The Comboni Spirituality Group of Curitiba, present in Santa Amelia Parish, met on the first day of March. Present were Jussara, Fátima, Fr Lionel, Leonel, Darlene, Fr Rafael, seminarians Antônio and Tiago, Cleia, Pedro, Cristina and Luzia.
It was an important moment for us to pray together, to welcome the two seminarians who are starting the Propaedeutic Course, which is the first stage of formation in the journey of Comboni priests and brothers.
We also made a plan for our monthly meetings and drew up some guidelines for our work in the communities.
May Saint Daniel Comboni, in this twentieth year of his canonization, continue to inspire us with his boldness and missionary zeal!
We let you here the letter written by Fr Pierli and Sister Teresita for all the friends of social transformation.
A peaceful Lent und happy Easter 2024
Dear Friends, dear Sisters and Brothers,
A kind-hearted missionary, good shepherd and Social Transformer in America Latina, Pedro Casaldaliga, is said to have expressed himself like that: “When at the end of my journey I will be asked: Have you lived? Have you loved? Without saying anything, I will open my heart full of names on it …”
“When at the end of my journey I will be asked: Have you lived? Have you loved? Without saying anything, I will open my heart full of names, features, profiles, identikits engraved on it”. “These all will be seen, because I will not be able to remember them, to list them, to itemize them.” (Father Pierli)
So now, to keep names alive, we would like to mention with deep gratitude and immense joy some names of friends, who came to visit Fr. Pierli during the last period: Fr. Selwam Sahaya with one of his Salesian confreres; Fr. Eliseo Citton, Prof. Mario Molteni, Prof. Giancarlo Volpato with his wife Maristella, Dr. Luigi Zarzon with his wife Silvana Berchioni, Parish Priest Francesco Vialetto, Fr. Emmanuel Denima, Dr. Judith Pete, Sr. Lettedenghil Ogbamicael with some Comboni sisters, Fr. Manuel Augusto Lopes Ferreira, Stefano De Togni, Fr. Giuseppe Caramazza, Bro. Alberto Parise, Stefano Domanin, Sr. Maria Vidale, Sr. Esperance Bamiriyo, Maria Pia Dal Zovo, Teresa Zenere with some other members of the SIMC; from Africa three young ladies Ruth Wanjiru, Mary Watetu and Lucy Mutola, also of the ISMC; another young lady who is a good friend of theirs from Egypt, Silvia Makram; Dr. Alice Muchiri from CAMPSSI, Kenya (accompanied by Fr. Caramazza); two African Bishops, Mirella Sattin, Bishop G. Franzelli MCCJ, and of course Fr. Tesfaye Tadesse Gen. Sup. and other members of the Gen. Council; Fr. Fabio Baldan Prov. Sup. and other members of the Provincial Council; together with very many names and features of plenty of friends who keep sending feedback, sharing their “Transformation Ministry” and experiences and, additionally, “get well messages” with prayer and love.
As we have told you many times before, we keep dreaming God’s dream: The world becoming His kingdom of peace, justice, fraternity. And in the night, we dream again and again about being with you. With groups of any kind: adults, men, women, youth and children. Discussing, analyzing, planning together, and of course: doing activities together = pamoja. Yes, we do actions together!
Once we were among plenty of young people, working in a big garden, sowing grain and planting trees and afterwards singing, dancing, eating, celebrating together.
By daytime we pray, meditate, reflect upon God’s current plan for the cosmos, for the world, for us human beings, for both of us who signed this letter. God is absolutely committed to this world of ours. The two of us at our age now (82 -77), we should see the possibilities and that we still have to answer to Him so that He will continue working through us according to our capacities and resources. The incredible creative fantasy of God is not decreasing. On the contrary, it is increasing! It is not that the future is empty, not at all! The future is full of energy that comes from all sides. The Lord is always ahead of us. He is risen. The Risen Lord has no limits. His vitality does not run out, it is limitless, incessant and perpetual. Thus is God’s plan: An explosion of life and love. It is everlasting and inexhaustible. His vitality is transformative! It is evolving in the cosmos, in the world and in human history. What a wonder we might welcome in us! We have the Christian hope. Our hope and our faith have infinite dimensions and go beyond our human understanding because they are bound to the vigorous, bountiful, bondless, infinite love and creative fantasy of God. Therefore, the future is open to His incommensurable “Creative Energy” and this very future is open to us, declared to be His humble co-creators, committed to the constant transformation towards a higher quality of life, already now in this world, and towards Him, in the fullness of His knowledge and of His love.
