Alberto de la Portilla – Comboni Lay Missionaries

Finding Myself in Mission: My Enneagram Journey with the Comboni Lay Missionaries

25 May, 2025 by Alberto de la Portilla

I had the privilege of attending an enriching Enneagram workshop organized by the Comboni Lay Missionaries in Nairobi. The Enneagram is a system of classifying personality type, which can help someone better understand themselves and how to relate to others. The workshop brought together around 20 vibrant and diverse participants, both CLM members and candidates. All eager to grow in self-awareness and community spirit.

Our sessions were animated by the ever-energetic Lorna Tumbo, whose warmth and enthusiasm lit up every moment. Her passion and deep understanding of the Enneagram created an engaging, reflective, and at times, emotional learning environment. Everyone was truly impressed and inspired by her facilitation.

We shared stories, laughed together, reflected deeply, and built meaningful connections. It was not just a workshop, it was a heartfelt journey of transformation and discovery.

I joined the Comboni Lay Missionaries in February, and so far, my experience has been incredibly fulfilling. I feel part of a mission-driven family that values faith, service, and personal growth.

One of the highlights for me was discovering my Enneagram personality type. I came to know myself as a Type 6 – The Loyalist. This insight helped me understand my core motivations, fears, and how I respond to the world. It’s a discovery that is already helping me become more intentional in how I live, serve, and relate with others.

This workshop reminded me that mission starts within, with knowing and loving ourselves. I’m grateful for the opportunity, and I look forward to continuing this journey of faith and transformation.

By Michaela Cheptoo

Iza from Poland Arrives in Kenya to Begin Mission.

20 May, 2025 by Alberto de la Portilla

Kenya warmly welcomes Iza from Poland, who arrived on 6th May to begin her mission here in Kenya. Her arrival is a significant moment, and she was greeted with enthusiasm by a group of Comboni Lay Missionary Kenya who went to the airport to welcome her. The atmosphere was filled with anticipation and heartfelt greetings.

As Iza stepped out, she was met with smiles and warm embraces. We are incredibly excited to have Iza with us. We look forward to supporting her in her mission. Iza expressed her gratitude, stating, ‘I’m so grateful to be here and eager to start working with the community.

CLM Kenya

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

In the footsteps of the Risen Lord (II)

11 May, 2025 by Alberto de la Portilla

We continue to walk through this Easter season, discovering the footsteps of the Risen Lord who walks with us. Today, Mª Carmen Tomás, CLM from Seville, shares with us the life story of JJ, a true story of Easter and resurrection.

We live in a world in which migrants only find physical, political, relational barriers… It is difficult for us to look beyond what we see, what we believe, what we judge…

Today I would like to share the migration process of JJ, a 25 year old Colombian boy. He had to leave his country and came to Spain, with his hands in his pockets, fleeing situations of violence, misery, breaking ties with his family of origin without knowing when and how he could recover them.

He arrived in Madrid, and there he “had no luck”, he did not find any door, window or loophole, and as he had been a military man in his country, he went to Ukraine, to join the army, looking for a desperate solution. But the reality of the war, the destruction, the pain he saw around him, made him aware that he was risking his life and he had to leave, because the security provided by lodging and a salary (which he could send to his family) did not compensate.

So he arrives in Paris, broken, and meets three other boys (also Latin American), who like him were living on the street, without resources, without knowing the language…, and they create a new family, one of those that unite more than blood. The winter there is very hard, with very low temperatures, so they decide to come to Spain, where at least they knew the language, and end up arriving to my city, where winters are very mild, seven months ago. From the entity where I work, my colleagues from the homeless project take care of them in the street and encourage them to come in the morning for an appointment in our office. And there, little by little, with a lot of effort and perseverance on the part of my colleagues, little things are being achieved, and above all they are gradually regaining hope and illusion.

I do not want to tire you, but unfortunately the resources for homeless people are quite saturated, and it is not easy to find a place for one person, and even less for a group of four. The resource was not adequate, but it allowed them to have dinner, bed and shower. They were able to apply for street registration and medical assistance, which are the basis for access to the most basic resources.

There, other people, in their same situation, helped them to look for work in the countryside, despite how difficult it is to work when you are in an irregular administrative situation. And they did not hesitate to get up at 5 o’clock in the morning to get to the collection points for workers, as was already the case in the time of Jesus….

The relationship with the other day laborers also helped them to heal their wounds, to recover their self-esteem, … to feel that life was starting to give them a chance and to fight for it and not give up.

The cold season was coming to an end, and they had to leave the resource. During all this time we had worked with them, accompanying them in their processes. JJ was beginning to have a more regulated life, working, but without the possibility of paying the deposit to get into a room… We helped him by paying him a month’s rent, giving him the opportunity to save during that month and thus be able to continue in the room. And he succeeded.

