English
Re-reading and re-reading myself – the family and the life project
On May 19-21 there took place in Viseu the 9th Formation unit of the CLM. It was moderated by the psychologist Dr. Miguel Villas Freitas.
The formation started in the late afternoon of Friday 19th. After a warm welcome we had time to mix exchanging smiles, kisses, hugs and news. Yes, these are hugs in the CLM style, as I call them, for being firm and genuine by people who look forward to meeting in order to share unique and nurturing moments!
We started our Saturday with a brief introduction by the formator, to help us better understand what it means to re-read: to make a detailed reading of what has happened in the past and of my characteristics; to be aware that no one does it for me. It consists in being present to the “Presence” for a meeting with myself! And since ‘we all define ourselves by how we relate to others,” this encounter took place in groups so that together we met the signs of this “Presence” in our lives.
Following that, under the direction of our formator, each member of the group was encouraged to take a journey into the past looking for a period of time when we felt very happy. After a brief analysis of the motives of this happiness, we were asked to move this state of peace, success, wellbeing, joy, fulfillment and happiness into the present. We all had the opportunity to meet this pearl of wisdom that had unleashed the happiness that we were living once again. It is necessary to recover this pearl, bring it to the present, take care of it…
We analyzed biblical experiences of this interior re-reading such as, for example, the meeting of Jesus with the disciples of Emmaus or the meeting of Jesus with Nicodemus. In these experiences there are inevitably the following stages: 1) To Reform; 2) To Conform; 3) To Transform; 4) To Confirm.
Those who go through them analyze the areas of their being that need conversion, seek to be reshaped in Jesus, are transformed and go on to live according to this transformation. This way, they get out of themselves, leaving behind false securities and move towards a logic of commitment and service. They move on to enjoy not only what is wellbeing, what satisfies, but even more what fulfills and leaves deeper marks in one’s character!
In the course of the morning we were given moments of individual reflection, followed by the opportunity of sharing two by two and finally with the entire group.
We ended this morning of reflection looking at the documentary, “Celebrating what is good in the world,” by the National Geographic, very rich in messages pointing at the search for what is good in the world.
In the afternoon we reflected on the 24 strengths of character, each one choosing the one that naturally gives way to activity. We asked ourselves individually which strengths we need to work on and which are the most indispensable in our mission as CLM.
Then we had personal reflection with very precise questions in order to understand and share on two points: 1) My passion; 2) My resolve.
In the afternoon prayers we reached moments of great depth and sharing. He, Jesus, is here with us and the Spirit speaks to each one. How beautiful it is to be so united here in the cenacle!
In the evening, to relax, but without losing our recollection, we watched the movie “The Butler.”
On Sunday there were further times of prayer and of sharing.
Three scenes were presented to us on which to concentrate and reflect:
1) “Jesus shows his wounds to Thomas”
– What are my wounds? How to embrace them rather than hiding them?
2) “Footprints in the sand”
– To re-read moments of my life when Jesus picked me up in his arms. With whom and by whom?
3) “To shrink the size of my cross is not a solution.”
– Am I conscious that every time I try to shrink my cross I miss the opportunity to grow both humanly and spiritually?
We search for a personal resolution to take home as a challenge and personal effort, keeping in mind that we will only be happy inasmuch as we commit to change.
In conclusion: Only by meeting myself, seeing myself as I really am, my wounds, my cross and placing it all in the hands of God, allowing myself to be transformed, I will learn to find the best of myself in the world, I will travel on the path that will lead me to my mission and be happy in the mission where I will be assigned.
