America – Comboni Lay Missionaries

Angels fallen from Heaven…

17 April, 2024 by Alberto de la Portilla

With much enthusiasm we prepared ourselves to celebrate the major week, being obedient to the call of God we set out to San Luis, Petén, Guatemala, Adrián Chacón Aspirant to CLM, Jorge Zamora Candidate to CLM and this servant José David Rojas Quesada Comboni Lay Missionary.

On Saturday March 23 we left Guatemala City together with Father Juan Diego Calderon, Provincial of the MCCJ for the Province of Central America to San Luis, carrying many expectations of not knowing what would be the task that God would have, but with much enthusiasm and love to make of this small experience a tool to make love grow among us children of God and also to be that living testimony of bringing God to all parts of the world, with the same confidence with which Jesus speaks to his disciples and tells them;

…and teach them to fulfill all that I have commanded you. I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28, 20…

When we arrived in San Luis we were welcomed by Father Aubert, Comboni Priest, coming from CAR, he invited us to have lunch and then he told us that two of us would go to a village called Cansis and another one would go to another one called Cain, the coordinators of each village were waiting for us, we said goodbye to Jorge since he was going to Cain, Adrian and myself went with Don Eliseo to the community of Cansis.

It is admirable for me to see the dedication and disposition with which the Coordinator of Lectors, Coordinator of Acolytes and Catechists met at the time of the Convocation. A very great joy was the reception with which the children who were in Formative Catechesis for their Consecration as Acolytes received us, that same Saturday we met until almost 9.30 pm, where we talked openly and extensively about a somewhat complicated situation that the population was going through, we also planned the whole Holy Week, trying to respect the way in which they do their celebrations, and with the consent of the community add some elements. In this meeting we understood why the assignment that Father Aubert (Alberto) gave us when we left the parish house, I can not deny that at some point I felt like my partner, unable to successfully accomplish that task, however with the commitment of the Catechists and Coordinators and the confidence that God would be with us, we assumed with fear but with joy that task, where we had to go to visit house to house, talk and fight for that community did not give up the service and surrender to the almighty.

Cansís is a community that in that area of the Petén is called mixed, since they speak both Spanish or Castilian as they say and Quetchi, for us it was very striking to hear them speak in their dialect.

On Palm Sunday Consecrated Lectors held the Celebration and in it they introduced us to the whole community explaining a little of the agreements we had made the day before, after the celebration we greeted everyone, and on Monday we began to visit Lectors who were not exercising their ministry, on Tuesday we did it with the children acolytes, Wednesday with catechists and other faithful who were not congregating.

The purpose of the visit was to motivate them, encourage them and invite them to resume their dedication, their consecration, their service, and like everything in the ways of the Lord, children who said YES I want to continue YES I want to consecrate myself as others said they were sure they did not want to continue, however, they were encouraged and if they definitely did not want to continue they were invited to participate in the celebration of the Word that Monday and Holy Wednesday were held, and since Monday we began to see those people who said they did not want to serve coming to the celebrations, That day we had the Eucharistic Celebration, Father Juan Diego and for the infinite grace of God 3 of the Consecrated Acolytes, including the girl from the last house arrived, it was very gratifying to see that all the fatigue, walking, sunshine had its reward and hope in the Lord of the harvest, that this motivation would continue.

On Holy Thursday being Eucharistic day and of great importance for us Catholic Christians since as we know we celebrate the institution of the Holy Eucharist, we proceeded to visit all the elderly and sick people who can not gather because of their health condition, walking through dusty trails now that it is summer, but reflecting on the work that the Ministers of Communion should do when the winter comes. Each house that we visited with Jesus Eucharist was a great joy, when we were leaving the temple the men collaborated with the construction of the provisional tabernacle to make the transfer of Our Lord, finished that task we returned to the Church at about 2 pm and to our surprise the men had already finished their work and only the women were left to make the floral arrangements and other details, then we set out to prepare the Celebration of this day, The men first washed the feet of the women and then the women washed the feet of the men, as a sign of humility, respect, fraternity and community. Once the celebration was over, we had a time of community prayer and then we moved the Blessed Sacrament to where it had been previously placed to pass and pray as a family, I must mention that they kept vigil from that moment until Holy Saturday before communion, the commitment is beautiful.

For Friday, we were called at 8:30 AM to make the Holy Way of the Cross, in each assigned house they decorated their station, one in Castilla and another in Quetchi, with great faith meditating on what we were doing we went station by station, half way through the owner of a store gave us a glass of cool to all participants and reduce the heat a little, we kept walking meditating performing songs for the occasion, after walking another little while some brothers invited us to another cool …. Then we went on until we reached the church, where we prepared ourselves for the Celebration of the Word and the Veneration of the Holy Cross, entering into a meditative silence of that reading of the Passion in Quetchi.

