Last weekend we had the opportunity to hold an online African meeting.
Technical difficulties were not lacking, as we all know how difficult it is sometimes for the internet connection to reach correctly to many places of our beloved continent. Sometimes we even had to make up for this difficulty with imagination, there were those who made themselves present through WhatsApp audios that we were later able to share.
We also had the challenge of overcoming the language barriers, but with patience and collaboration from all of us we were able to understand each other.
But the effort on the part of all had its reward.
We were able to dedicate the afternoon to listen to how each of the groups is living at this time, the dreams, hopes and difficulties of these times.
More and more African CLM groups are present, where there are still some CLM coming from Europe or America.
With the Dream of Saving Africa with Africa, more and more Africans are taking the missionary path, not only to help their closest brothers and sisters, but also with the will to open themselves to serve other countries, to collaborate all together in God’s mission for the world.
We ask the Lord to send African missionaries to his harvest, that with their good work they may help us to understand the Lord from their own culture and particularities. Likewise, may He help us as CLM movement to know how to accompany and support these vocations and that as a family we learn to collaborate together for the good of our sisters and brothers most in need.
During the weekend of the World Mission Sunday we were fortunate to have the opportunity to meet with some people who have approached the CLM group in Spain to get to know each other and to make a vocational discernment.
It is always a good opportunity to share our vocation and, to the extent of our possibilities, to serve as a help in the vocational journey of new missionaries.
We believe that in this time of Pandemic many things stopped, but not so the Spirit that is always present and does not rest. If the Lord continues calling new workers to his harvest, we want to be open to accompany this journey in the measure of our possibilities.
Last year we had several online meetings with the group but finally this year, and given that the levels of contagion of the pandemic have decreased, we were encouraged to hold a face-to-face meeting where we could all meet. Always maintaining the necessary prevention measures in these times.
It was a nice weekend where we moved from all parts of the country to share our time, to share what has brought us and to start walking together.
At the beginning of the year it seems important to us to establish the proposed path, the calendar of meetings and the themes we offer. We know that it is an effort for everyone to travel, to prepare the topics, to free the different weekends of the meetings to be able to participate, but we believe that it must be a serious path. It requires an effort on the part of all, but if the Lord calls us, our response must also be serious and committed.
The weekend is dedicated to getting to know ourselves better, to begin to work on our life line, our life history with the Lord and the events that have brought us to this particular moment in our lives. Also to understand our relationship with God, for that is what discerning a vocation is all about.
We hope to have established the basis of the path to follow. This path will be made with face-to-face and online meetings, but also with the personalized accompaniment of each candidate and the possibility of participating in local meetings as well as in national meetings with the rest of the CLM in Spain.
As it was on the day of the World Mission Sunday, we could not but share our joy with the parish of St. Angela de la Cruz in Madrid that hosted us for this event. We were able to help animate the celebration, bringing something of our life in Africa and Latin America, bringing closer the reality of some of these countries and our life experiences.
We prepared the celebration between candidates and CLM together with the choir (who gave us a nice surprise gift) and the catechists of the parish. I think it was a nice and participative moment where the children as well as the rest of the community could approach in a different way to this World Mission Sunday.
We continue to pray that the Lord will continue to call new missionaries and that we will know how to accompany them in their vocational journey.
There is still a great need for missionaries, so we encourage anyone who feels this call to approach one of our groups and make a vocational journey. Let us know how to say Yes like Mary.
We share with you an inspiring letter for Christian commitment in politics and economics shared with us by Father Francisco Pierli and Sister Teresita Cortés.
Very dear friends and Colleagues,
Thanks to God, that after a long spell of silence we are now in position of joyfully communicating with you from a beautiful part of Italy where we Combonis have an institution for the recovery of sickly and elderly confreres. It is the so-called “Centro Alfredo Fiorini” dedicated to a Comboni Brother who was murdered in Mozambique during a Social Mission.
We are writing this letter to underline that our communion continues and hopefully will increase since the health of Fr Pierli is improving.
We took the opportunity to visit the House and the Museum of the great Italian Politician Alcide De Gasperi. In eight successive coalition governments he served as Prime Minister and he was always clearly inspired by the Catholic Social Teaching. He was one of the Founders of the European Union together with Konrad Adenauer from Germany and Robert Schuman from France. We did that visit to the House and Museum of Alcides De Gasperi as a pilgrimage. We are interested in the above mentioned Politicians because all of them and especially De Gasperi, were ready to invest themselves to the utmost to transform the Civil Society according to the Gospel values. They were Statesmen, with a vision of the future, totally committed to regeneration – rebuilding, after the Second World War, of their own respective countries socially and economically and to unite them into a federation as a seed of a greater United Europe. De Gasperi’s Cause of Beatification has been already started. “A Politician looks at the next election, but a Statesman looks at the next generation”. (Alcide De Gasperi).
They inspire us with their commitment, to re-interpret our Christian faith in Politics and Economics: in Parliament, in the State House and in Social life. In spite of the difficulties they met, they managed to penetrate the world of politics and in the field of economics with the Christian values elaborated in the Documents of the Social Teaching of the Church.
May their example and intercession help all of you Kenyan and African Politicians to be at the service of your people, actually people God has entrusted to you, for the liberation of the plague of the society, and for the construction of unity and communion at National and Continental level.
Fraternal greetings and best wishes! With our prayers for you,
Fr Francesco Pierli MCCCJ – Sr, Teresita Cortés Aguirre CMS
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