Columban Publication

Issue 1

March 2013

Contents
Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6

From the Director Yes! to challenging times.

Gyan Want (CCIM)

Snapshots

Called to serve /Paulo Leads Companions in Mission LA

Monika Lewatikana (Columban Lay Missionary)

Page 7 Page8 Page 9

Courage to live a Lent Relection - Warren Kinne Photo Gallery St Francis finds God in Nature
Fr Charles Rue

Page 10 Youth/Students Corner World Water Day Page 11 Editorial/Bulletin

Central Eastern Crosswalk -23rd March

Youths from all central eastern parishes arrive at Kristi Jyoti Ashram, Namata in Nadi.This year Fr Papila, a Tongan Vincentian priest led the youths on their spiritual journey commemorating the death of Jesus on Calvary

Kaulotu Published by Columban Missionaries Nasese Suva Fiji Editor: Visenia Navelinikoro Editorial Assistant: Fr Tom Rouse PO Box 2364 Government Buildings Suva Ph: 330 8290 Fax: 330 8292 Email: kaulotufiji@gmail.com

Cross Gender Dialogue - 8th March

Participants of the Cross Gender Dialogue. This dialogue was initiated by the MOVE Fiji (Men Opposing Violence Everywhere), Raiwaqa Social and Justice Commission and Columban JPIC in responding to the current issue in Fiji - Violence Against Women/ Girls

Kaulotu - March 2013 2

From the Director

Last Year, from late August to late September, the leaders of the Columban Missionary Society met for our General Assembly. At this meeting we produced a plan of action for the Society worldwide. Shortly after our return to Fiji, Fr Pat Colgan, the elected delegate to the General Assembly, and I gave a presentation dealing with the vision and values that form the basis of our Society-wide plan of action. I also announced that we would have a post-Assembly workshop in February of this year, 2013. Prior to this workshop, we heard Pope Benedict XVI announce the appointment of Fr Peter Loy Chong to succeed Archbishop Peter Mataca as archbishop of Suva. When I met Fr Peter in January to congratulate him on his appointment, I asked him if would be willing to attend our post-Assembly workshop and present his vision for future of the archdiocese of Suva. He accepted the invitation and, on the second day of our workshop, he gave a stirring presentation. So it was in the light of our Society-wide plan of action and the Bishop-elects vision for the archdiocese of Suva that we were able to achieve the principal objective of our workshop to produce a Columban plan of action for the region of Fiji for the years 2013-2019. It was a remarkable achievement in that we were able to give copies of the new regional plan to each member on the last day of our workshop. I am grateful for the presence of our bishop-elect, Fr Peter Loy Chong, and the representative of the new central council of the Society (based in Hong Kong), Fr Darwin Bataca. (Fr Pat Colgan is also a member of this new central council under the leadership of our new Superior-General, Fr Kevin ONeill. The members of this new central council were elected at the General Assembly last year.)

Almost all the members of our region were able to be present our lay missionaries and our ordained members. With us, as active participants in our workshop, were Fr Francis ko Latt, our priest associate from Myanmar/ Burma, the two members of our mission awareness team and three representatives of the Columban Companions in Mission (CCIM). We are very much aware that, in the future as the numbers of our ordained members dwindle, the legacy of Columban Mission will be largely borne by our lay members, co-workers and companions. Finally, on the last day of our workshop we held a day of discernment as we prepared for the final ballot in the process leading towards the appointment of a new regional director. Since I have served two terms (6 years) as regional director, I cannot, according to the Constitutions of our Society, be elected to a third consecutive term. So, a couple of weeks later following the official appointment by our Superior-General, I was very happy to announce the Fr Donal McIlraith will succeed me on April 5, 2013, as the new regional director of the Society for the region of Fiji. One thing I will be able to leave him as I leave office is a new regional plan of action for 2013-2019. This issue of Kaulotu is devoted to making you, our readers, more aware of this plan. And, as I leave office, I wish Gods blessing upon you all and thank you for your continued support and prayers. Tom Rouse March 5, 2013

Fr Tom Rouse director@columban.org.au

Kaulotu - March 2013 3

Gyan Want

Columban companion in mission participants to the post assembly workshop togethr with Fr Frank Hoare. Photo left-right - Fr Frank Hoare (CCIM regional coordinator),Vitalina Lubi,gyan Want, and Joe Qalo.

