines. During the years that
followed, he served in Isabela, Himamaylan
and Binalbagan, all in Negros Occidental.
There followed a two-year assignment to
Vocations Ministry in the USA, working from
Quincy MA. Back in the Philippines, from
1981-1987 he was pastor of Hinoba-an,
and became District Superior of Negros
from 1987 to 1991, residing at Batang,
Himamaylan. In September 1991 he was
assigned to Manila on Mission Awareness
and Promotion. From 1993 to 1999 he
served two terms as Vice-Director of the
Philippine Region. After a year as assistant
in Malate Parish, he was appointed
Regional Bursar of the Region of Ireland
where he served until 2008.
Sr M Justin Cassidy died peacefully in
Magheramore, Wicklow on September
25th, 2015 . She was 88 years old. From
Swinford, Co. Mayo, Sadie Cassidy entered
the Columban Sisters in Cahiracon, Co.
Clare in 1946. After making her first vows
she went to Dublin to train as a nurse after
which she was sent on mission to Hong
Kong. Here she worked in the Ruttonjee
Sanatorium which was in the care of the
Columban Sisters. The prevalence of
tuberculosis meant that the wards were
always full of very ill patients. With great
energy Sr Justin worked tirelessly for all
who came, especially the very poor. A
wonderful nurse, and fluent in Cantonese,
she was known to all by her commitment
to the sick and especially the very poor. On
her days off she would travel all over Hong
Kong, visiting her patients in their hill-side
shacks or in their small room in the high rise
housing estates so characteristic of the city.
Nothing was too much trouble; despite the
heat or humidity Sr Justin could be found on
her mission of mercy.
When she was assigned to the Children’s
Orthopaedic Hospital in Sandy Bay
she looked after children with physical
disabilities from polio or tuberculosis. Many
of them underwent severe spinal surgery
requiring the proficient post-operative care
which Justin taught the nursing staff. They
recognised her expertise and relied on her
to nurse their patients back to health. Her
warm manner and welcoming ways made
her a great favourite among the patients
and their families.
Des will be remembered as a man of
integrity and efficiency. Cheerful, goodhumoured, unfailingly friendly, courteous
and obliging, he was a familiar figure on his
daily walks in the Dalgan grounds. He had
suffered a couple of small strokes in recent
years, yet the suddenness of his final illness
took us by surprise. We mourne the death
of this great-hearted and loyal Columban
colleague.
In the late seventies Sr Justin worked in
Scotland and later in Ireland, always giving
of her best. A woman of prayer and great
kindness, her life was focused on the Lord,
her presence was always a blessing. In her
final years, as her health diminished, she
entered the Nursing Home in Magheramore.
Here she lived quietly, never complaining
but always expressing gratitude for the least
favour. She died peacefully on September
25 and is buried in Magheramore.
May he rest in peace.
May she rest in peace.
18 –– FAR EAST
I
Fr Desmond Quinn
Sr M Justin Cassidy
n the first interview with the newly elected
Pope, the journalist Antonio Spadaro
asked the question: “Who is Jorge Mario
Bergolio?” He may have been given an
answer he did not anticipate. “I am one who
is looked upon by the Lord. I have always
felt my motto, Miserando atque Eligendo
(chosen by having mercy shown him) was
very true for me.”
Pope Francis’ self-identity is forged in the
mercy of God. He looks at St Matthew, a
tax collector, and by imputation, a sinner,
whom Jesus sees and calls to follow him
(Mt 9:9). Just as he calls the young Jorge.
The famous painting by Carrivago depicts
the story, an image that spoke profoundly to
the heart of Fr Bergolio, SJ. The awareness
of God’s unending mercy permeates the life
of the Holy Father.
This year, on December 8th, feast of the
Immaculate Conception the Extraordinary
Jubilee of Mercy will begin. Called by
Pope Francis, it is to be a year of steeping
ourselves in the mystery of mercy, this
wellspring of joy, serenity and peace. In
the little booklet, Misericordiae Vultus, the
Pope puts before us the grace and beauty
of mercy, the hope, the joy it brings with the
abundance of God’s peace for us and for
all. “Mercy was shown me”, St Paul wrote
to Timothy (1 Tim 1), because, despite his
many sins he believed that, “This saying is
true and worthy of full acceptance – Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners”.
And, as the psalms reiterate again and
again and again, “God’s mercy endures
forever!” This is what Pope Francis wants
us to understand – no one is ever beyond
the mercy of God.