Gloria Rocha
The LOGBOOK of Simone Parimbelli, a CLM in Central Africa
May 15, 2017
88th day, 1012 to go
The “AFRICAS” AROUND MY TABLE. I have moved to the Comboni parish of Our Lady of Fatima! Everything is new… new schedules, new food, new room, new COMMUNITY! Now I live with three African Comboni priests: Fr. Moises, Fr. Jean Michel and Fr. Romain! They are all African but from different types of Africa: Fr. Moises is Ugandan, had to learn French and Sango, has more experience than anyone else and he is charge of the parish. Fr. Jean Michel is from Togo, only recently arrived in the Republic of Central Africa, and is learning the reality, the life and the customs of the CAR. Fr. Romain is Central African, just ordained, speak fluent French and Sango, is learning to say Mass and will be sent to Guatemala on his first mission assignment. Uganda-Togo-CAR are so far off “AFRICAS” that it’s like living with a Russian, a Frenchman and a Portuguese. To say that they are Africans is a generalization, because they all have their own ways… it is not easy to be a COMMUNITY, but AROUND THE TABLE we joke, laugh, chat and speak of the problems of the various “AFRICAS”… There is a good rapport and brotherhood in this little corner of our “AFRICAS”!
May 22, 2017
95th day, 1005 to go
MARTIAL, THE GOOD SHEPHERD. Martial is a young man of the parish, he is 28, a catechist of Confirmation, and moderator of the AITA KWE group. This week he has also been my GOOD SHEPHERD, who accompanied me to school by “paths tranquil and safe.” The parish is near the Muslim neighborhood called “Kilometer 5” where in the “troubled” days they had some “small” problems. Martial, like the GOOD SHEPHERD, ensures tranquility and safety along the short walk to school. In the afternoon the parish is full of young people studying, women praying, children having fun, people looking for the fathers, but often it is a rather silent life or without too much noise and at times I have had the feeling that everyone is waiting for something. I hope it will be a waiting filled with hope and peace.
May 28, 2017
101st day, 999 to go
AITA KWE = “All brothers and sisters” is a parish group of adolescents and pre-adolescents. They wear a yellow shirt, green pants or skirts and a green scarf with a yellow border. Together with Fr. Moises and Martial I went to their retreat-formation day. When we arrived, they were reflecting on “my life project: my good points and my weaknesses.” After the reflection, they had some fun, a Mass celebrated by Fr. Moises and then a common meal of bread, fish, and manioc mush. All together like brothers and sisters!!! When it was time to leave, we loaded on Fr. Moises’ pick-up all the backpacks, the pots, the empty water drums, and a few tired little girls who had a hard time standing up, while the group line up by twos and, with drums beating, marched back to the parish (a two hour walk!!!). It was just like the days in my parish at the “oratorio” of Osio Sopra (or Basiano) with the catechism children and youngsters… also the pastoral life of the parish of Our Lady of Fatima is active and fervent with many people involved in the service of the community!!!
June 2, 2017
106th day, 994 to go
IN A FLASH: Tomorrow from 8:30 to 10:30 I will have the final evaluation of my second French course… in a FLASH…Anna will pick me up at school, we will go to the parish to load my luggage which I already packed and we will leave…IN A FLASH… for Mongoumba…a journey of five to six hours. After only 20 days, this will be another move…up to now I have kept to my “navigation route”: to arrive quietly in the CAR, to take time to adapt, to study French…now I begin a new phase of my journey: to learn Sango and to adapt to Mongoumba!
I haven’t sent you news in a while, but in the parish there is no internet connection and it will be the same in Mongoumba, at times even at Comboni House I can’t connect to e-mail and it becomes difficult to communicate with you, but this is one of the objectives of the journey!
I have yet to have my first malaria attack and haven’t yet met unsurmountable problems, perhaps I lost some weight (Fr. Alex says that I lost my extra Western pounds), but my appetite is good and the fathers continue to encourage me to eat, because food helps us to keep healthy. Time is going by fast…in A FLASH…106 days have already passed since my arrival in the CAR!!!
Greetings and hugs, a kiss and a prayer and THANKS…
Simone CLM
Mission Promotion by CLM of PCA
…”Holy and capable, making common cause with the poorest and most abandoned” (St. Daniel Comboni)
The CLM of the PCA in Guatemala started a new missionary experience. It concerns mission promotion in the parishes of the city.