For the past few months I have been teaching the Columban lay missionaries Hindi. It was and has been a great experience for me to see how people learn when they are determined. Anyway during this time, I was invited by Fr Frank Hoare to attend the post General Assembly at the Central house.

now there were left with 9, with three parishes, Raiwaqa, Ba and Labasa. A plan was looked at as to how these parishes will go on with the number of priests drastically declining and more priests ageing.

Should we let go of one parish and parish it would In the beginning I had my reservations, but later I be? The objectives were looked at as well as the thought I would join in since I was in Suva. All the concerns. Columban priests, lay missionaries, seminarians, staff and three members of the Columban Fr Peter Loy Chong Archbishop Elects talk, very Companions attended. I represented the much enlightened the workshop. northern Columban Companions in mission. It was the first time I had attended such a workshop He spoke on his vision for the mission of the and that made me a bit lost in the beginning, but Church in Fiji. He shared his views on the coup as time went on I could see how important this culture, racial discrimination etc., on the social meeting was. The future of the mission work was issues faced in the country, and how the church spelt out. In the beginning, when the Columban is responding to these. Mission started in Fiji, there were 13 priests, This workshop strengthened my commitment. After the workshop, I invited the mandali leaders from the Suva area and shared the experience of the workshop. We discussed how we could help the Columban mission. An outreach program was planned. It seems the Holy Spirit is guiding us greatly and the Lord is telling us that not only priests but everybody is called to do mission work.
Mr Gyan Want in group discussion with Fr Frank Hoare and columban lay missionary Liezl Ladaran. Mr Gyan Want is a retired school teacher. He works closely with Fr Frank Hoare in the Fiji Indian Apostolate Ministry.

Kaulotu - March 2013 4

From the Director

Called to Serve
Fr Donal McIlraith (left) has been apponted the new director of the Society of the Saint Columban in Fiji. He succeeds from Fr Tom Rouse, who has been the director of the Fiji region for six years. Fr Donal Mcllraith is an Irish priest and currently teaches at the Pacific Regional Seminary. He has worked in Fiji for many years and also in overseas. He is well known for his expertise in St Paul and Apocalypse. We all wish Fr Donal Mcllraith all the best in his new role in leadership.

Paulo Leads
The Columban Post Assembly workshop was held at the central house on the 19th 22nd of March. Paulo Bale, (right) an independant peacebuilding consultant facilitated the workshop. Through Paulos creativeness and well organised guidelines and methodology the post - assembly was a success. At the end of the workshop a Columban Plan of Action 2013 - 2019 Handbook was produced. Paulo Bale worked in Phillipines as a Columban lay missionary for three years. Kaulotu - March 2013 5

Monika Lewatikana

We are all called by God to mission to one another

On the 16th of Feb, we had an excellent and life giving gathering. It was initiated by Serafina Ranadi, a Fijian Lay Missionary, working in the States together with a Symeon Yee, the Chutes family and Freddy Brown. The most important idea underneath the invitation was to create awareness in the people about Columban Fathers and Lay Missionary and the pastoral that we do. Most of all, to create the awareness that we are all missionary in our own way, because we are all baptized in the same Spirit and we are called by God to mission to one another. The gathering was held at the Columban house, in Los Angeles. We start our schedule at 3pm groups started arriving at 2:30pm. Our special guest of the day was Fr. Iowane Gukibau, who had just finished his Missiology study in Rome. It was not only a Fijian/Tongan group; this gathering also embraced other minority groups, eg from Philippines and an American too (Mike). We embraced other faith groups as well. It was so lovely, Mass was celebrated in Fijian, where other languages were included too for the prayers of the faithful and hymns. Then the sevusevu, followed by the yaqona session, meal and social. Apart from the yaqona and the social we shared together our mission experiences (Columban) and Kaulotu - March 2013 6 their mission experiences (the group) too. This is just the beginning of welcoming the people who have made the country of the United States their home and their life, esp. Fijians, Tongans and Indo-Fijians. Serafina has started it and they will keep it alive and moving, with the help of the Holy Spirit. It was a very memorable day.