Because of his profound experience of the
mercy of our Lord in his life, he is able to
urge us to open ourselves to the mercy of
God. The very first sentence of the little
book is: ‘Jesus Christ is the face of the
Father’s mercy… Mercy has become living
and visible in Jesus of Nazareth, reaching
its culmination in him.’ God’s forgiveness
knows no bounds – our certainty of this
should propel us to run into his arms,
knowing that we will be helped and made
whole by the Father’s love. The saints
understood this well. On her deathbed
St Therese said that even if she had on
her conscience every sin that can be
committed, she would throw herself into
the arms of Jesus. “I know that this whole
multitude of sins would be lost in the
twinkling of an eye like a drop of water cast
into a burning furnace.”
As we begin the Jubilee of mercy, let
us come to the Child in the manger this
Christmas and kneel, or sit in silence with
him. Here is the visible face of the mercy
of God in this tiny infant, to be held close
to our heart, to be loved as Mary loves her
Son. In the proclamation Pope Francis
prays, “May the sweetness of her (Mary’s)
countenance watch over us this Holy Year,
so that all of us may rediscover the joy of
God’s tenderness” (MV 24). And then let us
be messengers of mercy to others. v
S.R.T.
“
This is what
Pope Francis
wants us to
understand –
no one is ever
beyond the
mercy of God.
”
Above is the cover of the
document which outlines
the overall spirit and
intentions for the Jubilee,
as well as the spiritual
fruits that are hoped for.
DECEMBER 2015 –– 19
BIBLE STORY
Bible Quiz No. 54
1. In Numbers ch. 12, which brother saw his sister
afflicted with leprosy and pleaded with Moses?
..........................................................................................
2. In Judges ch. 13, was it Moses, Manasseh or
Manoah who said to his wife, “We are doomed
to die, we have seen God”.
..........................................................................................
3. In John ch. 21, did Jesus say to his disciples,
“Come and have breakfast”?
.........................................................................................
4. In Genesis ch. 43, which son said to Israel,
“Send the boy with me, then we can start at
once...”?
..........................................................................................
5. In Matthew ch. 16, which disciple said to Jesus,
“You are the Christ, the son of the living God”?
.........................................................................................
6 In Luke ch. 18, was it a poor man, a rich man,
a Jewish man or a Samaritan who asked,
“Teacher, what must I do to win eternal life”?
..........................................................................................
7. In Ruth ch. 2, who expressed his generosity
with the words, “Come over here and have
something to eat”?
..........................................................................................
8. Who said to Jesus, “Lord, if you are willing you
can make me clean”?
..........................................................................................
Consult your Bible, answer the questions
above and send your entry to: Bible Quiz
No. 54, St Columban’s, Widney Manor Rd,
Knowle, Solihull, West Midlands, B93 9AB,
before 31st December 2015.
Name:
Address:
Age:
Bible Quiz No 52 Winners:
Miss P Santoro, Glasgow, Scotland and
Mrs Margaret Bloom, Bournemouth, Dorset.
20 –– FAR EAST
Saints for our Times
“Mysticism is the art of union with Reality”
Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), Spiritual Guide.
With this issue we continue our
series of stories from the Bible.
Jacob’s Dream
Through her many writings, Evelyn Underhill did much
to awaken modern interest in the mystical traditions of
Christianity. Born into a middle-class British home, though
nominally Anglican, she showed little early signs of her
religious yearnings. By her late twenties she was attracted to
Catholicism, but in the end she shrank from formal conversion.
The harsh papal condemnation of Modernism in 1907 made
her wary of submitting to church authority.
For some years she reverted to private faith outside any
formal practice apart from her systematic study of Christian
mystics. Protestants of her time tended to view mysticism as a
Catholic neurosis, a relic of the Middle Ages. For Catholics it
seemed something reserved for God’s chosen few, but of little
relevance to the ordinary faithful. It was in this context that she
published her landmark work, Mysticism.
She distinguished mysticism in its pure sense from visions,
ecstasies and ‘special effects’. “Mysticism”, she wrote, “is the
art of union with Reality. A mystic is a person who has attained
that union to a greater or lesser degree; or who aims at or
believes in such attainment.” The origins of Christian mysticism
were in fact in Scripture - in the life of Jesus, St Paul and the
early disciples. As such it was not an extraordinary sideline
but an essential expression of Christian life. It essence it was
available to all believers.