On Saturday, maintaining an atmosphere of meditation, we met with the children of the community, the meeting was very beautiful to hear them talk, but above all to see the desire with which they want to serve the Lord, we took the opportunity to tell them in the form of a story about the call of Samuel, so that they understand that each of us has a special calling, and that this call is the same God who makes it to us. In the afternoon we finished fine tuning details for the celebration of the Easter Vigil, the Solemnity of Solemnities, we began at 7 pm, with the blessing of the fire, the Easter Candle, we took the opportunity to burn some papers that in the previous Catechesis we made where in a symbolic way the participants placed those things that weigh on the heart of each one, We entered the place prepared to proclaim the Easter Proclamation, each child and each adult with great faith having in their hearts that light that reminded us that everything was paid and that through God’s mercy we can come out of the darkness of sin, Already in the Temple we presented the Paschal Candle as the Light of Christ, saving light, purifying light, the readings and psalms were made both in Castilian and Quetchi, at the end of the readings of the Old Testament we sang the Gloria with great joy, the lights of the temple were turned on, We continued with great joy the reading and psalm of the New Testament as the Gospel, Truly He is Risen Alleluia Alleluia. With our hearts more disposed, the Communion Ministers entered into the Eucharistic Jesus where we received Him again in His Temple where He is present in Flesh and Blood and as I expressed to those present, He will be waiting for them with open arms and full of love and mercy. The celebration lasted four and a half hours, at the end we shared the food brought by the attendees, so we all celebrated in community the beautiful night we shared.

On Sunday from 8 AM the choir was singing praises that gladdened our hearts, at 9 am we began the Liturgy of the Word and also our farewell to the Community of Cansis, sharing a community lunch.

Truly the word THANK YOU, is small and encloses all the feeling that this community gave us, every house visited, every breakfast, lunch, shared dinner, every animation expressed, make the fatigue, effort and sun have a meaning and it is the Faith, a Faith that for some situations the enemy wanted to take advantage and destroy, however the Love for God and commitment, makes them continue to stand up for the fight, every sign of affection that they gave us, every shared laughter, and very special for that YES that each one delivers in their service… BANTIOX (thank you in Quetchi).

We pray to God the Father, that our little work done during the past Holy Week, will bring its fruits and hope to the Community of Cansis…

Surely you will ask yourself why the title: Fallen Angels from Heaven… that is how we were called, as angels we do not have much and we lack a lot to have such honor, what is certain is that everything, word, gesture that we gave Adrian and this servant was with the heart being obedient to the voice of God.

José David Rojas Quesada CLM

Adrián Chacón Aspirant to CLM

Easter time

16 April, 2024 by Alberto de la Portilla

To transform our reality by sharing the good is to live a constant Easter, the missionary life is a constant breath on what Easter is, it gives us the opportunity to know the life of people in realities different from ours and to discover other challenges of humanity. In the places that we are sent to, known in the Church as places of FIRST EVANGELIZATION, if we are attentive we can meet God, discover that his LOVE is a constant in OUR LIFE, know that we can all feel his presence and give of what he gives us to those we meet every day or those he entrusts to us in the mission. It makes, from a greeting, a sweet, food, rest, games, skills, prayer, living together, accompanying, serving, simply a smile… In the middle of two languages that separate us and united by the desire to know God more, to know what Jesus Christ taught us and to receive the sacraments. I was able to experience all this in Xacundutia. A place where time moves slowly and you can give yourself the opportunity to take a DEEP breath.

Xacundutia is one of the seven communities that were entrusted to us CLM in Mexico. It belongs to the parish of San Miguel Arcángel, in the Mixteca zone of the diocese of Tlapa, Gro. We visited the parish during Holy Week to experience with the people these days that are so significant for us as Catholics. It is to rediscover a way of life, where in order to have the basics one has to work every day, in the fields, in the house, in most of the occasions to emigrate for seasons to get more. THERE ARE MANY LIMITATIONS EVEN FOR EVANGELIZATION. Knowing that there are places where it is still difficult for the word of God to reach for various reasons commits us to be available to help as much as possible from our lay vocation in this area.

In our assembly we began the reflection on having a continuous presence, we accepted to open the mission again in this area to work with the people, in their integral development, where we can all make our contribution. We have already taken the first step, where we have noted the challenges that exist, God help us to be aware and available to give the best of each one and support this concrete reality. Starting from what we have and being sincere in what we have to be able to bring a favorable response to the desire to have the word of God in the community and make possible the construction of His Kingdom in the Mixtec area, identifying the cultural richness, the appreciation of the handicrafts they make, the care of the environment and supporting learning with school reinforcement, they are the protagonists of their own growth and development.

Beatriz, CLM Mexico

GUARDIÕES: The fight for the land

2 April, 2024 by Alberto de la Portilla

“HELLO, WE ARE ANNA AND GABRIELE, AND THIS IS CIRANDA, THE PODCAST THAT TELLS OUR MISSION EXPERIENCE IN BRAZIL. IN WHICH WE TRY TO TAKE YOU INTO THE EVERYDAY LIFE CHOICES OF THOSE WHO LIVE IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD.”

Even today, after a morning of pouring sun, the rain visited us, half an hour of a powerful storm that dissolved in a few seconds, like the rapid passage of a plane. The rainy season has become this, a short cold shower, everyone wonders if it is a coincidence that it no longer rains for entire weeks as it happened in the past, but it is clear that climate change is screaming loudly here too.