Companions in Mission

Monika Lewatikana is a Columban lay Missionary working in El Paso, Mexico.

Courage to live a Lent

Shanghai is a city of tinsel and glitter. Most people recognize the image of its iconic buildings and towering structures along the Huang Pu River. There are myriad neon signs and a yuppie lifestyle for many ex-pats who ride the wave of economic frenzy. But it has its under-belly. The construction of this city has been done on the backs of migrant workers - currently seven million - who have travelled to the city to find work. They left their villages and often their families in order to make a little money on construction sites and in restaurants and factories. Before the great Feast of Easter when we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Church goes through a period of preparation by prayer and fasting. We call this Lent. In the northern hemisphere, where Christianity started, it was celebrated in Spring and slowly, throughout that time, the dead of winter burst forth into the luxuriance of new growth, signifying life and the resurrection. Xiao Ai is a young friend of mine. She was left at the steps of a convent about seven years ago in a remote village of Shan Xi Province. She was born with clubbed feet and abandoned. Xiao was brought to Shanghai where a group of foreigners provided money and logistical support for multiple operations. These people do not have residency permits in Shanghai and so they cannot settle down where they work. Often they leave their children back in the village in the care of grandparents and may only get home once a year during the Chinese New Year to see how the family is going. Children can resent their absence and may not appreciate the sacrifice of the parent or parents in order to better the whole family economically. In the cities where they work they do not have equal access to medical and educational opportunities that are open to the local population. Their sacrifice is a sort of lent lived in the hope of a better future for their family. Like Xiao Ais adopting parents or the migrant parents, they in fact live the admonition of God in Isaias 58: 6-7.

During that period she was taken in by a family who took great care of her and eventually wanted to adopt her as their own. However there were many hurdles to be overcome. Xiao Ai did not have any Is not this the fast that I choose: to share your bread identification as the convent was not a registered with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into orphanage and so the convent was not in a position your house; when you see the naked, to cover him. to register her. God brought the slaves out of the land of Egypt where Indeed people could only guess at her actual birth they had made bricks for the ostentatious buildings of the Pharaohs. This same God made a covenant date. She was really a non-person. with them and subsequently with us that we treat After years of effort Xiao Ai has had all her paperwork each other differently because in one way or another completed and she now has a Chinese passport that we have all been freed. The worship of the market will allow her to travel with her adopted family to and the God of money has caused many to suffer. Singapore. What happiness followed the long and May we all have the courage to live a Lent that will anxious wait where a wonderful outcome was hoped usher in true life for the world. for rather than to be expected. Warren Kinne now works at You Dao Foundation. Xiaos struggle to me is a Lenten story that has become an Easter story; a fast that turned into a feast; a long journey in a desert that ended in freedom; a near To read more relections go to : death that heralded a resurrection, a new life. http://www.columban.org.au/resources/reflections/

Kaulotu - March 2013 7

Photo Focus
Post Assembly Workshop

Photo top left: left - right :Lizl (CLM) Fr Peter Loy Archbishop Elect), Fr Frances and Gyan Want (CCIM). Photo top right: right - left: Lanieta T(CLM), Frs. J.J. Ryan, David Arms, Darwin Bayaca, and Vitalina Lubi (CCIM)