Baron Friedrich Von Hügel, a Catholic philosopher and writer
on mysticism, became her spiritual director. He urged her to
resume the discipline of communal prayer and worship, and to
undertake charitable work among the poor. She saw his point.
“Divorced from all institutional expression mysticism tends to
become strange, vague or merely sentimental”, she later wrote.
“True mysticism is the soul of religion; but like the soul of man
it needs a body if it is to fulfill its mighty destiny”. The result
was her formal and heartfelt return to the Anglican Church.
She went on to write thirty books, some further studies of the
mystics, but many on more general spiritual themes, directed to
a popular audience.
As a married laywoman, occupied with the concerns and
distractions of ordinary middle-class life, she felt a particular
calling to address other lay-people. She wanted to show that
growth in the spiritual life was not simply for holy prodigies,
or those living in the cloister, but should be the aim of every
Christian. Though she maintained her own discipline of prayer,
worship, spiritual reading and charitable work, she never
presented herself as a model of heroic piety. She died on 15
June 1941.
To read more, see Blessed Among All Women by Robert Ellsberg,
The Crossroad Publishing Company, New York, 2005.
I
saac and Rebecca had two sons. Esau, the eldest
became a hunter. He had the birthright to this
fathers’s inheritance. Jacob, the younger son,
became a sheep farmer and was his mother’s
favourite. When Isaac was old and dying, Jacob tricked
Esau out of his birthright with the help of his mother,
Rebecca. But afterwards, Esau was so furious with
this brother that Jacob had to flee for his life. He
headed for Mesopotamia.
On the way, he stopped for the night in a lonely, rocky
place, where he slept on the ground. That night Jacob
had a strange dream. He saw a ladder stretching
right up to heaven, and God’s angels were going
up and down it. Then he saw God himself standing
beside him, saying, “I am the God of your grandfather
Abraham, and your father Isaac. I shall be with you
and bless you, and keep you safe. The land on which
you are lying will be yours, and from you will come my
chosen people. Your descendants will be as many as
dust on the ground.”
When Jacob woke up he was amazed. “This is truly a
holy place,” he said. “It must be the very house of God
and gate of heaven!”
Taking the stone on which he had rested his head
during the night, Jacob set it up as a pillar, and poured
oil over it. He named the place Bethel, which means
“house of God”. Then he made a solemn promise
to God. “If the God of my fathers stays with me and
keeps me safe, then he shall be my God, too.”
Jacob went to live among his mother’s people. He had
two wives - Rachel and Leah - who gave him twelve
sons, and he became very rich.
After many years he and his family returned to
Canaan. The night before he crossed into the
Promised Land, Jacob spent the night alone in prayer.
A stranger appeared and wrestled with him all night.
“What is your name?” asked the stranger eventually.
Jacob told him. “From now on your name shall be
Israel.” Jacob realised he had be wrestling with God.
The next day Jacob was finally reunited with his
brother, Esau.
Read also Genesis chapters 27-33.
Illustration by Val Biro, from ‘One Hundred Bible Stories for Children’
by Award Publications Ltd.
DECEMBER 2015 –– 21
KIDZONE
Pudsy’s Gallery
Above are Kate Roe from Collon, Co. Louth and Cormac
Dunne from Slane, Co. Meath with their grand-uncle
Johnny Dunne from Castletown K.P., Co. Meath. Kate
and Cormac both received their First Holy Communion
earlier this year.
Above is Isabel Hemmings from
West Heath, Birmingham on her
First Holy Communion day. This
picture was sent to us by her greatgrandmother, Christine Cashen.
Pudsy’s Diry
I nevir knew our maginations were like
hosses cos when the new priest came
to our class and sed did we know that
Chrismas is only round the corner I thought
that was a queer place for it but he sed we
have to get the Crib ready an he wantid
sum ideas to make it luvely cos a whole
lot of peeple wud be comin to see it. So
get at it folks an I’ll be back later he sed.
An of course the girls sed we’d put luvely
clothes on the wize men and evrybody but
I sed nonsense cos our cuzzin Davy told
me that his quad bike would leave camels
miles behind so if we put the wise men into
them magine how quick they cud follow
the star and mebbe even pass it out. And
wud’nt that be real mod. But my pal Bump
sed no cos stars wud go even faster than
that. An then if the sheferds had mobiles
they’d have no trouble letting everybody
know what they saw. An of course the
anjels could be little fellas with long hair
and guitars and that wud be real fab and
evrybody would be deelighted. And when
we told the new priest bout our ideas he
sed what wunderful maginations ye all have
and thas a gift from God but sumtimes we
have to put a rein on them an I thought you
only put reins on hosses.
