Columban Fr Euikyun Carlo Jung leading the Good Friday Liturgy at the Holy Family Parish in Labasa, Fiji. - Photo: Fr Euikyun Carlo Jung SSC
I well recall the very first day I joined St Columbans Mission Society. It was a cold winter’s day in February 2001 when I entered through the gate of the Columban Formation House in Seoul, South Korea. The air outside was freezing, yet the moment I stepped into the house, I experienced a deep sense of warmth. It was not only the warmth of the building itself but also the warmth of welcome, belonging and grace.
In the middle of the harsh Korean winter, I was surprised to feel at home. In that moment, I sensed that I was entering a place where my vocation would be nurtured and my heart would be formed for mission.
During my 12 years of Columban formation, I was asked many times, “What kind of missionary priest do you want to be?” This question stayed with me throughout the years of prayer, study, community life and missionary preparation.
From the very beginning, the desire in my heart was clear: I wanted to become a humble missionary priest who journeys with the local people, crossing boundaries of language, culture, food and way of life.
Since 2017, I have been living and serving in Fiji, in the Oceania region. Over the past nine years, this land and its people have become a deeply meaningful part of my missionary journey.
Over time, my missionary journey has continued to shape and transform me in unexpected ways. In my first few years here, I would often complain about the slow pace of the Nasese bus in Suva. For a young man from a high-tech and highly developed country, adjusting to a different way of life was not easy. It was a genuine culture shock. Yet, through that experience, I began to learn an important lesson of missionary life: mission is not about imposing one’s own pace or way of living, but about humbly entering the lives of others, learning from them and allowing oneself to be transformed by their culture, simplicity and humanity.
Columban Fr Euikyun Carlo Jung sits among parishioners, sharing a meal, conversation and prayer. - Photo: Fr Euikyun Carlo Jung
Now, I live at Holy Family Parish, Labasa, where I have served as the parish priest for the past six years. After experiencing the much slower buses travelling to Karokaro, Labasa and along the branch roads through the towns and villages of the Northern Division, the Nasese bus in Suva now feels like an express bus running on smooth highways and well-sealed roads!
These days, whenever I return to Suva, I experience a kind of reverse culture shock. What once felt slow to me now feels fast. In this simple experience, I see how mission has changed not only where I live but also how I see, understand and value the rhythm of life among the people I am called to serve.
Vocation is, above all, about listening. It is not for me to control the world, but to allow God’s will to enter my heart and take hold of my life. True vocation begins when we surrender ourselves to God and let Him lead us in His wisdom and love.
As the Vocations Contact Person for Oceania, I encounter young men in Fiji, Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, encouraging them to listen deeply to the voice of God and to find their response to His call. In walking with them, I see that discernment is a sacred journey of faith, patience and trust.
Today, I continue to journey with our young men, helping them to remain close to Jesus, the Good Shepherd. To accompany them in their search for God’s will is both a grace and a joy. May this Vocation Sunday remind us that God still calls and that His voice continues to echo in the hearts of the young. May we pray for the courage to listen, the generosity to respond and the faith to follow wherever Christ may lead us.
Columban Fr Euikyun Carlo Jung is the Vocations Coordinator for Oceania. He lives and works in Fiji.
Related links
- Read more from The Far East - July 2026
