Fr. Luis Alfonso Segura, MSC, Mission in Columbia

We are sadend to announce Father Fath passed away in August, 2008. Father Segura, a pre-novitiate director in Bogata has replaced Father Fath. More information will follow.

E-mail received January 19, 2005

Thank you for your generous check, your postcard of San Diego and the clippings about Colombian paramilitary groups.

I read the NY times frequently on the internet and find their reporting accurate. The violence and massacres in Colombia are difficult to accept and almost impossible to explain clearly. However, we try to help build peace in the areas where we are working as missionaries. It is a dark pictures filled with many shadows and little light. However, I do believe the process the present govenment is making to establish some sort of peace with the paramilitary groups is not perfect, but it is a step toward lessening the violence. It can't cure the hurts of the past, but maybe it can avoid them in the future.

It is difficult to explain our situation of violence. Maybe if you think of the United States in 1861, when the war between the States broke out. It was a cruel war for four long years. But try to imagine what it would have been like if the civil war actually continued for fifty years. That is something like what has been happening in Colombia.

Let us join our prayer for the families who have suffered and who are suffering because of this violence. Let us ask our Lord to help us avoid this suffering in the future.

May God bless you for your care.

I include a photograph of our small missionary group on the occasion of a peacful retreat.

Fr. Howard José Fath, MSC

E-mail received January 19, 2005

Dear Charles Bishop and members of the mission circle:

I appreciate your many prayers and sacrifices for our mission. Thank all of you for your donations that you sent to our provincial house in December. Also I have placed the photograph of the group at you breakfast meeting on the door of our church. As people enter Mass, we remind them to pray for all of you and your families.

May God bless you. Here is a description of our parish.

OUR LADY OF THE SACRED HEART PARISH

MISSION OF THE MISSIONARIES OF THE SACRED HEART

Have you ever driven through northern Louisiana. If you have, you can picture the area of Jamundí, Colombia, where I now live as a missionary. The vibrant green of the valley whispers peace, the hundreds of birds sing of harmony, the many clear, cold creeks, streaming from los Farrallones mountains, repeat sounds of serenity. The quiet marshes invite tranquility. This is the picture that nature offers.

Sadly, in recent years, the area has exploded with the violent clash of selfish groups. Some are the revolutionary terrorists called the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - Revolutionary armed forces of Colombia) or ELN (Ejercito de Liberación National - the army of National Liberation). Others belong to the para military groups united to defend their land against the demands of the guerrillas. Another violent force comes from those involved in the drug traffic. Add to this list the corruption of public officials and common criminals and you can understand why Jamundi is not a garden in some Paradise. It has become a battle field in a human tragedy.

The first settlers in 1536 pushed the Indian population higher into the mountain ranges. As they established large haciendas for cattle raising, sugar production and planting rice, they imported African slaves as workers.

The town grew as a commercial center for the large haciendas, the farms in the mountains, the Indian populations in the hills. When the slavers were given freedom in 1840, they hired on as workers on the haciendas and sugar plantations.

In the last 30 years, Jamundi began to grow as a residential area between the large city of Cali and the Industrial area of Cauca to the south.

For this reason, the archbishop of Cali, Monsignor Isaías Duarte, requested the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart to begin a new parish for the growing number of families in the area. We began the parish in 1997.

In 2002 Monsignor Duarte, who openly spoke out against the forces of violence, was assassinated following a Mass in a poor area of his dioceses.

Our parish includes middle class families, working class families, subsistence farmers in the hills, Indian populations and farm workers. The owners of the larger farms so not live in this area. Because of the threat of violence, they seldom visit their land holdings.

Since the beginning of the parish, the pastor has been a Colombian Missionary of the Sacred Heart. He attends to five chapels and about 15 small hamlets extending over a vast area in the valley and climbing up into the mountains.

Our pastoral stance has been that of accompanying the people in their difficult moments and celebrating with them in those time of rejoicing. We have formed a number of lay catechists and lay ministers who are more permanently present with the people in their daily lives.

I find our mission here to be most rewarding in the sense of being able to feel the faith of the people and participate in their hopes and fears. I believe that God called us here to speak his word, realize his sacraments and listen to his people.

I certainly am happy and satisfied here. I find peace even where others see violence. I discover the richness of he human soul in the midst of man’s poverty.

Howard José Fath, MSC

Letter received in January 2005:

I received your most generous donation in December. It was sent in September. Your donation has given me the opportunity to help small farmers in this area where there has been a history of violence due to the presence of the guerrilla forces. The violence has subsided and people are beginning to re work their land and raise animals. Christmas was a wonderful time to share the spirit of joy with hundreds of children and their families. Your donations helped us give small gifts to many of the poorest families. I am extremely happy here in my work that I share with the other missionaries of my community. May God bless all of you. I keep you in my prayers Fr.

Howard José Fath, MSC

	Mother and child
	Bath time in Colombia
	Holy Family painted on a shed
	Children

St. Agnes Mission Circle

Fr. Luis Alfonso Segura, MSC, Mission in Columbia