During my time in Korea, I cared for patients suffering from Hansen’s disease, more commonly known as leprosy, a word we rarely use nowadays due to the stigma attached to it. I worked in a small 30-bed hospital with an Outpatient Skin Clinic. The doctor...
On a still cold morning, walking at a gentle pace around Glendalough, many memories and questions can emerge or be prompted in our minds and hearts. This can be an invitation to our souls to experience healing, renewal, and inspiration through the beauty, silence,...
I often see poor children in Pakistan who ride to school on old motorcycles with their fathers in the mornings. These worn-out motorcycles, which look as though they could break down at any moment, carry three or four children together with their father. Younger...
Lent concludes with Holy Thursday’s ceremonies. Columban missionary Sr Kathleen Coyle reflects on Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet and final meal with them (Jn13:3-17). The scene was the cenacle. There were two main events; the destruction of the old model...
An air of anxiety is with us. ‘Disaster’ is a word that occurs frequently in the media here in Japan. Politicians use the word when canvassing for votes. The predicted disasters include stronger and more frequent typhoons, causing surging floods and house-crashing...
As we stand on the threshold of a new year let us begin our journey being grateful for the past and looking forward in hope to what may lie ahead of us. The New Year is an opportune time to reflect on the year gone by and to approach the future with confidence and...
Some years ago, on Christmas morning, I met an old woman in an Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camp in Myanmar. This is her story. Three times in her life she was forced to flee for survival. Firstly, during World War II, when she was just a couple of months...
The glorious colours of early autumn’s fruitfulness now give way to muted tones as the last of the leaves fall from the trees, leaving the bare branches stretching heavenwards like arms lifted in supplication. The wind blows colder and the dark nights grow longer....
St Columban’s Feast Day 23rd November In his address of a General Audience in June 2008, Pope Benedict XVI said: “I would like to speak about the holy Abbot Columban, the best-known Irishman of the Early Middle Ages. Since he worked as a monk, missionary and writer...
‘There is a season for everything, a time for every purpose under heaven’ (Ecclesiastes 3:1) We human beings like to mark special moments in time – a birthday, a wedding anniversary, a golden jubilee, a centenary. This year as we, Columban Sisters, mark 100 years...