Comboni Lay Missionaries

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Announcement of the Comboni Family at the general level

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On June 2, 2017, the annual meeting of the Central Committee of the Comboni Lay Missionary and the General Councils of the Comboni Missionaries, the Comboni Secular Missionaries and the Comboni Missionary Sisters was held in Rome at the General House of the Comboni Missionaries Sisters. A full day lived with moments of prayer, exchange, reflection, programming, meals together and Holy Mass. The MCCJs had just finished their Symposium on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of its founding, and therefore shared with us all the fruits and provocations gathered during the symposium.
Fifteen years after the letter written together by the three General Councils on “Collaboration for the Mission” we now wanted to return to our intuitions, recognizing the path cover, reinforcing certain aspects and exploring new proposals for cooperation. The Comboni Lay Missionary are an integral part of the Comboni family that now also wants to open to new forms of Combonian laity that arise in the different realities.
The publication of two letters, one for all members of the Institutes and movement and another for those in charge of formation will collect the work and guidelines that emerged during this day.

familia combonianaGeneral Counsels of MCCJ, SMC, MSC and the Central Committee of the CLM

Formation Week in Granada, Spain

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LMC

Last week I visited the Lisanga community in Granada. This time the formation was in Spanish, which paradoxically was a drag because most of the material I had was either in English or in Portuguese, but it turned out well in view of having the material available in various languages.

This is always a special time for me: To leave the office, away from e-mails and video-conferences and have the opportunity to share personally with our CLM. In this case it was with David and Aitana, Spanish CLM, and especially with Paula and Neuza, Portuguese CLM who are in Spain preparing to go to Peru.

David and Aitana are teachers and they were in their last week of classes so they were very busy with exams, evaluations and activities typical of this time. Just the same, they took time to share in some important moments of formation and of the week. They volunteered to welcome and make community with Paula and Neuza during the months thy will be here to study Spanish and to prepare to leave for Peru.

I spent most of my time with Paula and Neuza. We would get up early in the morning to say Lauds and start the day. The first few days we studied Spanish in the morning, but for the rest we took advantage of the first part of the morning to do some sports. We have to keep in shape, as mission requires it of them. Above all, they must be ready to do a lot of walking with the people.

After that, we had plenty of time to talk about mission, about community, to share our Comboni charism, to speak of Church and of the different styles of mission, to get to know more deeply our CLM at the international level and lots of other things.

It is always exciting to share these moments prior to the departure: The worries, the challenges to be faced and above all the trust in the One who calls us by name to serve far away from home.

During this time in Spain many people have shared with them their experiences of mission, have visited them or they themselves were able to visit many Spanish CLM and religious who have served in mission, in Peru and in other places. This way mission becomes community. They are not going on a personal quest, but they are sent as missionaries by our CLM community, which is always present, commits to their formation and follows them as well with prayers. Some commented that we all go to Peru with them.

The week ended with a meeting to evaluate the CLM of the Southern Zone of Spain. I think they felt most welcome by all and by the religious Comboni family of Granada with whom they are sharing lots of time during this month. And for the Southern Zone it was an electrifying moment, because any time mission knocks at our door, it mobilizes us, it animates us, it sets us moving and feeling alive. And so it was here in Spain as well with the preparation of our companions from Portugal.

Thank you.

We pray that all may go well in their mission and we will always be ready to accompany them on this journey of service to our brothers and sisters in Peru.

LMC en GranadaGreetings

Alberto de la Portilla

“Go to meet love”

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LMC Portugal y Brasil

Today, June 15, our CLM Flávio and Liliana left for their mission in Piquiá, Brazil. Our CLM family and some of their relatives were present at that moment, sharing with the couple the joy of having accepted the invitation to “Save Africa with Africa.”

You go to meet love. You follow the steps of the one who invites them (…)

You accept the invitation to go.

May God give light to your paths and in sharing life with other people.

Thanks for your presence and sharing, personally or in prayer.

Kisses

(words of our friends already in the plane)

With love, Carolina Fiúza

Sharing life and knowledge

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saberesWhat is there in common between an over 70 Russian woman with a university education and an uneducated woman of about 50 from Guinea-Bissau? Perhaps the fact that both live in Portugal, in a low class neighborhood of the great city of Lisbon and that they both want to learn Portuguese.

And so it is that in the Quinta de Mós, in a space given by City Council for the use of the parish of Camarate, based on the concrete need of these two people, a literacy program for adults came into being. Based on the method of Paulo Freire, suited to this specific reality, we start classes in the afternoon. The learning levels and the individual needs vary greatly. But with this method, that fosters learning starting from the concrete reality, and allows the person to look critically at herself, interaction is possible and, even more, it creates solidarity between the people involved.

A little bit at a time, people are joining the group and we open a new class in the morning, because some of the women work in the afternoon. The flow is constant. There are desertions due to work, health, domestic problems.

The two classes are made up of women. A group ends and three continue. The two original women are still there and another girl, much younger who only has a second grade education.

Classes involve more than alphabet and words. They consist in conversations, in sharing of difficulties, of support, help in filling out documents, finding apartments for rental, translating conversations, clearing doubts from day to day, improving pronunciation… One has to leave her home, but another has a house to rent; One wants to learn sewing, and another knows how and is willing to teach; One finds food and shares it with another who draws no salary… And so we move on, sharing life and knowledge, promoting learning and the appreciation of the person, the sharing and the solidarity! “Saving Africa with Africa!”

CLM Flávio Schmidt

Mission Promotion – San Mamede Infesta

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Animacion Misionera PortugalLast weekend, June 11, we held a program of mission promotion in the parish church of St. Mamede Infesta, in the town of Matosinhos. It was a sunny day and at around 10:00 a.m. we started. I must confess that I was a little worried because 70% of the parishioners were seniors. Would the words of Carlos and Sandra resonate in their hearts? But the Lord reaches everyone and truly, between the two celebrations where we were present and at the missionary rosary that we were allowed to hold, the results were very positive.

Fr. Dario celebrated the Mass at 7:00 p.m. and he gave a different tone to the usual celebration.

To identify myself as part of the Comboni family in front of my parish community made me very happy. It gives you the feeling that you are on the right path, in the way that the Lord showed to me.

Thank you, Comboni Family, for having received me in your bosom with so much kindness and fraternal love.

Animacion Misionera Portugal
Maria José Martins