Life is Sacred 
Published in Far East
(March 2005)
Fr Hilary Pangan, a Filipino Columban working in Japan, brought a group of Japanese students for a visit to his home country.
"Caring for life, protecting life, healing life."
These were the words used by Fr Ray Husband to describe the Columban
work to the 21 young Japanese who visited the Philippines for a week
last May.
That is exactly what the young Japanese experienced. They met two Columbans, Frs Dom Nolan and Frank Carey in the Centre for Ecological living and learning. They heard the story of the universe not through telescopes and books, but though the labours of these two priests who are willing to dirty their hands in order to assume the greatest human calling: to care for the universe that God created. They heard from Frs John Leydon and Ricci Paiarillo the vision that should guide our century to a responsible relationship with the natural world.
The poverty of the Philippines touched them. But they also saw hope in the work of Fr. Sean Connaugton with the Grameen Bank as they witnessed its healing power among the rural poor of Zambales. The lending scheme of the Grameen Bank opened their eyes to the possibility of empowering poor women to save their families from poverty.
They had a quiet time with Fr Shay Cullen as they
reflected on the noble task of protecting children who are abused. They
learned what a small Organisation of committed people can accomplish in
fighting the consequences of a big US military base in the Philippines.
In this second mission awareness trip to the Philippines of Japanese young people, I witnessed the "come and see" call of Jesus at work. In a brief one-week visit, they became empowered as stewards of life. They planted 1300 tress and made a small check dam to preserve water. They did it in a prayerful manner so that the activities blended well with our "soil liturgy" and "sun liturgy." In the hilltop, I heard them promise to care for the earth and for the poor wherever they found them. We had our "river liturgy" to express their deeper longing in life, and the "sea liturgy" to express their thanksgiving for the life they had received. In this trip I saw the "blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear and the dumb talk", as the young Japanese sang, danced, and communicated with the local people.
They went home with a new direction in life. One of them said so clearly... "I maybe doing the same thing... but I am a new person." Bill Molison the great Guru of Parma culture said that it is the earth that will inform us of what right living is about. The encounter of these young people with the earth, the river, the sea, the stars, the carabaos, the goats, the snakes, the chickens, and the tribal people taught them the greatest lesson: "Life is Sacred."
When we were at my home, I assured my mother that this was not just a week of hospitality for Japanese tourists. Far from it. They felt protected, cared for, and healed for a lifetime. Many thanks to the Columbans in the Philippines for letting them "Come and See." END
