Alberto de la Portilla – Page 188 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

The palace of learning

11 March, 2014 by Alberto de la Portilla

The trip to Paris took me to the “palace of learning”, the house of the Comboni Missionary Sister where they gives “shelter” to everyone who wants to know and learn French to better serve the mission.

It was therefore here that I met Palmira. Palmira -Comboni Secular Missionary- has been during two months in Paris studying and preparing herself better to go to the Central African Republic, where she will integrate and collaborate with the CLM community present therein.

Always encouraged, Palmira, looks forward with missionary enthusiasm the time of departure and beyond the current situation of the Central African Republic, far from discourage her, is an incentive to keep going.

“Why do people ask me if I want to depart? Of course I do. I’m here for that and my desire is to be at the service of this mission!” – Said Palmira, full of desire to move forward.

During these days, we managed to contact Elia that rejoices in the strength of Palmira and reaffirmed its willingness to continue to share her life with this people: “There is fatigue, but nothing makes me want to leave. If Palmira comes, then we will be together in this missionary journey. In these difficult times the missionary family is my refuge and help. ”

We also find Veronica who, for professional reasons, is in France since October. Veronica is happy both professionally and at the pastoral level, offering to help Palmira with whatever she needs.

I want to show here my gratitude to Fr Luciano who accompanied me during these days. To the Comboni Sisters who welcomed me so well, thanks to Veronica for a fabulous dinner which gave us a good missionary moment. And especially big thanks to Palmira: for all that we have shared during these days.

God walks with us in this way that we continue towards the mission He entrusts to us.

By Susana Vilas Boas

Community Experience in Mission Field in Mexico

10 March, 2014 by Alberto de la Portilla

Hi all my CLM friends! Here we send you some of our photos from the Mission Field in our Community Experience, where we spent three months in the mountains of Guerrero, Mexico, in the communities of our Indigenous brothers Mixtecs in the Mission of Metlatónoc. Our CLM headquarters is located in the Community of Huexoapa, and from there we moved 2 days per week to the communities of Cocuilotlaxala and Atzompa.

We were accompanying our colleague Alma Navarro, who is currently the only assigned to this mission, as their companions have already completed their period, and in the Christmas mission field joined us: Manuelita and her mom, and Minerva, which traveled from Mexico City.

In the first month of the experience and mission, we were supported and accompanied by Martha, CLM from Puebla. We have had an experience of God, which has filled us with strength in Christ and with great motivation to remain faithful to our vocation. We are already in the city of Mexico, living in the Comboni Seminary of Xochimilco, and from here, we will continue our missionary training as CLM, which will end in June. On July 6, will be our sending Mass right here, all are invited, and we will also let you know about our sending mass in our home parishes. We do not know where are they going to send us, but God knows and that His will be done on us, we put ourselves in his hands and continue entrusting you our Missionary Work of the CLM, for the Regeneration of Peoples. That Jesus Christ and Mary Missionaries, along with St. Daniel Comboni bless you on your missionary way! Thanks for your prayers and financial support!

A strong embrace to all from Isabel and Carolina!

By Isabel and Carolina CLM from Mexico

Pope Francisco Message for Lent 2014

5 March, 2014 by Alberto de la Portilla

Pope Francis has released his message for Lent this year. The text offered by Francisco, which takes as its theme a fragment of the Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians – “He became poor to enrich us with his poverty” (Cor 8.9) – the Pope reflects on the “poverty that enriches “from the point of view of Christ, and the different forms of poverty that humanity suffers at the present time.

The poverty of Christ is for the Pope a poverty that “liberates and enriches” and shows “unlimited trust in God the Father”. “It has been said that the only real sadness is not being saints; it could also be said that there is one true misery: not live as children of God and brothers of Christ,” said the Pope. In this text, Francisco also warns against three kinds of misery: “material, moral and spiritual misery” that afflicts the human been.

According to what the Pope tells us in this Lenten message, God is not revealed through the power and wealth of the world, but through the weakness and poverty. And Jesus, the eternal Son of God, equal to the Father in power and glory, made himself poor so that we feel brothers of all who are suffering, the needy, the latter, which are the favorites of God.

