Comboni Lay Missionaries

Mission Camp 2025 Jubilee of Hope Metlatonoc, gro. Mexico

LMC Mexico

An experience with hope in common of the CLM that participated in the Holy Week Mission Camp in the Parish of St. Michael the Archangel, to discover how the people of the neighborhoods where we participated would receive us since it was the first time that they would have CLM in the neighborhoods of the parish. In our thoughts it was something complicated but the reality changed our vision since being there the experience was bearable, fruitful and of much teaching for all. We shared our faith from our experience even with the difficulty and limitation of not knowing the language or customs; they opened their hearts to us, with their attention and participation; they also expressed their gratitude to each one of us at different times.

The obstacles we encountered were diverse, the main one was the language, some of us got sick, the material we carried, not knowing the customs and culture. Fortunately there is something that unites us, the Faith we have in Jesus Christ lived in this Holy Week 2025 Jubilee year in which we were able to share with people in a friendly relationship, topics in the colonies, processions, prayer and Eucharist always with something characteristic of each day of the Holy Week.

That is why as CLM we believe that we must take into account: to know how to listen, to know without judging, to let ourselves be taught by the people who receive us, to enrich our values, to highlight the richness that we discover, to be open to the changes that may arise, to work obedience and respect for the leaders we meet, to forget about what may distract you and to live the MISSION, above all without leaving behind the Comboni Ideal, evangelizing the poorest and most abandoned, loving our Cross without being discouraged by the circumstances you may encounter, problems or adversities, always remembering Whom we serve and for Whom we are here, doing everything with Love to give Glory to our Lord Jesus Christ.

CLM Mission Team in the Parish

Tadeo, Felisa, Mariana, Beatriz CLM from Mexico and Carol CLM from Costa Rica.

10 quotes from Pope Francis on the mission of the Church

Papa Francisco
Papa Francisco

1. “The whole Church is missionary”

Evangelii Gaudium, 2013

In his apostolic exhortation, Pope Francis stressed that mission is not the task of a few, but of the whole Church. It is a responsibility shared by all Christians, regardless of age or condition.

2. “Mission is a loving response to God’s love”

Year of Mercy, 2015

On several occasions, Francis stressed that mission springs from our response to God’s immense love. As we experience that love, we cannot help but share it with the world.

3. “Mission is not our work, but God’s”

Missionary Sending Mass, 2016

He reminded missionaries that, although we are his instruments, mission is first and foremost God’s work. We do not act on our own, but are sent by Him to transmit His love.

4. “Missionary ardor is an obligation of love”

World Mission Day, 2017

The Pope emphasized that missionary ardor is not an option, but an obligation that arises from love for God and for others. It is a love that should impel us to bring the good news to every corner of the world.

5. “Mission springs from prayer and listening to the Word of God”

100th anniversary of the Pontifical Mission Societies, 2017

Francis reminded us that mission is rooted in prayer and active listening to the Word of God. It is from this relationship with Him that our passion to proclaim His message is born.

6. “Mission is an invitation to spend ourselves with commitment, creativity and generosity”

World Mission Day, 2018

For the Pope, mission implies a total commitment, where each one of us must give the best of ourselves, with effort, creativity and generosity.

7. “Proclaiming the Gospel is the first and greatest charity”

World Day of Charity, 2018

The Pope assured that the greatest work of charity we can do is to evangelize. Carrying the message of Christ is an act of love for others, a commitment that we must live generously.

8. “Mission is the heart of the Christian faith”

World Mission Day, 2021

In one of his most powerful messages, the Pope affirmed that mission is at the very heart of the Christian faith. It is the life-giving heart of the Church, and we must live it with courage and passion.

9. “Mission is oxygen for Christian life”

Meeting of the Pontifical Mission Societies, 2023

In an emotional meeting with missionaries, the Pope declared that mission is fundamental for Christian life, an “oxygen” that gives us life and meaning.

10. “Mission is a tireless reaching out to all humanity”

World Mission Day, 2024

In his message for World Mission Day 2024, Pope Francis invited us to never stop. Mission is a constant going toward all, no matter the difficulties.

Source: Supergesto

Feast of the Señor de los Trabajos – San Miguel Arcángel parish

LMC Mexico
LMC Mexico

The tradition of the people strengthened my faith. On the first Friday of Lent I had the opportunity to live the novenary of the Señor de los Trabajos in Metlatónoc, where I will soon have my mission experience. It was something that helped me to get to know a little of this people to which I will be sent.

