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Showing posts with the label Columbans

Appeal from the Bishop of Myitkyina, Myanmar (Burma)

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S Skyline of  Myitkyina The Columbans first went to what was then Burma in October 1936 and went to the mountainous area of the north where the Kachins live. Priests of the  Paris Foreign Missions Society  had already been there for many years. The area the Columbans were asked to take care of has become two dioceses,  Myitkyina  [MITCH in awe] and  Banmaw , also known as Bhamo. There has been an  ongoing conflict  in the Kachin area for many years, a second phase beginning in June 2011. It is in the context of that conflict that the Diocese of Myitkyina issued this statement the other day. DIOCESE OF MYITKYINA, MYANMAR St. Columban's Cathedral, Aungnan Yeiktha, Myitkyina 01011 Tel: (+95)-74-23017 , Fax (+95)-74-23016, Email:   myitkyinabishop@gmail.com  Call from the Catholic Church in Myitkyina to all parties in Conflict in Kachin Region  to halt hostilities and begin the Journey  towards  Peace Based on Justice Date : 3 February 2013 -----------------------

'Whoever would be great among you must be your servant . . .' Sunday Reflections, 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

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St James the Elder , Rembrandt Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)  Gospel  Mark 10:35-45 [42-25]  (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition) [James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to Jesus, and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." And he said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?" And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"  And they said to him, "We are able." And Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be b

'I am the bread of life.' Sunday Reflections, 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

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, The Charity of St Lawrence , Bernardo Strozzi, painted 1639-40 Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)  Gospel  John 6:41-51  (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition) The Jews then murmured at Jesus, because he said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven." They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" Jesus answered them, "Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that any one has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has seen the Father.

Columban Fr Michael Sinnott, kidnapped in the Philippines in 2009, retiring to Ireland

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Fr Michael Sinnott arriving in Dublin in December 2009 after his release The website of the Catholic Bishops's Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)   carried this story  yesterday .  MANILA, July 18, 2012— An Irish missionary kidnapped and freed by gunmen in 2009 in Mindanao is leaving the Philippines for good. Father Michael Sinnott of the Society of St. Columban is leaving for Ireland Friday and will retire there after many years of serving the Catholic Church and various communities in Mindanao. In a send-off party held at the Malate Church on Tuesday night, Sinnott admitted how difficult it was for him to decide whether to retire in the Philippines or in his native land. Greeted by President Gloria M. Arroyo the day of his release, 12 November 2009 Full post on Misyononline here and on Bangor to Bobbio here.

'A spring flower in the desert.' Sunday Reflections, 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

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. Keiko on her First Communion Day Read the story of 14-year-old Keiko Uemura, a spring flower in the desert , here .

'The seed shall sprout and grow, he knows not how.' Sunday Reflections, 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

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Though We Are Many - Official Hymn of the 32nd International Eucharistic Congress Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)  Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)  The black mustard plant Gospel Mark 4:26-14 (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition) Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed upon the ground, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he knows not how. The earth produces of itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."  And he said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on ea

'This is my body . . .' Sunday Reflections, Corpus Christi

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La Disputà (Disputation of the Holy Sacrament) , Raffaello Sanzio, painted 1510-11 You will find a description of this magnificent fresco here and a video on its restoration here . The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)  Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)  Gospel Mark 14:12-16, 22-26 (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition) On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the passover lamb, his disciples said to him, "Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the passover?" And he sent two of his disciples, and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the householder, 'The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I am to eat the passover with my disciples?'

'Go into all the world . . .' Sunday Reflections for Ascension Year B

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Ascension , Rembrandt, painted 1636 Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)  Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)  The Ascension is celebrated on Ascension Thursday, 17 May, in Scotland and the USA, and on Sunday 20 May in England & Wales, Ireland and the Philippines. I'm not sure about other countries. I won't be posting Sunday Reflections for the Seventh Sunday of Easter . Gospel Mark 16:15-20 (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition) Jesus said to the Apostles, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt th

Columban priest given Pakistan's highest civilian award for foreign nationals

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Fr Robert McCulloch with his Sitara-e-Quaid-e-Azam award.    Pakistan's highest civilian award for foreign nationals, the Sitara-e-Quaid-Azam was presented to Fr Robert McCulloch by the Governor of Sindh, Dr Ishrat ul Ebad Khan, on 23 March, Pakistan Day, at Government House in Karachi. Governor Ishrat ul Ebal Khan of Sindh conferring the award on Fr McCulloch You can read the full post on Misyononline.com, the online magazine I edit for the Columbans in the Philippines, here and on Bangor to Bobbio here .

'I am ready for anything anywhere.' Sunday Reflections, 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

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Fr Rufus Halley with friends Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Second Reading: Philippians 4:12-14. 19-20 (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) I know how to be poor and I know how to be rich too. I have been through my initiation and now I am ready for anything anywhere: full stomach or empty stomach, poverty or plenty. There is nothing I cannot master with the help of the One who gives me strength. All the same, it was good of you to share with me in my hardships. In return my God will fulfil all your needs, in Christ Jesus, as lavishly as only God can. Glory to God, our Father, for ever and ever. Amen. My Columban confrere and friend since 1962, Fr Rufus Halley, murdered in an ambush in Lanao del Sur, Philippines, on 28 August 2001, came to mind as I read St Paul’s words for today. He came from a well-to-do family in county Waterford, in the south-east of Ireland

50 years with the Columbans

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Fr Aedan McGrath On the first Tuesday of September 1961 - the date was the 5th - I and more than 40 other young men entered St Columban's College, Dalgan Park, Navan, about 40 kms north-west of my native Dublin, hoping to be Columban priests one day and heading off to Chile, Fiji, Japan, Korea, Peru or the Philippines about seven years later. As it happened, some were to find their way to Pakistan, which became a Columban mission in 1978 along with Taiwan. I was then 18 but since I was 14 had wanted to be a missionary priest. I decided on the Columbans when I was 16 but had to wait to do my Leaving Certificate. I went to Dalgan Park in Easter Week 1961 to be interviewed and have a medical examination. I was very happy when accepted. Then I had to get a black suit, some white shirts and a black tie, not to mention a black hat, required in those days. One thing was niggling me: what would my parents think if I ever decided to leave? The term 'spoiled priest'

A Columban ordination on the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul

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A Columban ordination on the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul Saints Peter and Paul , El Greco, painted 1605-08 Earlier today I attended the ordination of Columban Fr Rodolfo Christopher Kaamiño IV in Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Ozamiz City. The ordaining prelate was Archbishop Jesus A. Dosado CM of the Archdiocese of Ozamiz. As a deacon Father Chris was working in Malate Parish, Manila, which the Columbans have been taking care of since we came to the Philippines in 1929. He will continue to work there as a priest for some months before receiving an overseas assignment. He spent two years in Taiwan as a seminarian on his First Mission Assignment. Among the five Irish Columbans in Malate killed by the Japanese in February 1945 during the Battle of Manila, when around 100,000 died, mostly civilians, was Fr Peter Fallon, the first Columban parish priest of what then was the town of Misamis, now Ozamiz City, when we came to Mindanao in 1948. The first bishop of the Prelature of Ozamiz