Alberto de la Portilla – Page 95 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

Third Formation Unit – Lay and missionary spirituality

21 December, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

On November 17-18 we gathered once again at the Comboni Missionaries’ house in Viseu for our formation meeting, moderated by the CLM Carlos Barrios, on the theme of “lay and missionary spirituality.”

What is spirituality? Spirituality or spiritualities within a larger spirituality? What does it mean to be a lay person in the Church today? What is the place and what are the concrete ways of spiritual life of the lay vocation? What are the aspects that distinguish being and living as Comboni Lay Missionaries, in the light of the CLM directory and the recently approved Statutes?

Through the moments of formation directed by Carlos, group sharing, personal reflection and prayer, we tried to answer these questions and – above all – to understand what is for each one of us the concrete meaning of all that we listen to and reflect upon in this meeting, and, from here, to find concrete resolutions to move towards an ever deeper and more intimate relationship with Christ and a greater communion with others.

Above all, we gathered from this meeting that we were all made, created, and dreamed of for the same reason: to understand the presence of God, to embrace it and to shape our lives in such a way that this presence will be always deeper and lived. Each one on our own path; and the concreteness of each one’s life. Gaining in our intimacy with Christ we give better witness and move towards holiness.

The Sunday was different: in groups, we shared and reflected on concrete proposals in the context of the preparation work for the General Assembly of the CLM to be held in Rome on December 11-16. It was a great opportunity for each one of us to share ideas, to learn more about the Movement of the CLM giving each one the power to contribute individual thoughts and reflections, in any way, on the development of this Movement.

CLM, Portugal

VI International Assembly of the Comboni Lay Missionaries in Rome

19 December, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

The VI International Assembly of the Comboni Lay Missionaries (CLM), held every six years, is underway in the General House of the Comboni Missionaries in Rome (11-17 December). The participants are 51. In addition to the representatives of the CLM and the Comboni Missionaries who follow them in their respective countries, coming from 20 African, European and American nations, Sr. Ida Colombo, of the General Council of the Comboni Missionaries Sisters, and Maria Pia Dal Zovo, of the central council of the Secular Comboni Missionaries, also participate.

The Assembly began with the words of welcome from Alberto de la Portilla, coordinator of the Central Committee of the CLM, and of Fr. Pietro Ciuciulla, on behalf of the Comboni General Council.

The morning of the first day, 11 December, was dedicated to prayer, reflection and sharing, under the guidance of Gonzalo Violero García and Maria Carmen Polanco Delgado, CLM from Spain. In the afternoon, the participants gathered by continents.

Yesterday, 12 December, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, each continent presented a report of the activities carried out over the last six years and the main challenges for the future; the Central Committee’s report and the 2012-2018 economic report followed.

In the afternoon, reflection began on the first theme of the Assembly, which concerns the organization of the CLM (composition, structure, international community and economy).

Today and in the coming days, the CLM will discuss three other major themes: formation and spirituality, the mission of the laity, the fundamental documents of the CLM. There will be time to speak in a special way of the international communities, to share the life experiences of the CLM in the different continental contexts and to inform about the current relationship of the CLM with the Comboni Family.

In moments of prayer and Eucharistic celebrations, the assembly prays for all the CLM members, in particular for those who find themselves working in difficult contexts, such as, for example, in the Central African Republic.

May the light of the Holy Spirit enlighten the participants in this Assembly and the CLM in general, so that they may give continuity to the work and charism that St. Daniel Comboni started!

Our Arrival in Brazil

4 December, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

Our heart pulsating with love, fills up to overflowing with happiness!

On Thursday, November 22, we left Guatemala very enthused, with a lot of joy and hope. With a touch of homesickness we said good-bye to family and friends and started the much awaited journey to Brazil, exhausted by its length, but with the children happy to board the plane. Also with strong feelings over the blessing of being able to come.

Lourdes was happily waiting to receive us and we were just as happy to see her, amazed by the scenery and in a hurry to get home. We boarded a bus and then the MCCJ were waiting at the station to take us home. Quite an adventure, with 13 vehicles to take everybody. When we arrived we felt at home. I was thinking that, even had we left a lot behind in Guatemala, here we were getting twice as much. Simply put, the Lord is not stingy.

We rested some days after the journey and got ready for Sunday Mass. It was a beautiful celebration that filled our hearts with joy beyond description. This day, the Feast of Christ the King, reminded us of our short mission experience in San Luis Petén, where the Lord got hold of us in a deep way, and where we discovered that we wanted to be Comboni Lay Missionaries, because when we were there, we ended our mission experience on the feast of Christ the King. How joyful to know that the Lord spares no effort to win our hearts! This is how in the depth of our being the fire of love is born and generates a strength that cannot be silenced, a most pure love that gets into your very bones and makes you move out from where we are. During this beautiful Eucharist we were well received, the children did a dance representing Brazil, and we felt welcomed by the whole community where providence and the generosity of people certainly are not lacking.

After Mass we returned home for lunch, where Lourdes had prepared a banquet which we shared with Alejo, Tere and their family. With them we also shared many of our desires and aspirations of being missionaries out of our reality, as a family. We also met Neuza, a neighbor, laughed and started making acquaintances. How close one feels to Brazilians! The openness of the people here is quite impressive and especially in this little corner of Brazil.

We have been here a week and in truth it went by fast, between long trips to change money, to know the neighborhood and three-hour long shopping trips, it has been quite an experience. Many people approach us to talk to us, because the children draw a lot of attention and so does our poor Portuguese, which is improving by the day. Lourdes has been our strength and joy, takes us everywhere, teaching us, explaining and showing us everything, solving our doubts and loving our children. By now she is already officially our Brazilian grand-mother: Vovó! Even though we did not know her, she opened to us the doors of her house and of her heart. It is so comforting to know that as CLM we are one in Christ, one in love.

