Spain – Comboni Lay Missionaries

Everything is grace, everything is a gift.

2 September, 2025 by Alberto de la Portilla

Everything has been a GIFT from GOD. An undeserved super gift, for which I am infinitely grateful. I am overflowing with joy at the details, the tenderness, the caresses and embraces of the Lord during these days through people and situations….the Lord cares for us day by day with such delicacy…and this certainty, which is sometimes clouded in the daily stress of Madrid, has become clear and explicit in every minute of my missionary journey in Kenya: (passing through Nairobi) in West Pokot, Kitelakapel, a community of Comboni lay missionaries who have welcomed me so amazingly well, and in each of the Pokot people in the parish, in the schools, in the town or village… everything was like being in heaven, “I am in Heaven” I would say to the missionaries. It was a privilege that I feel unworthy of, but for which I have been infinitely and consciously grateful every day.

In the small difficulties, I always had the help of my guardian angel, who made me discover that “every cloud has a silver lining.” More than once, my guardian angel manifested itself in Belinda, a young Kenyan lay missionary from Nairobi, who accompanied me at all times, always attentive and willing, also in Pius with his joy and spirit of service, and in Linda with her good organizational skills and energy. All of them had a fervent missionary spirit rooted in their deep faith in God. And let’s not forget Father Justus… there are no coincidences… 100% divine providence.

The hard-working Pokot farmers and ranchers, especially the women who raise families of 10 or more children! From such a young age… so much tenderness and joy… and they feel so fortunate…

Anyway… there are so many people there who have made me see God face to face… that I want to go back right now.

Grateful and enthusiastically contemplating the wonders of His Creation: rain that watered the fields and made them beautiful, even though it sometimes made it difficult for us to move around, nature with all its living beings: animals of all kinds and conditions living alongside people… and what wonderful people! I am still moved by the memory of the ladies of the CWA of the parish or neighbors and their babies, of the men transporting on piki piki (motorcycles) what we would carry in a truck (unimaginable), the children dancing, singing, playing, and learning so many things… and their creative clapping… (elaborate and dedicated applause)… Overflowing joy…

EVERYTHING IS GRACE EVERYTHING IS A GIFT FROM GOD

Monica

Reasons for Hope (In the Footsteps of the Risen One VI)

10 June, 2025 by Alberto de la Portilla

Throughout this Easter season, we have been discovering the presence of the Risen Jesus in our lives. As missionary disciples, we want to follow in his footsteps, to be bearers of the Good News, confident that he always accompanies us in our task of evangelization.

We are going through difficult times in the world. The new political leaders in many countries are taking their rhetoric to extremes for their own benefit. They seem to be striving to accuse others, to divide positions, to create two sides seeking the benefit of one at the expense of the other, and if there is a change, they seek revenge.

Violence, and in extreme cases war, seems to be the only solution proposed to solve our differences. We must prepare for war because we are doomed to find our ultimate solution in it.

We refuse to give up: Another world is possible!

We in the CLM also have our great concerns about how to support our companions who left everything to give their lives to the mission; in particular, the difficulties we encounter in getting new people (young and not so young) to join this missionary service. Finding new people to complete our communities in mission and continue to share our lives with the peoples whom the Lord has called us to serve…

But when we find ourselves surrounded by many difficulties, God appears and reminds us of his covenant with us. As a Church, we live a long Lent asking to be converted and to overcome our weaknesses. And thank God we encounter him in the celebration of the Easter Triduum. During those days, we accompany Jesus at the Last Supper where he teaches us the importance of service. We were with Him on the night of Gethsemane to understand the harshness of those moments, which sometimes remind us of some of our own, and we are grateful for Jesus’ determination to confirm his YES to the Father.

From there, we accompany Jesus in the hardest moments, the consequence of his life. There are many who could not bear his words and deeds; they had to put an end to him. We see Jesus taking up the Cross, the cross that is repeated in so many women, so many men, boys, and girls in our world who continue to suffer injustice, so many harsh realities from which the Lord does not flee, but rather takes a step forward. We understand that God has decided to go all the way with us, that he does not abandon us at any moment.

And with joy and gladness we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Death, evil, does not have the last word. God raises Jesus from the dead and tells us that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Now we walk a little like the disciples of Emmaus, not quite believing it, not quite recognizing it…

But we see how light prevails over darkness, we see that this is the way forward. Once again we fall at the feet of the Risen Jesus, we ask for forgiveness and we give THANKS.

And suddenly all our difficulties begin to change color. It is not us, it is Him. Each one of us has to do our part, but what we need to do is understand God’s plan and give the answer that Jesus gave with his life.

The answer we can give as human beings is fragile and fears immediately arise, but when we understand in whose hands we are, everything changes.

We know that we are fragile and the enthusiasm of Easter tends to be stifled by day-to-day concerns, but Easter helps us to see life with perspective. And the community helps us to remain faithful.

Individually and as CLM, we recognize once again that the mission is God’s. How naive to think that it depends on our strength. We are only here to serve it. He takes care of it, we just have to trust. Trust with HOPE. With a hope that is nothing more than expectation based on what we have experienced and are celebrating these days. Our Hope is founded on the Resurrection of Jesus. No matter how uphill the road may sometimes be, we know that He accompanies us and is with us.