Now he has been on his own for three months, he continues to work in the fields, he has his rented room, he has regained contact with his family, he maintains his friendship with his companions, one of whom went back to his country, but the other two are also doing well. And he keeps coming to see my colleague, to tell him how he is doing, how things are going…..

This morning I approached his table and asked him if he could tell me a story of hope and resurrection to share with you, and he told me, well look, I am going to tell you the story of JJ, who has just come out of here…..

Mª Carmen Tomás, CLM

We welcome the new Pope Leo XIV

9 May, 2025 by Alberto de la Portilla

“Peace be with you all! This was the first greeting of the Risen Jesus. The good shepherd who gave his life for the people of God”.

This is how the new Pope Leo XIV began his first greeting upon his election.

He is an Augustinian missionary, son of immigrants, American by birth and Peruvian by adoption, who for twelve years served as Prior General of the Augustinians and who has been a missionary in Peru for 18 years.

In these days there will be much talk about his past, they will try to find out his style, his inclinations, they will debate whether he is more conservative or progressive….

By his fruits you will know him (Mt 7:16).

We pray for him and for his new mission, so important for the whole church and for the whole world.

But not only do we want to accompany him with our prayers, but we also want to be co-responsible. The Church has been praying that the Holy Spirit will accompany us at this time and help us to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and help in the needs of the world.

This is not only the task of the Pope, but of each and every one of us Christians. It is up to each and every one of us who are called to be faithful to the Gospel. If we want a Church close to those who suffer, of simple life, of deep hope that can transmit the peace that the risen Lord wants for all, … If we want it to be a helping hand that consoles and helps in difficult moments, the tireless companion that encourages in the struggle for a more just and humane world for all, that creates bridges so that war or violence is never the solution to conflicts, that helps to understand the richness of those who are different and drives away the fear of the unknown or of those who come from another country, another culture or who profess another faith. If we seek a world without so many inequalities where we know how to share the richness, more than enough for everyone but that many times is hoarded by few and causes difficulties for many… If we want to take care of the earth, our common home, which is a loan of future generations and a place to enjoy the wonders that God has given us… …. If we want a Church worthy of the Holy Spirit himself, it is up to all of us to discern the responsibility we have. It is up to each one of us personally to take a step forward. It is up to us as a community to help each other, to comfort each other, to question each other, to strengthen each other and to walk together because together we find God who makes himself present among us.

We pray for the new pope and for each of us Christians called to serve the world and to follow in the footsteps of the Risen Jesus who precedes us, who continues to open roads, accompanying and living on the peripheries, close to those who need him and faithful until his last breath.

First words of the new Pope Leo XIV

Here is his first message translated:

Peace be with you! Dear brothers and sisters, this was the first greeting of the Risen Christ, the Good Shepherd who gave his life for the flock of God. I too would like this greeting of peace to enter your hearts, to reach your families and all people, wherever they may be; and to all peoples and the whole earth: peace be with you.

This is the peace of the risen Christ, a disarming, humbling and preserving peace. It comes from God. God, who loves us all, without limits or conditions. Let us keep in our ears the faint but always courageous voice of Pope Francis, who blessed Rome, the Pope who blessed Rome and the world that day, on Easter morning.

Let me continue with that same blessing. God loves us, all of us, evil will not prevail. We are all in God’s hands. Without fear, united, hand in hand with God and with each other, we will go forward. We are disciples of Christ, Christ goes before us, and the world needs his light. Humanity needs him as a bridge to reach God and his love. Help us to build bridges with dialogue and encounter so that we may all be one people always at peace.

Thank you, Pope Francis!

Thank you to my brother cardinals who elected me to be the successor of Peter and to walk together with you as a united Church seeking all together peace and justice, working together as women and men, faithful to Jesus Christ without fear, proclaiming Christ, to be missionaries, faithful to the Gospel.

I am a son of St. Augustine, I am an Augustinian. He said: “With you I am a Christian, for you I am a bishop”. May we all walk together towards that homeland that God has prepared for us.

To the Church of Rome, a special greeting: we must seek together how to be a missionary Church, building bridges, dialoguing, always open to receive with open arms everyone, like this square, open to all, to whoever needs our charity, our presence, our dialogue, our love.

And if I may also say a word, a greeting, to all those, and in particular to my beloved Diocese of Chiclayo in Peru, where a faithful people have accompanied their Bishop, have shared their faith, and have given so much, in order to continue to be the faithful Church of Jesus Christ.

To all of you, brothers and sisters of Rome, of Italy, of the whole world, we want to be a synodal Church, walking and always seeking peace, charity, closeness, especially with those who suffer.

Today is the day of the Supplication to Our Lady of Pompeii.

Our Blessed Mother Mary always wants to walk with us, to be close to us, she always wants to help us with her intercession and her love. Therefore, let us pray together for this mission, for the whole Church and for peace in the world.

Let us ask this special grace to Mary, our mother.