January-February 2018
From the Editor
How do we live for Christ?
By Arlenne Villahermosa
At this present age and time, with the advancement in technology and social media, we ask ourselves, “How do we live for Christ?”
When the founders of the Missionary Society of St. Columban said YES to the call, they did not know where it would lead them yet, with faith, trust and love in their hearts, they sailed on, going beyond their fears and limits, responding to the needs of the people, and constantly being open to be lead to something new, some place new. They lived for Christ. So did the Columban Missionaries who have gone before us and many others who simply lived the Word in the silence of their hearts . . .
100 Years of Columban Mission Through Art:
Through the Eyes of a Filipino Columban
By Fr. Jason Antiquera
The author is a Columban priest from Binalbagan, Negros Occidental. He has spent some time in Korea and Peru as a seminarian. He was ordained on January 7, 2015 and on the same year left for Korea, and has worked there since then.
The Missionary Society of St. Columban was founded by two diocesan Irish priests, Fr. Edward Galvin and Fr. John Blowick, on June 29, 1918. The celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Society’s foundation began on November 23, 2017 and will end on November 23, 2018. Columbans all over the world have been exchanging ideas to create programs and activities for a meaningful centennial celebration. On a personal level, I was glad to be asked to create an art that could capture this hundred-year history of Columban mission. What a task! But it has to be done . . .
Will you shelter me . . . in your heart?
By Mary Joy Rile
Columban lay missionaries of the RP 18 group, Gertrudes “Ger” Samson, Jonah Jane “Jayjay” Enterina-Beddall and Rosalia “Rose” Basada, renewed their commitment with the CLM for another term. They had been assigned to the Region of Britain since 2010 working with asylum seekers and refugees.
I witnessed the renewal of commitment of Ger and Jayjay on June 28, 2017 at the Columban Lay Mission House in Cubao. At Mass, Jayjay expressed gratitude on behalf of RP18 for the support and prayers offered by family and friends, but even more, gratitude to God for the gift of mission and the richness of their experience. Ger on the other hand expressed the challenges they had to face in mission. A power point presentation of their mission experience was so moving it silenced all of us. Ger’s emotional sharing brought many of us to tears as we couldn’t help but feel and share in their sadness and pain . . .
What the Children at the Kuya Center Taught Me
By Kusitino Saro
Kusitino is a Columban seminarian from Suva, Fiji who joined the Columban formation program here in the Philippines in 2016. He is studying Philosophy at the University of Santo Tomas and conducts pastoral ministry at the Kuya Center in Cubao, Quezon City.
Over the years, the Columban mission has influenced and inspired many people across the world, especially in regions that they are called to serve in. Like many others that have gone before me, I was also fortunate enough to have crossed paths with some of them. The first impression I received during my first encounter with them stayed with me until I decided to join. This was one of the important decisions I made that somehow would determine the later course of my life’s journey . . .
How Do Candles Light a Life
By Mary Joy Rile
The author is assistant editor of MISYONonline.com and Columban Mission. She visited Light The Life Candles Community in Novaliches and in another occasion was able to interview two mothers. The sharing by Mrs. Joy Price Sullano was published in September-October 2017 issue of MISYONonline.com. Here is the second one, a sharing by Mrs. Emerlyn Pollescas.
Emerlyn Pollescas (left) and Joy Price Sullano (center) on their visit at Misyon office in Singalong
In the picture, Emerlyn is showing the author the candles that she made.
How do candles light a life? To name some: it may brighten a dark room or maybe the darkness within; it may lit up somebody’s hope and bring ones prayer intentions to God. But for a woman I met, candles gave her a chance for a living, a new hope, and reconnected her with her children . . .
Knowing God in Life’s Circumstances
By Hazel Angwani
Hazel is from Bontoc, Mountain Province and is currently undergoing the Columban lay missionary Orientation program with Ma. Fe Corazon Arienza.
I have always believed that life is full of choices, and that the circumstances that surround us in life are not for us to suffer in agony but to learn about ourselves and God. I had a very beautiful and enjoyable childhood, and I can still vividly remember some of it. But there comes a point in life when in a blink of an eye, we are forced to grow up, consciously or unconsciously, not entirely forgetting how to be childlike but we begin again to learn how to adapt to life’s circumstances . . .
January – February 2018
You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have taken off my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy,
so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.
~ Psalm 30:11-12