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Philippines

From Fear to Friendship

By Beth Sabado


Beth Sabado, hiking in Hong Kong

The author recently finished a three-year term in Hong Kong as Coordinator of the Lay Missionary Central Leadership Team and is currently awaiting a new assignment.

My pilgrimage in, indeed my conversion to, interreligious dialogue started even before I learned the meaning of the word dialogue. Both my parents were from Luzon in the northern Philippines, but in 1946, soon after World War II, my father decided to migrate south to Pagadian, Zamboanga del Sur. At the time the town, which became a city in 1969, was predominantly Muslim, according to my father. My mother had a similar migration story and so my parents, even though neither was born there, met and married in Mindanao.

What Missing the Harvest Meant on His Journey

by Richelle H. Verdeprado

They say that our circle of friends can influence who we become. This is particularly true of Fr. Liam O’Keeffe who became a missionary priest after deciding to follow in the footsteps of a school friend who went to the Columban seminary, Dalgan Park, near Navan, Ireland. Since then it has become a decision that is being continually affirmed as he goes on meeting people and going to places where the love of Jesus is shown through the presence of Columbans.


Around County Clare, Ireland

The Jubilee Year of St Columban begins in Rome

Filipina Columban Lay Missionary Rose Basada shares with us her participation in the three-day celebration in Rome marking the opening of the Jubilee Year of St Columban, which runs from 10 October 2014 to 23 November 2015. This year makes the 1400th anniversary of the death of St Columban in the year 615 in the northern Italian town of Bobbio. Rose is based in Birmingham, England.

It was a blessing and privilege for me to participate in the celebrations in Rome to open the Jubilee Year of St Columban, the patron of the Missionary Society of St Columban with whose members we Columban Lay Missionaries work on mission.


Rose, center, waving to Pope Francis

The Jubilee Year began with four major events. They started on 10 October with Ecumenical Vespers at 5:00pm in the Basilica of San Clemente. The church was full of pilgrims from different places in Europe. It was a very moving celebration as people of many cultures and Christian denominations gathered. I was able to meet pilgrims from various churches – Catholic, Anglican and Methodist. The Parish Priest of Bobbio held relics of St Columban during the procession. They are normally kept at the Museum in Bobbio where Columban died in AD 615.

How This Year is Going to be Depends On You

By Jessan M. Cabunsol

Jessan is a third year BS Civil Engineering student at the University of Negros Occidental -Recoletos. Presently, he is also the editor-in-chief of the Tolentine Star, the official student publication of the university. Jessan is an active Kwaderno volunteer too. 

It is one of the most awaited holidays around the globe. This is the time for change – new hope, new life, new styles, new look, and everything that needs to be renewed. This holiday is New Year’s Day.

Aside from Christmas, New Year is one of the most celebrated holidays all over the world. For thousands of years people have been celebrating the good life, hope, and everything about goodness at the beginning of every year.

by Marla Halili

Marla Grace Halili, 23 years old, works as a Customer Service Representative in Bacolod City. Here, she shares the essential lessons she learned last year and how she is facing 2015.

365 days over. Can you believe that? Days pass by like a blink of an eye and here we go again. Another year full of possibilities. Each year we have these goals to accomplish, but by the end of the year, out of all those things what have we accomplished? That’s why I’m not fond of making such promises because we don’t know what’s in store for us in the upcoming days. I’m not saying that we should stop making plans but that we should have an ‘ACTION’ plan.

By Gracebelle Montecillo Parreño

Seven years ago, someone broke my heart. It was shattered into pieces to the extent that it even made me think that it couldn’t be repaired again. It made me weak and I lost my self-esteem. I started questioning myself if there was something wrong with me. Then my mother came into the picture and said to me, ‘Come to Him and pray for him; surrender all your heartaches to Him and you’ll be alright.’

From then on, I became a frequent visitor to the Adoration chapel. I always cried there and I spent months talking to Him, sharing my problems with Him. Every time I left that chapel, I felt great as, if I was whole again. I became strong; I got back my confidence and became a smiling person.

I was like that until I graduated from college. Then it was time for on-the-job training (OJT), I tried my best with all the companies that came to our school but I ended up a failure. At first I asked myself if I had done wrongbut then came to realize that I just needed to trust Him in whatever plans He had for me.


The new couple sharing a chat with Misyon editor Fr Seán Coyle.

Three months later a company came along and I was hired as their new OJT employee. I met many people, learned practical things and befriended all of them except one. He was my mentor that time and we hated each other. He seemed to be so cruel to me; he didn’t want me to tag along with him. But on 1 May 2010, we were chosen to attend the production that day, only the two of us. It was the time that he knew I existed. We spent the whole day talking to each other and enjoying each other’s company.

That didn’t last only one day. Our friendship continued as time went by. After a few months, he started to ask if he could be my guy. I was so hesitant at first but then I offered God a prayer and asked Him if he was the one he had created for me. I gave him a chance and accepted him. After four years we decided to get married, and he is now my husband.


The Gift of Deafness

By Fr Thomas Rouse

Father Tom worked in Fiji most of the time from 1977 until this year. He is now based in Lower Hutt, near Wellington, in his native New Zealand. While in Fiji he served as Regional Director for some years. He served two three-year terms as Regional Director of the Columbans in Fiji, from 2007 until 2013.

 

It was to the credit of the Columbans that I was accepted as a candidate for priesthood. That was back in 1969 when I was completing Form Seven in high school at St John’s College, Hastings, New Zealand.

I was accepted despite the fact that I was not only deaf but I also suffered a serious speech impediment which was a consequence of my hearing disability. My deafness was more peculiar rather than pronounced. I cannot hear high-pitched sounds. As a result, I cannot hear many of the consonants in my own ‘native’ English language.

‘I will help you carry your cross’

By Luda Egbalic

When I was a child I used to visit San Isidro Cathedral in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon, where I grew up. I would go to the Mass Media Center and read stories of the saints. I was inspired by their good deeds and sacrifices for the Lord. One time when I was praying and gazing at the big cross on the altar, innocently I said to myself, ‘When I grow up, I will help you carry your cross. I will serve you.’

Around Malaybalay City.jpg
Malaybalay City, with San Isidro Cathedral, lower left.

After my college days, I joined the Canossian Volunteers Philippines. In this program, I was happy serving people in urban and rural areas of Mindanao and Luzon. We called ourselves ‘young missionaries’. 

Christmas Written, Unwritten, and Rewritten

By Ashraf Khater

Ashraf was the editor–in-chief for two years of Tolentine Star the official publication of the University of Negros Occidental – Recoletos (UNO-R) in Bacolod City. He graduated Magna Cum Laude last March as a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. Ashraf was born in Saudi Arabia and raised there until he was 12. Here he shares his experience of Christmas with his fellow student writers. 

Christmas is a time when people pause for a while and enjoy the merriment with friends and family. For Tolentine Star, the official student publication of the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos, (UNO-R), Bacolod City, Christmas is more than just that.

It has been an annual tradition that Advent/Pre-Christmas parties are not just mere get-togethers and food-laden events, but full of learning and its own team building in its own right. Every year, the publication goes on an excursion to celebrate the bond that we have shared and the hard work that we have accomplished throughout the year.


The author with his mother during his graduation day.

The graduating batch is tasked to prepare the festivities, which involves team-building activities. This is a sign of movement and a means of conveying important life lessons to the group of writers that would lead the publication the following year.

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