And we trust fully in the last words of Matthew’s Gospel:

Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And know that I am with you always, until the end of the age.

Mt 28, 19-20

Alberto de la Portilla, CLM

Running to the aid of those in need (In the footsteps of the Risen One V)

5 June, 2025 by Alberto de la Portilla

In the second meaning of the word RESUCITAR (to resurrect), the RAE dictionary tells us that colloquially it means “to restore, renew, give new life to something.”

This summer I had a missionary experience in Mozambique with five other companions. During this experience, I met Mrs. M., a widow with a deep faith who had spent her long life working as a teacher. She had a very warm personality and cared deeply about all her neighbors. A few years ago, in her desire to help others, she gathered a group of people, members of the Songo parish, to start the Caritas group from scratch.

Thanks to her efforts and those of her collaborators, Caritas Songo was launched with the fundamental objective of restoring dignity to all those in need in the village.

Every day, she would go out on foot with her group to visit, accompany, distribute, listen… always with a smile on her face and a transparent gaze that showed the merciful Jesus she carried to everyone.

I could talk about many of the experiences I shared with Mrs. M., but the one that impressed me the most was the day we went with the group to respond to an emergency call. An elderly man had been left on the street because he had been kicked out of the house where he lived. He took refuge in an abandoned, dirty, dilapidated room with no door. The neighbors alerted her to the situation, and Mrs. M., without hesitation, came to his aid, taking money out of her own pocket to cover the old man’s basic needs, mainly food and water. She asked the community to mobilize to find a solution to the problem of the missing door, and they quickly managed to bring one that solved the old man’s lack of privacy and security. And just as the Good Samaritan did, she left more money with one of the man’s neighbors so that she could buy more food and whatever else he needed.

Her generosity, selflessness, and humanity, in the style of the Gospel, made us think about our own attitudes and behaviors in the society in which we live. Would we have acted in the same way? Probably not.

Two months ago, I received the news of her death. The same Jesus who was present in her charitable work called her to reward her and thank her for being Good News.

Mrs. M. was determined to restore, renew, and give new life, that is, to RESURRECT, all those who came to her for help. Nor did she forget to go to those who could not or did not want to come to the parish. Those were her chosen ones, the same ones whom Jesus approached because he knew that they would not take the first step.

Now she enjoys the RESURRECTION that she gave to so many people in Songo.

Faina Toledo, CLM

In the footsteps of the Risen Christ (IV)

26 May, 2025 by Alberto de la Portilla

Some years ago in a village, belonging to the parish of Mongoumba, there was a Christian family, engaged in the parish, the father, a catechist, had several children; one of them, Eloy, was 10 years old.

One day Eloy went to bathe in the river, as usual, and when he returned home he collapsed, without consciousness, and went into a coma.

His father quickly took him to the health center, where there was nothing they could do, because the center was very basic, and they directed him to the hospital in Mongoumba.

When they arrived at the hospital and admitted him, no one knew how to give an answer, the possibilities of doing tests, analysis are nonexistent, there is no equipment to do a CAT scan. And his father, Jean Batiste, not knowing what to do and where to call, went to seek comfort at the church and spoke to the parish priest; and from that moment on in community prayer, Eloy and his family were always present and we tried to support the family, both physically and spiritually.

We do not know how or why, but one day Eloy began to wake up, his body was still paralyzed.

The rehabilitation center “DA TI NDOYE”, which belongs to the parish, took him in. With everyone’s effort and hope, the physiotherapist began to work with him.

After a month of daily work and effort Eloy, in his wheelchair, began to attend the mission school, his dream was to play soccer.

In Mongoumba, he continued his life, as normal as possible, attended catechesis, as in his community, and received baptism and first communion.

One Sunday, during mass, at the moment of approaching communion and in front of everyone, he stood up and without anyone’s help he managed to get there by himself.

Ten years later, on Easter Sunday, I met Eloy in his community, with his friends; he is a young man of 20 years old, autonomous, who walks without any external support and has a smile that fills the heart of those who receive it.

Teresa Monzon, CLM Mongoumba

In the footsteps of the Risen Christ (III)

19 May, 2025 by Alberto de la Portilla

Sometimes, in the hospital, days go by immersed in daily routine, in routine work. It is often difficult to break the monotony. Although we deal with different people, the same moments are repeated: the crying, the disorientation, the exhausting wait before a farewell that we do not want to come, a diagnosis that stops our life, an unwanted loneliness, persistent and chronic pain…

In the midst of all this suffering, and in the context of the Easter season that we are celebrating, I ask myself again and again: Where are you, Lord? How can I see you and discover you risen? What signs of Life can I find in the midst of so much pain?

And then I see you. I discover you in those words full of tenderness that ask for permission to clean a patient in bed, to take a blood test. I recognize you in the hands that caress with comfort the cheeks of those who suffer, in the eyes of the bedridden person who, with a look and a smile, says good morning to us. You are in the hands always ready to help, in those who, despite the daily hustle and bustle, find time to listen.

Yes, Lord, you dwell in all these situations. And it is there where I recognize you and see you Risen, giving LIFE in the midst of so many experiences of death that sometimes we have to live as health-care workers.

Esther Nieto, CLM