In our Christian tradition, there is a beautiful scenario with a short dialogue of Jesus with the Apostle Peter when he was in Rome and was trying to flee for dread of been crucified. Surprised about seeing the Lord Jesus coming in, Peter asked Him “Domine quo vadis?”, that is to say “Lord, where are you going?” (there is a church named like that, right at the place where this encounter is supposed to have happened), and Jesus is said to have answered: “I am coming to be crucified.” To those words, Peter did no reply but returned immediately to Rome to his martyrdom.
Is not our situation sometimes like that? At times, might we not be somehow discouraged in the face of our call to be consequent, consistent and faithful to God’s plan for us, faithful to Jesus and to our decision of having clearly in our hearts and minds our “vision and mission”? And faithful to the will to remain on the path of “Social Transformation” so as to become impact transformers and artificers of the “future”, co- creators of God and Constructors of His Kingdom of Peace, Justice, Fraternity? Should we leave Jesus alone and our committed fellow brothers and sisters, active in the field? We already have a shape to be evolving for the better and we have been given talents, gifts, not for us, but for the common good. Nothing belongs to us; it is given to us to share. Let us not go back in our journey. Let us allow God to renew ourselves and to be shaping us anew as impact transformers during this time of grace: Lent and Easter time.
Right now, that our beloved Africa is getting its important place in the concert of nations and continents!
Have we realized how decisive the visit of the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, at our Somirenec in Nairobi last March was? Have we taken for granted that the Italian-African summit last month (in accordance with the European Union) has automatically brought the social justice and fraternity that Comboni and we all together are pursuing? Automatically, no. By the way, we thank the Lord for this achievement! We may say that our own efforts are being rewarded. Yes, because many years we have committed ourselves, we have invested our lives, given our significant contribution to this process of partnership we see flourishing now. We see us as true bridges between peoples, nations and continents. The Lord gives us new courage!
One can speculate that our own circumstances are so different than during the time when we started dreaming together. Yes, “nothing remains the same”. That is the principle of “transformation”. Everything is in continual transformation. We face new challenges. Some of us face economical, health, age tribulations and other weaknesses. But we have also achieved a higher level of consciousness, of dignity, and we have been empowered to remain focused on our amazing high goals.
Our highest goal is new audacity to face the challenges. Let us compare our tribulations with the birth pangs. Saint Paolo tells us that even the whole creation, the nature undergoes birth pangs while waiting for the manifestation of God’s glory in His children. Such a transformation we are striving for! (Rom. 8, 18-25)
“Meditating that, my heart and mind goes immediately to my home land Central Italy. There, we have an original marvelous painting ‘Madonna del Parto’ (1450-1465) by the famous painter Piero Della Francesca, showing the Blessed Virgin Mary as pregnant. One of the most sublime works of the Renaissance. Now kept at the Monterchi Museum. So original that I do not know anything similar anywhere else.” (Father Pierli)
Looking at the complex architecture of the world, with a “third world war in pieces”, like Pope Francis is accustomed to say, looking at the innumerable socially, politically and economically painful situations, stating that it seems to be so terrible like birth pangs, we might pray to the Lord that from all that “a childbirth will occur” and will give us a new creature, that a new world will be born, and willingly we join hands and hearts again, to give our contribution to that.
Wishing you a peaceful Lent und happy Easter, we embrace you with plenty of prayer and love.
Yours affectionately,
Fr. Francesco Pierli MCCJ / Sr. Teresita Cortés Aguirre CMS
That in this world marked by wars and situations of violence and injustice, women may be the artificers of peace, building up in daily routine and in the sacred space of life gestures of love and reconciliation. Let us pray.
On Sunday 18th February 2024, the CLM candidates of Togo took part in a recollection organized at the house of the Comboni Missionary Sisters in Adidogomé. Focusing on the theme “Prayer and the Eucharist”, the day brought together 5 candidates, a guest and Sister Elisabeth, SMC.