With a lot of anxiety we took the first round of formation with Alejo. Blessed are the eyes and ears that are attentive to the word of the Lord! It was an oasis in the midst of confusion, a pause that refreshed the soul. We sang missionary songs, and does the soul vibrates when you sing about the call God has given you! We scrutinized the words of Genesis 12:1-4, Leave your land, leave your father and your mother, your family, your country and go to the land I will show you… I will make of you a fount of blessing…

At different times the Lord makes himself known in small things, in greater things, in simple events, in something personal. This reading, that had been the main theme of a retreat given by the MCCJ provincial Fr. Victor Hugo Castillo, reminded us of the moment that defined our discernment about three years ago, when we decided to leave everything and join the CLM, the moment when we made ourselves available to mission as a family. And today, as we start in it the Lord repeats to us: “I know you, I love you and you are here because it is my will.”

How great is the love of God! There is no measure and our mind is so limited that we can only allow ourselves to be loved.

Today our hearts are full of love and want to share all these details of His dealing with us. You cannot say no to God. How could we be so blind as we face the sweetness of his love? Only by living it we can know it and by giving of ourselves we can feel it.

Our hope is based in our faith in Him and, because we feel so loved, we are here. We hope that our life may be a source of animation and hope in the face of desolation, of purification for our souls and of light for those who do not know true love.

Pray for us, that we may be useful instruments of God.

Greetings from Ipê Amarelo, Brazil

Ana Cris de Camey

Arrival in Brazil of the Comboni Lay Missionary family from Guatemala

28 November, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

Daring for faith and for mission

With great joy the community of Our Lady Aparecida, in the town of Ipê Amerelo, in Contagem, State of Minas Gerais, has received the family that covered miles and miles to reach Brazil and, together with the Brazilian people, proclaim the Gospel and witness to Jesus Christ who lives and reigns.

There was a lot of curiosity and everyone admired both the courage of the hosts and above all the courage of those who came with their four children.

How many questions on both sides! How beautiful! How did you discover Ipê Amarelo? Do you understand Portuguese? How long will you stay? The Comboni charism and the smiles of the kids and of their parents answered without needing a translator, the hearts and glances spoke, faith, courage, love translated part of this missionary mystery. Already at the airport, as tired as they were, their faces were radiant.

We took a very long bus ride up to Contagem, where the Comboni Fathers and a young member of the community were waiting for us. Then three cars, what a risk, raced along the way as in a carousel, all that was left was to honk like crazy on the road all the way to the mission house. The faces were heavy with exhaustion, but the smiles betrayed the joy of having arrived.

They have only been on Brazilian soil for two days, but it feels as if they had been here for years! The value of having dared embraces them and here they are. Already this week we will start classes of inculturation, Portuguese, and all that the mission requires, discovering a little at the time the customs of our mining people.

May they be welcome and together we will follow the footsteps of Jesus, missionary in the land of the Mines.

May St. Daniel Comboni intercede strongly for all.

Amen.

Lourdes, CLM Brazil

A Part of me is called Peru

26 November, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

I often think of the meaning of the lives that crisscross my journey. I often think of the conditions where we meet and how simplicity brings us closer.

I could list a countless number of situations I have already experienced here. Some were mastered, while others will keep on ripening until I will understand them.

Many lives are already part of me, and many are the smiles that belong to me, the hugs I do not avoid and renew my strength. With the intention of just dropping in, I spend hours to no end conversing on the doorsteps. For me, mission is timeless.

The doors of our house are open, doors that open to receive the greatest joys of passersby and welcome the sufferings of those who seek refuge from us. They ask of you the only thing you have to give, yourself.

When night falls, that is when I like revisit my day and, even though often I fall into tears, they are tears of contemplation of the marvels God is working in me and, through me, it’s impossible to ignore it, and not thank God for it all. Many a times I see, countless times, the little miracles and signs that have reached me through these people who are now part of me.

Mission is hard, and you would lie if you said otherwise. Mission is arid, here, where the landscape is covered with the roofs of what is left of homes close to be disintegrated by the strong wind.

In August, part of a year’s work falls apart, when nature blows so strongly that it is impossible to resist. Without fear, they roll up their sleeves, without giving up, and even though what they have is little, nothing is stronger than the will to move onward.

I am not lying, mission is hard. At time it becomes cruel, it hurts. You see the suffering in the eyes of these brothers of mine and the helplessness in the face of what they have to bear with.

Many are the times when I simply listen, give a hand, my shoulder. Many are the times when we smile together, as we share this love of God so concrete and free. Many are the hugs, the hands shaken. Many are the moments of silence and mutual commitment, in the simplicity of sitting on the ground and be one with them.

Yes, mission is hard. It is in this hardship that I met the deepest meaning of my presence on Peruvian land. It was in this arid land that I placed my dreams and my hopes. In this little corner of the world that I pray daily for the integrity and the rights of people similar to me, created by God. It is a constant state of being fragile and be integrated in the simplicity and humility of those who have nothing. Without expecting anything in return.

Mission is hard, but this is the mission I always dreamed of, this constant discovery of who
I am and of what I am doing here. It is to know that I am nothing and often see how miracles just happen, naturally. It is trust that makes us flesh of the same flesh.

A little at the time everything falls into place, a little at the time everything happens simply, not in human but in heavenly times.

With love and gratitude

CLM, Neuza Francisco in Peru