We share here the first experience which took place on May 11, 18, 21 and 25.
It took place in the church of St. Rita, in the parish of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. We did mission promotion with the mission pastoral team of the parish. They are a group of people who ardently desire to proclaim Jesus in the areas of their neighborhood and, by so doing, to be a “Church reaching out,” as Pope Francis is constantly asking. They are beginning to plunge into this beautiful adventure of meeting those who have no desire to approach the Church, in order to encourage them and to invite them and to speak to them about Jesus and of what he has done in their lives.
This is why they asked for our help.
For us it was the first time to have this type of experience and we felt very grateful to God, because he had already been at work in their hearts and we served as instruments in encouraging them not to be afraid to venture out.
We had the opportunity to share our personal witness of our encountering Jesus, together with our experiences in home visits, in the mission we currently exercise in the parish of St. Catherine of Alexandria, located in the red light district of the capital, and on the community life we share here as CLM.
We also explained to them who we are, our identity and charism, with the objective of raising lay vocations. Blessed be God.
“My missionaries must constantly keep their eyes fixed on Jesu Christ, loving him tenderly and striving to understand always better what it means to have a God who died on a cross for the salvation of the world.” (St. Daniel Comboni)
CLM Guatemala
20th Anniversary of the CLM in Brazil
It is with great joy that we, the CLM of Brazil, celebrate this year the 20 years of the CLM – the Association of the Comboni Lay Missionaries, a juridical not for profit organization founded on May 31, 1997.
In 1995, a group of people from all over Brazil began to dream of the project of the CLM in São José dos Campos, SP. Those were the days of the great event that took place in Brazil, the COMLA 5, that pushed the Church much beyond its borders. After that, other meetings took place and finally 1997 saw the beginning of the first missionary community of CLM involved in formation and in the sharing of missionary life in the city of Contagem, MG.
After 20 years of existence the Association of Comboni Lay Missionaries has reasons to celebrate, in the light of a history of challenges, a lot of dedication, daring and perseverance, its existence as lay missionaries in the style of St. Daniel Comboni.
We continue in the call to follow Jesus Christ and we are inserted in challenging missionary areas at the side of the poorest and most abandoned of our society, both here and much beyond our borders.
In June we will hold the Yearly Assembly of the ACLM in Curitiba, PR. It will be a privileged time of communion and of sharing our vocation. On the 22nd, we will celebrate a Thanksgiving Mass for the 20 years of the ACLM in the parish of Santa Amelia. We wish to meet, reflect, evaluate, pray, make new plans and continue the “dream-challenge” of the Brazilian Church, totally missionary and open to the world.
Recently we have been living through some beautiful moments in our journey as CLM in Brazil, such as: the formation of groups of Comboni Spirituality and discernment in Curitiba and more recently in Balsas; our participation in the team of Coordination of the Comboni Family, with the various activities planned in common in missionary and vocation promotion; the strengthening in a short time of the CLM in Acailândia-Piquiá together with the Justice project of Raíles; the weddings and births that took place in this CLM Family; the special witness of some members at difficult times for the loss of dear ones and in the struggle to regain their health. In total, it is the commitment of each one on different fronts, persevering in the pro-life option.
There are also challenges and questions over how we must answer our vocation in these new times. What are the specific aspects of our identity? What do we need to change? How can we be more efficient in mission promotion and in promoting new vocations? Keeping in mind that mission is renewed by new missionaries, men and women willing to enter into the dynamics of a Church on the move.
We count on everyone’s prayers and wish to remain united to the great Comboni family spread around the world.
In the light of our reality, in the grace of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Aparecida, inspired by St. Daniel Comboni in the sequel of Jesus and united in our missionary journey to the Church in Brazil and in the world, we are ready to protect and foster each day the missionary call of the Comboni vocation.
With every best wish and friendship,
The CLM of Brazil