Columban Companion In Mission LA Gathering

Kaulotu - March 2013 8

St Francis Finds God in Nature

As I wrote last week, a Franciscan Sister told me that the best word for her in English to capture the spirit Francis lived by was courtesy. Courtesy was the way Francis related to all Gods creatures, human and nature itself. It was the root of his closeness to God, his spirituality. An early biographer of the saint relates a story about how Francis was sitting in a boat crossing a river and was given a small water bird to hold. It settled down in his hands as in a nest while he lapsed into prayer. Coming to himself he sweetly told the little bird to return to its original freedom. True to its nature the bird flew away. Pope John Paul II taught that all parts of creation have their own integrity and this must be respected. Humans often use other people and things purely for their own benefit, without regard to them, reducing them to objects. But they are subjects with the own worth and integrity. Sadly, the Scriptural mission to be steward-masters of creation can be perverted to sanction control, even arbitrary abuse. God calls humans to act like Gods own self, thinking stewards within creation but not separate from it. Two hundred years of human domination of the earth is now being seen in geological terms of change, the Anthropocene. St Francis might say, Enough. Scripture helps us cultivate a God-like love for creation. Many Psalms are nature based poems of praise for God the planets and animals, the elements of frost, snow and wind. St Bonaventure, a disciple of Francis, taught that the Cosmic Revelation is Gods first revelation. Modern science tells of billions of years of cosmic history and faith tells us of salvation history in Jesus continuing in the Holy Spirit as creation evolves. Our history is one, formed from stardust but destined for divinity in the mystery of God. The Earth Bible Team based in Adelaide explores the suppressed voice of nature in the Scriptures. Their month long Lectionary helps church communities celebrate a Season of Creation during September to appreciate anew the integrity of Gods creation, humble in our conscious role within it. We can recall God shouting at Job, Who is this obscuring my designs were you there when I laid the earths foundation can you guide the morning star who gave the wild donkey its freedom does the hawk take flight on your advice?(Ch 38-39) Pope Benedict XVI says that the theologies of Redemption and Creation must be re-connected as one continuing action of God. Incarnation, God taking on flesh, is key. The world is the primary sacrament, and the Risen Jesus present with a community celebrating the Eucharistic meal is the ultimate sacrament. Matter matters says Paul Collins since we find God in our bodily existence on earth. All spirituality and mysticism hinges on this truth. St Francis identified with his local language and wrote poems in the vernacular of the Assisi region. One can imagine him using the relational language of ecology which explores the interconnectedness of all things and their mutual dependence. The precise language of science would have excited Francis

JPIC

as would have exploring the wonders of bio-diversity.Learning How God Acts,to use the book title of Fr Denis Edwards, would have inspired him. The world can be a messy place and we need to look not just at the glorious forest tops but at the weeds underneath. Francis invites us to literally get outside into the natural world and wonder, and equally invites us to get involved in the hurlyburley of how our society deals with the natural world. He would be on the road to visit reefs, river valleys and remote dry lands, finding out about farming, mining and how people gain a living. However, his preaching in these places would always come back to finding the presence of God there in courtesy and our activities tempered by lady poverty as our companion. Some years ago I wrote for ACSJC on the Attitudes to Nature of Australian Catholics over 200 Years. The entry point of ecofaith pioneers varied. For some it was the endless sky of the western plains. For others it was the backyard garden plot or animal pets. Some were visionaries like Tenison Wood. The founding advisors to Catholic Earthcare Australia were eco-faith pioneers. From varied backgrounds they applied their expertise to show God present in the natural world and commit to care in Gods name. St Francis received the stigmata, the wounds of Jesus appearing in his body. His union with God in Christ was complete. But it is the same Francis who sang with joy about sister moon and brother sun, a man in love with creation. Published in the Leader Sept-Oct 2012 byFr Charles Rue SSC. Fr Charles is the Coordinator of Columban Justice Peace Integrity and Creation (JPIC). charlesrue@columban.org.au

Kaulotu - March 2013 9

Youth/Students Corner
Walking for Water As part of this years World Water Day your school could organise a Walking for Water event whereby children walk 6 kilometres (4 miles) with 6 litres (1.5 gallons) of water in a backpack to raise awareness about water scarcity.

LETS SAVE WATER!!!

The Water Cycle

The heat of the sun provides energy to make the water cycle work.

