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Love in Practice is a Harsh and Dreadful Thing
Dorothy Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker movement once said: “Love in practice is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams. Reality continues to confront our dreams, our hope and our ideal vision”. Day knew this well because she gave her full life to struggling in solidarity with the poor. Loving the poor is a difficult thing. Even when we come with a sincere desire to “serve the poor” we cannot help but have a certain romantic vision of who the poor are and what we think they need. But the daily practice of this is far from romantic and I am surprised at how many times I utterly fail to love the poor when I am precisely trying to do so. This has been part of my journey as a lay missionary in Ethiopia.
But there persists a single core source of inspiration -> Matthew 25:40: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Jesus describes in Matt 25:31-46 that the inheritance of his Kingdom is based on something quite simple and attainable. Once again Dorothy Day sheds some clear light when she comments: “If Christ himself had not said it, it would seem raving lunacy to believe this. But he said that a glass of water given to a beggar is given to him. He made heaven hinge on the way we act toward him in His disguise of commonplace, frail, ordinary humanity.”
Matthew 25:40 remains both a big challenge and encouragement to me. By seeing Jesus in those around me, I begin to appreciate and care for their sufferings as well as their joy, hope and the gifts which they contribute to the world. I begin to realize my own poverty too, accepting that as people we all share a certain brokenness and sense of loss, rejection and unfulfilled needs. I see that the real challenge is having trust in the “Jesus” in others even when I cannot see him. Believe me, there are moments when I am rubbing my eyes to see Jesus but all I see are mistakes and disappointments.
I am also learning that contained within the act of loving the poorest is the total sphere of human virtue – patience, forgiveness, empathy, hope, perseverance and courage. The entire demand of God’s message of Love is summed up in the obligation to love the poor because of the implicit call to authenticity and openness of heart that is demanded in practically carrying out this task in daily life (when the romantic filter is gone).
When I ponder all these things, it makes me believe that at the end of time when I am face to face with Jesus, I will only be asked one question: How did you love the poor?
– Mark
Maggie, Mark and Emebet Banga, Comboni Lay Missionaries, Awassa, Ethiopia
Youth in Matany (Uganda)
In our parish there are four groups of CYMG. The abbreviation CYMG stands for Christian Youth Missionary Group. There are 150 young people attending the meetings. They want to act by spreading faith, hope and love among youth. They are involved in many different activities e.g. prayers, Bible sharing, seminars, workshops, debates, games, music, dance and drama, educational video shows, competitions and animations.
They participate in national and regional assemblies. During these meetings they can take part in competitions. This year they took part in National Congress of CYMG in Kampala. Twelve members and Fr. John Bosco competed against other groups from the whole country. They won and became the number one! It was the moment of joy and celebration both for them and the whole parish. Many people from other parts of the country didn’t expect the group from Karamoja to win because this region is considered to be undeveloped. It is also said to be the poorest in Uganda.
In fact, the young who wanted to go to Kampala had to face a lot of difficulties while organizing the journey. It was hard for most of them to cover the costs of transport. Almost all of them weren’t able to pay for it so they had to look for sponsors. I knew about their problems and thanks to the money which you sent to me, we could help them. They are very grateful for your support and generosity and they want to say thank you to all of you!
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By Danusia. Polish CLM in Uganda
Meeting of the Comboni Family in Rome
On December 14th the general councils of the Comboni Family met together. Comboni Missionaries, Comboni Sisters, Secular and CLM to reflect together and find together ways of collaboration.
The meeting was conducted in the house of the Comboni Missionaries Sisters in Rome where we were very well received by the community.
In the morning animated by the Comboni Sisters, we were reflecting on Comboni and praying about what inspires us to a path of collaboration as Comboni family?
Each of the participants spoke of this reflection. On a personal level, about the agreements that the different institutes have been taken in this direction, lines and current collaborative experiences.
This is a challenge we look positive and recognize as our own charism that unites us. The intuition of Comboni in promoting the mission and the Catholic responsibility of it, uniting and facilitating collaboration with the various charismas and states within them.
We also had time to share the way we are doing throughout the year, common concerns and ways of collaboration.
We end this beautiful day celebrating the Eucharist, praying for all the Comboni missionaries (priests, brothers, sisters, secular and laity) that spread throughout the world give their lives for “the poorest and most abandoned” as Comboni wanted.
Every step we take as a family for the sake of the mission approaches us and keeps true the dream of Comboni.
This is our mission field on the outskirts of Nova Contagem in the Parish of Santo Domingo
The parish of Santo Domingo and the thirteen communities received the pastoral visit of Bishop Luiz Gonzaga Fechio (Bishop of Belo Horizonte), 7 and 8 December in the district of Nova Comtagem. A special time of fellowship and sharing.
On Saturday, the Comboni missionaries presented the activities of the parish and visit the religious communities. During the evening Mass, Dom Luiz Fechio imparted the sacrament of Confirmation to the youth of the communities.
Dom Luiz visited on Sunday, the Comboni house that, through the Ministry of Prisons provides support for families of prisoners and people with addiction. He also met with leaders of the Parish Pastoral Council and the coordinators of the communities.
Don Luis Fechio in his pastoral visit also had the opportunity to see the house of the Comboni Lay Missionaries here in Ipê Amarelo and know how is the life of the CLM. For him and for us it was good to share the experiences, joys and sorrows, more joys as it is clear. Don Luis was happy to know that in a distant periphery, the CLM are communion with the people.
A Mass attended by representatives of the thirteen communities marked the end of the visit.
By Maria de Lourdes Vieira
