The deaconate ordination
Taaremon with friends and supporters
many neighbors live as migrants in that country. Their homeland is a small island called Banaba, which is located close to the equator in the south Pacific. The discovery of phosphate on Banaba, and its subsequent mining after World War II, led to their forced migration several hundred miles south to one of the Fiji islands, named Rabi. Since the language, culture and way of life of the Banaban people differs greatly from those of their adopted country, Fiji, Taaremon has learned from childhood to live between two worlds, thus developing an invaluable asset for his future missionary life. WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
CM FE12 012-013 final.indd 13
Indeed, during the ten years that Taaremon has spent as a Columban seminarian, he has come to appreciate the importance of being able to negotiate different worlds, diverse cultures and various languages in order to live as missionary. While the initial years of his seminary training were in Fiji, he studied in the Philippines for one year and in Chicago for four years. Furthermore, he spent two years of his seminary training living and working alongside experienced Columban missionaries in Taiwan. Now, as he looks to his future, he is preparing himself for ordination to the priesthood in August 2012 with
the hope of returning to Taiwan as a fully-fledged Columban missionary priest. However, somewhere in the back of his mind, especially when he thinks of the many roads that Fr. Duster has traveled down over his fifty years as a Columban missionary, he knows that it’s God’s mission, not his own, and that the road ahead may lead to some surprising places. In his speech during the reception after Taaremon’s ordination, Fr. Duster admitted to having being led by the Lord to some surprising places, but also assured those gathered that there hadn’t been a single day during those fifty years in which he regretted his decision to become a Columban missionary. The presence at the ordination of Columban lay missionaries, seminarians and priests from various countries, the support and affection of many parishioners, friends and benefactors, as well as the spirit of faith, hospitality and celebration of that day gives Taaremon good reason to believe that Columban supporters worldwide will keep their hearts open to God’s mission across the globe for many years to come. He knows too that while his days as a seminarian in Chicago have come to an end, as the first Banaban to become an ordained member of the Missionary Society of St. Columban, God is starting something truly new and amazing. CM Fr. Timothy Mulroy temporarily lives and works in El Paso, Texas.
February 2012
13 1/16/12 11:06 PM