We were invited by the parish priest MCCJ Fr. Miguel Navarrete Arceo to the feast of the First Friday of Lent, so that he could introduce us to Bishop Dagoberto; as well as to participate in the retreat with the people who received the Sacrament of Confirmation. I was very happy to meet young people from the Xacundutia community who began their formation in the Mission 2024 Camp where I participated.

LMC Mexico

I can say that there are some new things that I found that I can compare with what I have experienced with my family. For example, when the pilgrimage arrives at the parish before entering they pray at the four points that are marked in the atrium, they give more importance to the Eve of the Feast than to the day itself, they have the custom of taking the offering of flowers and the lighted candles on the pilgrimage, they pray the rosary in Latin accompanied by the wind band. Once they finish their rites they take home some of the flowers offered and blessed as a relic that helps the person in their needs.

LMC Mexico

Here they are not used to participate in the daily Eucharist, but they do ask the priest to pray for them during the mass. We have been making people aware of the importance of their Sunday participation in the Eucharist.

LMC Mexico

This parish community helps me to better understand the topics that I am receiving in the community experience, opening my horizon to new realities, without judging the experience of God in the native peoples, being willing to live traditions and practices without losing my essence of who I am, where I come from and where God sends me; enriching my faith and strengthening my life for the mission.

Mariana Meléndez Candido.

We wish you a Happy Easter

Pascua

In the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb… So they laid Jesus there.

(Jn 19, 42-42)

Dear confrères,

workers of hope and companions in mission, sowers of life where often there seems to be only death, on these holy days, as we celebrate Easter, we feel strongly in us the desire to reach out to you with a thought, a prayer, and a fraternal embrace.

You are where life often seems to give way to death, where human dignity is daily humiliated, crushed, offended, and sometimes denied altogether. And yet, right there, you are called to be a living presence of the Risen One in the most diverse ways: in choosing to stand beside the least of people, in lifting up those who have fallen, in restoring dignity to those who have been trampled…

Often the world may seem like a barren desert to you, but that is when you must believe that, sustained by the Spirit, you can help transform it into a lush ‘garden’ of life. Yes, because the Resurrection is not just an event of the past to be remembered with devotion. It is a fire that still burns, it is a force that continues to open up gravesites, to roll away tombstones that are too heavy, to sprout life even in the driest soils.

You know this well, although sometimes it is hard for you to believe it. At times you feel alone, overwhelmed by fatigue, discouraged by the harshness of reality and the poor results of your efforts. Yet, you continue to bear daily witness to Christ’s victory over death with simple and silent gestures: a child fed, a wound healed, a hand held out, a word spoken in the dark, a division healed, a hatred erased… Each of your acts of love is a denial of the logic of death.

It is Easter, it is new life! Although often surrounded by fetid and poisonous atmospheres, you can still believe – and see – that even the most terrible and darkest ‘tomb’ is always located – in a mysterious but real way – in an ‘Eden’. Not everyone believes and sees this. You do!

In the midst of a world that at times seems to have gone mad – marked by wars, deaths, misery, violence, indifference, overpowering and exploitation, ecological disasters, terrible humanitarian and environmental crises caused mostly by humanity – you continue to believe in ‘gardens in the desert’, to plant and expand them, in the spirit of a true ‘integral ecology’, and to sow beauty even where it seems impossible, to bet on goodness, on fraternity, on full life, and on the Gospel.

We all know that it is not easy. Sometimes the weight of grief around you seems greater than your strength. But do not forget: the tomb is empty. The Lord has risen. And with him, your every gesture has meaning. Every choice you make is light. Every step you take is Gospel incarnate. Every child who smiles again, every sick person cured, every injustice fought, every gesture of love made is a sign that the stone of the tomb can be rolled away, and that life can once again blossom.

You are not alone. Christ is walking with you.

And we, your confrères, are beside you with prayer, friendship, admiration, and gratitude. The world needs you who do not give in to darkness, but persist in lighting lamps, even when they seem useless.

Easter is just that: knowing that, despite everything, Life has the last word; that, where the world puts a grave, God builds a cradle; and that there is salvation even where there seems to be only despair and death.

We carry you in our hearts. We entrust you to the Risen One. And we pray that you will experience a true Easter: one of light, of hope, of consolation, and of renewed impetus. It is Easter! Love has won. And it will continue to win. With you, in you, thanks to you.

With affection and solidarity, we wish you a Happy Easter of hope and new life.

The MCCJ General Council