Ha! Ha!
1. Who earns a living driving their customers away?
2.H2O is the formula for water, what is the formula
for an ice cube?
3. What begins with T, ends with T and has T in it?
4. Why did the chicken say, “Meow, oink,
bow-wow and moo”?
5. Why are dogs such bad dancers?
6. Why did the skeleton go to the barbecue?
7. What does bread do after it’s done baking?
8. Why was the birthday cake as hard as a rock?
1. A taxi driver!
2. H2O squared!
3. A teapot!
4. He was studying foreign languages!
5. They have two left feet!
6. For the spare ribs!
7. Loaf around!
8. Because it was marble cake!
22 –– FAR EAST
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Above is Aoife Camplin from
Accomb in Yorkshire on her First
Holy Communion day with her
grandparents Ena GeraghtyBendall and John Bendall from
Ballinasloe, Co. Galway.
Razzle Dazzle Robin By Elizabeth McArdle
The robin redbreast, as this dapper
little bird is often known, is one of the
best loved and most honoured of our
garden guests. If I were to ask what
your favourite bird is, chances are you
might say it is a robin. Their familiar
warbling and their tick, tick alarm call
tells us they are warning intruders to
stay away from their territory, which
they defend vigorously with a flurry of
wings and claws. Their cup-shaped
nests, constructed from leaves, moss
and twigs are built in hedges. Mrs
Robin lays 3-4 gorgeous blue eggs
on which she sits for 13 to 14 days.
When they are hatched, the fun
begins. With the help of Mr Robin,
the pair work long hours to care
for the baby robins. They are ready
to fly away in two weeks. What an
achievement!
If you wish to see a robin, just
start digging. Within minutes one
may perch on the fence or nearby
branch waiting to inspect the newly
turned soil for delicious earthworms.
Historically, in the forest, robins
followed foraging animals such as
wild pigs as they dug through the
soil. The robin would hop down and
pick up the goodies such as insects
and grubs which the digging animal
uncovered. Because wild pigs are no
more, robins seem to have transferred
this behaviour to gardeners. I
sincerely hope they do not think that
we gardeners are wild pigs.
Soon it will be Christmas. The robin
will be famous and will feature on
Christmas cards, wrapping paper
and lots of other merchandise. With
all of this razzle dazzle, the real robin
outside in the cold could easily be
forgotten. We must remember to
feed them some crumbs. Nor can
we forget the Christ child whose
birth reminds us of God’s love for all
creatures great and small.
Colpaint
Colour the drawing and send it
with your name and address to:
A Gaelic Proverb
Is iomaí lá sa chill orainn.
We owe the grave many a day.
COLPAINT, St Columban’s,
Widney Manor Rd, Knowle,
Solihull, West Midlands, B93 9AB,
before 31st December 2015.
Colpaint Winners
Prizes for under and over 8. Don’t
forget if you also send a corrected
version of Pudsy’s Diry you’ll have
another chance to win a prize.
Aged 8 and Under:
Niamh Sammon, Highams Park, London.
Name:
Over 8:
Olivia Szurminski, Kingshurst, Birmingham.
Address:
Competition Winners Sept/Oct 2015
Pudsy’s Diry
Rachel Siew Leng Chan, Denham, Bucks.
Bible Quiz No 52 Winners
Miss P Santoro, Glasgow, Scotland.
Mrs Margaret Bloom, Bournemouth, Dorset.
Age:
DECEMBER 2015 –– 23
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Advent Eucharist
Here, here I meet myself:
Empty-handed, face blurred,
Though not in any treacherous mirror
But here, now,
In this flake of fractured wheat:
Grain for my soul’s poor soil.
And here, too,
In this blood-red grapevine, fruiting
From my stone-hard heart.
And here, so,
In the true Word-weighted pages
Of this open-hearted book
Which, radiant with the brightest candlelight
In this, the darkest time of year,
All show me truth; all mercy.
By Lizzie Ballagher, 2012
Reprinted with permission.
May the Lord bless you for supporting our work.
May your hearts be filled with peace and joy this Christmas.
The Columban Missionaries