The Pope invites us in his message to remember that Lent is a time to divest, to ask how we can deprive ourselves in order to help and enrich others with our poverty. Not forgetting that true poverty hurts: a wreck would not be valid without this penitential dimension. Distrust of almsgiving that does not cost and is painless.

Full text of the Pope’s Francisco message for Lent 2014

Walking strong in a faith with the truth and the knowledge

3 March, 2014 by Alberto de la Portilla

The weekend of 21, 22 and 23 February the community of life of Porto joined the parish of Grijó for another missionary animation. The meeting began with a reflection and exchange on the encyclical Lumen Fidei where we could reflect upon faith as the most beautiful expression of love for God. But a faith walking strong with the truth and the knowledge, a faith rooted in God and whose trunk strengthen us with the truth, with daily reflection on the Word of God. So, in fact, “As it is light, faith invites us to penetrate it, always more to explore the horizon that illuminates, to better understand what we love.” (LF 36).

It was in this sense that moved by this faith that drives us to always learn more, we share the charism of being Comboni Lay Missionary in the world, we share testimonies of missionary experiences, let challenges in a walk of faith and commitment into a walk of missionary animation for youth. In this way we gave voice to the project KWE ZO ZO – “Every person is a person”, to the JIM´s project (young missionary commitment) and shared with the parish community the gift of being CLM. But for all this to be possible, many collaborated with us. So we want to thank everyone who helped us, from the parish priest, the deacon, the sexton, all catechists, the youth group, the groups of catechesis and the whole entire parish community that welcomed us so well and that generously contributed to the project.

Along our route we tried to interpellate each person in their life, in their routine and simplicity tries to follow the call to holiness, to love this God always gracious and merciful. As Jesus challenged us in the Gospel, “Be ye therefore perfect as your Father, which is in heaven, is perfect” (Mt 5, 48). So we also try to challenge each person to follow the fearless mission entrusted to him/her by the Lord Jesus Christ and to respond with joy to the call that God has for us with the gospel!

In the farewell remained the great joy of our hearts to share experiences, joys and learnings. The joy for the continuation of this path in community, this path that will only be made walking in communion with our brothers around the world!

By Paula Sousa (Portugal)

Opening of the 150th anniversary of the Plan of Comboni in Carapira

27 February, 2014 by Alberto de la Portilla

Here, in the Parish of Carapira every Wednesday we celebrate the Mass with the Catholic students of the Industrial School of Carapira and the girls of the female home of the Comboni Sisters, who are students of the elementary school in the neighborhood. This week, on February 19, the celebration took a special issue as a whole, with the opening of the year of reflection of the 150th anniversary of the Plan of Comboni. Anticipating tomorrow’s official opening suggested by the Institute of the Comboni Missionaries, this celebration was marked by the presentation of the memorial cross for this milestone, given to each community in the MCCJ Province of Mozambique, explaining to the present its meaning and motivation . Father Gino Pastore, who presided the Mass, highlighted the strength and courage of Comboni and his inspiration in developing the Plan, under the slogan “Save Africa with Africa”, thereby motivating the students to become protagonists of their own history, building a better social reality. He launched the Industrial School students who complete 50 years of its foundation, the challenge, inspired by the example of St. Daniel Comboni, that also write the Industrial School of Carapira Plan to comply with this slogan.

On Thursday, the 20th, in the celebration of the Mass with the missionary team, Father Paulo Emanuel stressed that date by reading excerpts from the letter from the MCCJ General and reflecting on the Gospel in the sense of not having the same temptation of Peter of being, even unconsciously, impediment to the realization of God’s plan in our lives and in the lives of people.

After dinner, the team met at the home of the CLM in a tone of celebration to mark the day by sharing food and conversation. As a symbol of this meeting to encourage personal and community reflection, each missionary received a message containing one of the questions that were posted on the general’s letter of the MCCJ on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Plan, in the part that invites us to write our own plan.

May the example of Saint Daniel Comboni follow drawing inspiration for the missionary vocation and that the Spirit of God, the same one that guided Comboni in preparing the plan, enlighten and guide us on the paths of building up the Kingdom!

We are together!

CLM Mozambique