The Columban Vocation
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20).
The Columbans are a missionary Society sent by the Church ad gentes, "to the nations", to proclaim and witness to the Good News in Jesus Christ. We commit ourselves as a community to the liberation and reconciliation of all peoples and seek to bring the light of the Gospel to the intimate concerns and cultures of the world, through our witness, our ministry and dialogue.
We give ourselves to a life of mission inspired by the call of Jesus himself. Responding to his invitation, Columban Missionaries cross boundaries of country, language and culture to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world. We seek to reach out and transform all the strata of human life through the dynamic work of evangelisation, opening up the horizons of humanity to the living mystery of God's Kingdom, and responding to the poor and suffering wherever they may be found.
To evangelise with love, to sow the Gospel in the diversity and immediacy of human life, to establish, animate and nurture the Church, to respond wherever the human spirit cries out for the life of the Gospel - this is the mission of the Columban Society.
As an international community, the Missionary Society of St Columban carries out the evangelizing mission of the Church in various countries in Asia, Europe, North and South America, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. Our mission expresses our recognition of Christ in all men and women - we seek to build peace in the midst of violence and injustice, live in dialogue with other religious traditions, care for the earth threatened by greed and misuse, and promote the dignity of human persons in conditions of exploitation and oppression.
This mission calls us to a deep spirituality of listening, receptivity and engagement, a rich life of prayer and community centred on Jesus whose presence nurtures and empowers us with a spirit of dialogue and boldness, understanding and reconciliation.
As God opens before the Church a humanity more fully prepared for the sowing of the Gospel, we grow in contemplation and action with the support of the Columban family - priests, sisters, lay missionaries - our co-workers and friends, and all those whom we touch and who touch us with the gift of God's saving love.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
(Luke 4:18-19)