You don’t reach these levels overnight, there is always a path and a story behind it, and the history of this land has very deep roots.

It all started a long time ago. In fact, from the time of the colonial invasion to today, Brazil has never implemented a popular agrarian reform. Consider that in a huge area like that of Brazil, only 1% of landowners own almost 50% of the total cultivable area in the country, and half of these large properties are totally unproductive and could therefore be expropriated for agrarian reform. Brazil is also the largest territory in the world in terms of possible arable land. It is for this reason that for decades the right to land has been conquered and not received by right, it is a fight against the system that has seen the birth of large movements such as that of the LANDLESS (MST), movements that fight to be able to live there where many, with roots in the land and fields, have always wanted and would like to continue to live.

Thus the idea of an occupation was born: hundreds of families reunited, organized themselves, occupying large plots of land to attract the attention of the federal government. Raimunda, waiting to receive this land, lived camped with her family for years, in tents made up of plastic sheets and 4 sticks, inside which there were pots and coal for cooking, clothes, hammocks to hook between a tree and the other, and then children born in the middle of the woods, raised far from life in the city. All in a true sense of community, of struggle, of life shared with little, waiting for the big day when we can finally receive a piece of land to build our own homes, surrounded by trees and fields to cultivate.

The inhabitants of the Francisco Romao Assentation have won the right to the land after 10 years of living in camp.

When they arrived in that territory they discovered that it was Government land, which had been occupied by a landowner illegally, the whole area had already been deforested to create an immense pasture of dairy cows, destroying the surrounding vegetation.

This phenomenon of illegitimate land appropriation is known as “Grillagem”, a practice of forced aging of false documents that are placed in a box with crickets, making them yellowed and gnawed, giving them an ancient and more credible appearance, a phenomenon of forgery to illegally take possession of vacant or third-party land. The families denounced this illegality to ask the government for the possibility of having part of that land and being able to cultivate and reforest it. After years of struggle and reclaiming the land, each family managed to have a property where they could do what they had always dreamed of: living off the land in a sustainable way. It’s an incredible story that of the assentamentos, places where life flows to the rhythm of the countryside.

You enter the settlement on dirt roads, a bright red earth, and you are immediately surrounded by houses and courtyards full of fruit trees and medicinal plants of all kinds, of which the families know every benefit and valorize them for purposes to the last sheet. When we go to visit them they tell us with great nostalgia about those times gone by: the times of precariousness, but also of union, happiness and sharing. The houses were initially made of mud and straw, people lived very little. Life in absence was a constant sharing of one’s possessions, the goal was for everyone to be able to live off that land and for issues to be resolved together, under the canopy in the center of the town, a space dedicated to community meetings. Together we decided what to grow (corn, beans, castanha), we decided where to build the school, together we fought to get tractors, we fought to have a public health building. These were the foundations for allowing a dignified life, and they were built together. A dignified life that allowed for at least 3 meals a day, with rice, beans and cassava, basic elements of Brazilian cuisine. Throughout this process, women were the true protagonists, taking care of the house, taking care of the children and helping the men in the fields, a true example of strength and leadership.

Community, solidarity and doing together, this is the common thread that has made it possible to win many battles and with which the assentamentos were built and still resist, places of life, struggle and defense of peasant life. Farming families have always had one great goal: to plant and harvest food, but also to reforest and protect native vegetation. This is why we called them Guardioes: the guardians. Guardians of nature, guardians of the well-being of the soil and of that piece of the Amazon that has been entrusted to them. Guardians of the community and of peasant life, of the fight against a system that wants to take away the life of the least and give strength to the powerful. Guardians of that land which has now been completely destroyed.

In the next episode you will know other stories of women who have chosen to fight in the face of all this. We wish you a good continuation and a happy and peaceful Easter and resurrection in the Lord.

Anna and Gabrielle, CLM in Brazil

Prayer Intentions of the Comboni Family April 2024

1 April, 2024 by Alberto de la Portilla

That the Lord may grant all missionaries a share in the Paschal Mystery of Christ – the mystery of that life which is stronger than death – that they may learn to strip themselves of the old man and put on the sentiments of Christ: tenderness, goodness, humility, patience, magnanimity, and closeness to the least in history. Let us pray.

I’m happy

11 March, 2024 by Alberto de la Portilla

March 7 is not just any day for me, it’s a very special day: the day God chose for me to come into this world.

And on March 7, 2024, my birthday, it was very, very special, because, in addition to the messages, hugs and singing happy birthday, and being with friends and people I love, I had a very, very special gift. It was the greatest gift!

I’m on mission in Mozambique, in Africa, and I had the privilege of being able to visit those displaced by the terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado province, who are in Namapa, in Nampula province.

It was a great birthday present for me, to be with the people, to be able to bring affection, love and words of faith and hope to them, who live in a very difficult situation of poverty and hunger.

I thank God for giving me this great birthday present.

Living the mission means being with the people and walking with them.

Thank you, God, for calling me to this great mission!

Tito, Comboni Lay Missionary.