English – Page 130 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

Missionary Animation in El Salvador

14 February, 201713 February, 2017 by Alberto de la Portilla

The CLM community of Central American Province, would like to be present in Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica, because in these three countries there is a Comboni presence.
We are currently present only in Guatemala. In 2016 American meeting in Mexico, Guatemalans committed to work in order to extend our presence in El Salvador and Costa Rica, and become a Central American Province. Last December 2016, we made our first experience of missionary animation in El Salvador.
On December 10 and 11 and invited by the MCCJ, Father Máximo Huamán, Brother Humberto Rua, Mireya Soto, Miriam Herrador and Lily Portillo traveled from Guatemala to El Salvador, (almost 7 hours by bus). He had gathered a group of people interested in knowing this part of the Comboni Family. There were very positive reactions, several people were interested. And during this year 2017, they will begin their Comboni formation, with the support of Fr. Máximo and ours.
We are definitely sure that God wants the charism and missionary identity of St. Daniel Comboni reach more people. We, by His grace, are His simple instruments.

Blessed be God!

We are in Ethiopia!

24 January, 2017 by Alberto de la Portilla

A few days ago we arrived to Addis Ababa. Magda is with us – she helps us in getting to know the city in these first days. Our time has been quite intensive. After a few first days of adjustment and getting to know Addis Ababa we started our Amharic course. It is good that after a short course in Poland we know some basics of the language. Thanks to that we can go on with the course faster and we don’t need to spend time on getting to know the alphabet.

We have met many interesting people and visited many places in the capital city. Among others, we were in the center for street children run by Salesians as well as in the house of Mother Teresa of Kolkatta. We met with the cardinal, who blessed us for our missionary work. We also took part in the celebration of Timket (baptism of Jesus), which is celebrated in Ethiopia very solemnly.

Tobiasz and Adela CLM in Ethiopia

MCCJ Assembly of January 2017 province of Central America

20 January, 2017 by Alberto de la Portilla

During the week of January 9-11 the CLM of the Central American Province were invited to take part in the provincial assembly of January 2017 which took place in the municipality of San Lucas, Department of Sacatepéquez, near Guatemala City.

According to the capitular documents of the MCCJ, the 18^th General Chapter at the #44.14 encourages new forms of communications so that the MCCJ, SCM, CMS and CLM, still respecting the integrity of their identity, may work together according to the charism of Comboni and his passion for mission.

And so it was that a delegation of three CLM (Carol de Rosales, Alejandro Camey and Lily Portillo) attended the entire assembly in order to plan with our moderator, Bro. Humberto Rua, the various activities that will take place during the next six years.

We, who attended the Continental Meeting in Mexico last September, are the only ones who could help planning the proposed activities from a purely lay point of view.

It was a very positive experience, because we filled ourselves with the spirit of the Comboni charism and felt part of the family. There were moments of formation, planning and sharing.

We are grateful to God for this opportunity and may we all, by the intercession of St. Daniel Comboni, proclaim Jesus to those who are the farthest and most disadvantaged.

Caption: 24 priests, 2 brothers, 3 lay people and 5 postulants attended the assembly.

Happy 2017

1 January, 2017 by Alberto de la Portilla

You Are Christmas

31 December, 2016 by Alberto de la Portilla

On December 17 we met in Bologna, Italy, to prepare for Christmas, to be surprised by a baby who is born – being surprised by seeing God who turns into an infant out of love for us.

We wanted to live as a group a gathering that would have the flavor of this marvelous waiting. It is a waiting that holds our attention, an announcement leading to love and a love leading to God.

We listened to the Word in the Gospel of Luke (Lk 2:8-20) and together we built the crib. Each one of us took a shepherd and we placed ourselves near the baby Jesus, reading this prayer and making it our own:

You are Christmas, when you decide to be born again every day and let God enter your soul.

You are Christmas, when you sing to the world a message of peace, justice and love.

Christmas is when you lead someone to meet the Lord.

You, too, are one of the Magi when you give of the best of what you have, independently of who the recipient is.

You are the Christmas music, when you achieve internal harmony.

You are the Christmas wishes, when you forgive and bring about peace, even as you suffer.

Endurace is a new member of our group: a young Nigerian who shared with us his difficulties as an immigrant and the agonies he underwent in order to get to Italy.

In our intentions we remember the tragedy of immigration and the many deaths shrouded by our indifference and our silence.

To accept all this and to make ourselves small is the Christmas that challenges us every day, not just on December 25.

Emma also took part in our meeting. She has just return from three years of mission in Brazil.

She told us her story, her missionary journey from the CLM of Bologna and those of Brazil.

She showed us visuals of her service in prison ministry, in the peripheries of Contagem, her experience with the homeless in Salvador. Her words and the witness of her mission ad gentes were beautiful and powerful. Welcome back to the group to resume the journey with us!

The gathering ended with a community supper to which every member contributes something and where we mention important events:

The midnight Mass celebrated with the homeless at the station, and the march for peace on December 31 in Bologna.

We are very happy with these two initiatives that see us involved together with other social and missionary organizations, something that implies the participation of all since it is only by working together that we build and change the world.

Merry Christmas to all… no one excluded!

CLM of Bologna