You may think that every drop of rain that falls from the sky, or each glass of water that you drink is brand new, but in fact it has always been here and is a constant part of The Water Cycle!

The sun evaporates water from the oceans into water vapor. This invisible vapor rises into the atmosphere, where the air is colder.

SUBLIMATION

ICE AND SNOW

VOLCANIC STEAM

THE ATMOSPHERE

PRECIPITATION

The water vapor condenses into clouds.

SNOWMELT
RUNOFF
Volcanoes emit steam, which forms clouds.

The Water Cycle

CONDENSATION
Rainfall on land flows downhill as runoff, providing water to lakes, rivers, and the oceans.

EVAPOTRANSPIRATION

EVAPORATION

Some rain soaks into the ground, as infiltration, and if deep enough, recharges groundwater.

RIVERS

FOG AND DEW

RUNOFF

Water from lakes and rivers can also seep into the ground. Water moves underground because of gravity and pressure.

Air currents move clouds all around the Earth.

STREAMFLOW
Water drops form in clouds, and the drops then fall to Earth as precipitation (rain and snow).

EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
SPRING RUNOFF

THE OCEANS

Groundwater close to the land surface is taken up by plants.

In cold climates, precipitation builds up as snow, ice, and glaciers.

Some groundwater seeps into rivers and lakes, and can flow to the surface as springs.

LAKES INFILTRATION SEEPAGE PLANT UPTAKE

Plants take up groundwater and evapotranspire, or evaporate, it from their leaves.

Snow can melt and become runoff, which flows into rivers, the oceans, and into the ground.

RECHARGE

GROUNDWATER FLOW
GROUNDWATER STORAGE
U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Stefanie Neno, Jim Morgan, Gabriele Zanolli, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Howard Perlman, Gerard Gonthier, U.S. Geological Survey General Information Product 146 http: //ga.water.usgs.gov/edu /watercycle-kids.html

Some groundwater goes very deep into the ground and stays there for a long time.

Some ice evaporates directly into the air, skipping the melting phase (sublimation).

Groundwater flows into the oceans, keeping the water cycle going.

World Water Day 2013 - Green Schools Ireland www.greenschoolsireland.org/news/world-water-day-2013.2225.html

Kaulotu - March 2013 10

Bulletin/Editorial

It is a great source of inspiration and stimulus to see that even with a decrease in numbers, the Columban Fathers still have a lot of passion, enthusiasm and dedication towards their mission in Fiji. Thirteen Columban Fathers arrived into Fiji in 1952, through the invitation of Bishop Victor Foley S.M. Since then the Columban Fathers have devoted their time and energy in mission activities around Fiji, from developing new parishes to other apostolate ministries. The Columbans recognize their declining in numbers in the region; nevertheless this has not dissuaded their enthusiasm towards mission. The work in the vineyard of the Lord needs to continue. The contribution of all these great missionaries (not only Columbans) to the development of the Archdiocese of Fiji is immense and greatly appreciated. There is a great need of enthusiasm in all, like these great missionaries. Priests and lay people alike need to be creative in mission work and apostolate ministries. We need to be fully alive in doing mission work like those missionaries who came to our island many years ago.

Serafina Ranadi (Columban lay missonary ) visiting families in Pakistan.

Columban Lay Mission

We are called initially to leave culture,family and country in responding to this call. We come to know more deeply the compassionate and loving Jesus who made his home with the poor and the marginalized. We continue to offer ourselves as Gods instruments of healing,peace, love,justice and freedom,fulfilling Jesus word I came that you may have life life to the full John 10:10

Visenia Navelinikoro

Kaulotu - March 2013 11

In hisEaster SundayUrbi Et Orbimessage, Pope Francis echoed Pope Emeritus Benedict XVIs words (inBenedicts inaugural homily) saying,

How many deserts, even today, do human beings need to cross! Above all, the desert within, when we have no love for God or neighbor, when we fail to realize that we are guardians of all that the Creator has given us and continues to give us. Gods mercy can make even the driest land become a garden, can restore life to dry bones.