The programme began with an opening prayer and teaching led by Father Michel Adom, MCCJ head of the Cacaveli Missionary Animation Centre. Under the chosen theme, Father Michel outlined the two concepts, placing particular emphasis on the Eucharist as the most excellent prayer, a moment of communion with Christ and his mystical body. He emphasized that the Eucharist is not limited to the end of Mass, and as missionaries we are called to carry the Christ we have received wherever we go.
After this teaching, the participants had a time of meditation and personal prayer. The day continued with the celebration of Sunday Mass in the sisters’ chapel, presided over by Father Michel Adom.
The day ended with a fraternal meal, followed by a reflection on the year’s future activities and a final prayer led by Jean Baptiste Gnimassoun.
Receive the warmest greetings from Comboni Lay Missionaries – Kenya. We hope you all had the best St. Valentine’s Day and a wonderful start to Lent.
We had our monthly CLM-K formation meeting this past weekend from Friday 16th February to Sunday 18th February. This month’s topic was “What is our Identity as Comboni Lay Missionary?” There are three aspects to look at: The spiritual approach, Comboni Charism and the Human aspect.
On the Human aspect, we learnt that Identity grows from discernment. We must all reflect on our values, what matters most, and what we stand for. It matters how you view yourself. Our identity affects the decisions we make. Making decisions without discernment causes strife, unhappiness and discontent with life. We also learnt that our environment affects our identity. In the famous words of Dr. Asfia Qaadir, “Our roots keep us grounded and help us remember what truly matters at the end of the day.”
On the Spiritual approach, we reflected on various scriptures that tell us what God thinks of us. One of my favourites is Proverbs 139:14, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Another favourite is 1st Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.” If He who created us in His image and likeness thinks so highly of us, how dare we question his judgement? Our identity is in Christ and by his grace and mercy, He has made us worthy.
Lastly, on the Comboni Charism, we reflected on the life of St. Daniel Comboni. St. Daniel Comboni wrote: “We must pray instead that we may save many souls and go to heaven, not alone but with a great crowd of converts.” These and many more words of St. Daniel Comboni speak of his heart and his identity. He made so many sacrifices, travelling back and forth through the desert, the suffering he endured: tropical diseases, hunger, poverty, language barrier, opposition and more. Yet, he did not give up. Ordained as a priest at the young age of 23 years, he went ahead to become a Bishop and later formed the Comboni sisters who helped him with his missionary work in Khartoum, South Sudan. St. Daniel Comboni gave up his life in service to the poor and most abandoned until his death. Every single morning, he lived for the glory of God. This was his identity. As CLM-K, we must fashion our lives to match the great example set for us by our founder. “So, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1st Corinthians 10:31.
This weekend was also quite special for us. On Sunday we had a visit and seat down with MCCJ General Fr. Tesfaye and his Assistant Brother Alberto. They were accompanied by Fr. Juanma and Fr. Christopher. It was so lovely sharing further on the topic of identity with them. What made it more special is their experience over the years. Their sharing spoke of the goodness of the Lord. We are so thankful to you General Fr. Tesfaye, Brother Alberto, Fr. Juanma, and Fr. Chris for making the time to meet with us.
On a final note, we wish to thank all Comboni Priests stationed at Holy Trinity Catholic Parish Kariobangi for hosting us for dinner on Saturday evening. We would also like to wish our MCCJ province well during their annual assembly that began Monday 19th February and will run through Friday 23rd February.
1st Peter 1:3-5, St. Peter wrote to the Christians saying: the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, which is kept in heaven for us. This Lenten season, reflect on the suffering of our Lord and be filled with hope knowing that Christ will rise from the dead and in him we have been made new.
Warm regards,
Cecilia Nyamu, Comboni Lay Missionary – Kenya
Este sitio web utiliza cookies para mejorar su experiencia. Si continúa navegando consideramos que acepta el uso de cookies, pero puede optar por lo contrario si lo desea.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. If you continue to browse we consider you accept the use of cookies, but you can opt-out if you wish. Acepto Puede obtener más información - You may have more information here
Politica y privacidad de Cookies - Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
