English – Page 204 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

Contrasts

7 December, 2013 by Alberto de la Portilla

I am where my heart is and my heart is in this wonderful land full of majestic and magnificent trees, which unfortunately have been taken (stolen) from other countries. In this land, where the sun rises in the sea and goes down over the mountains, where the moon is not a liar and smiles at you when you contemplate it. In this land, where you can breathe clean air, which unfortunately is already also a source of income for many. In this land of wonderful beaches of white sand and clear water that with great sadness cease to be deserted to make way for mega tourism enterprises. In this land of red color, red ground color of blood, shed for many in the fight for independence, blood spilled in the struggle for peace and the blood of those who today are fighting for a better life and demand their rights. Here the land is also a means of survival, the people takes the necessary food to keep them during the year, but it has being usurped by multinationals that come from nowhere and demand their rights on the land without thinking of the consequences on those who have lived there all their life.

Mozambique is beautiful and attractive, full of natural beauty and resources, with friendly and welcoming people. To the outside comes out the idea that it is also a center of employment, but this is only for those coming from outside. Unemployment here is high, young people who strive to finish the 12th grade find closed the doors of the world of work and other times it is offered them the opportunity to work in exchange for a minimum value…

This reality outlined the discussions of lessons in Civic and Moral Education in the first semester where we discussed the current situation of Mozambique tapping points such as: unequal social distribution, poverty, education and health, corruption, globalization, multinational action, contrasts… important subjects to uninstall the youth, stating the present reality and seeking to strengthen their critical minds so that they can demand justice and a more promising future.

Liliana Ferreira, LMC

The one thing necessary

6 December, 2013 by Maggie and Mark Banga

One of the most difficult parts of this “missionary” life for me has been accepting all that I am missing out on. In my lowest moments, I think about missing my family, my close guy friends (it is so hard to make authentic peer-to-peer friendships here), my god-children, career development, saving for retirement, my familiar culture, and things like this. It’s taken a few years to come to terms with all that I need to give up in order to be authentic to God’s invitation for me to become more loving, which at this present moment keeps me in Ethiopia. Now, most days I feel at peace, which is a logical effect of voluntary sacrifice. But I have learned that the most important effect is an opening of me to others, a widening of my horizons away from myself to the needs of others. Thomas Merton’s writings, particularly from “No Man is an Island” have been a great inspiration:

“One who is content with what he has, and who accepts the fact that he inevitably misses very much in life, is far better off and more at peace than one who has or experiences much more but who worries about all he may be missing. For we cannot make the best of what we are, if our hearts are always divided between what we are and what we are not.

The relative perfection which we must attain in this life if we are to live as children of God is not the twenty-four-hours-a-day production of perfects acts of virtue, but a life from which practically all the obstacles to God’s love have been removed or overcome.

One of the chief obstacles to this perfection of selfless love is the selfish anxiety to get the most out of everything, to be a brilliant success in our own eyes and in the eyes of other people. We can only rid ourselves of this anxiety by being content to miss something in almost everything we do. We cannot master everything, taste everything, understand everything, visit everywhere, drain every experience to its last dregs. But if we have the courage to let almost everything go, we will probably be able to retain the one thing necessary for us – whatever it may be. If we are too eager for everything, we will almost certainly miss even the one thing we need.

This type of authentic happiness consists in finding out precisely what the “one thing necessary” may be in our lives and in gladly relinquishing all the rest. For then, by a divine paradox, we find that everything else is given us together with the one thing we needed.”

– Mark

Maggie, Mark and Emebet Banga, Comboni Lay Missionaries, Awassa, Ethiopia

Annual CLM Meeting in Brazil (conclusion)

5 December, 2013 by Alberto de la Portilla

It has just finished the second day of our annual CLM meeting.

The morning began with a delicious mining breakfast, fried cake with traditional mining cheese, and of course a good cup of black coffee.

In the morning we talked about the economic reality and the challenges posed by the CLM Central Committee.

We also reviewed the action lines defined for the biennium 2013-2014 in the last assembly, highlighting proposals for the coming year. We hear work prospects of each one and ended with the impressions and conclusions of the meeting.

It was given great importance to the wealth that the presence of the lay missionary couple that is present with the Comboni Missionary in Açailândia, Maranhão, for the opportunity to share and exchange experiences, which has united us even more.

We conclude the morning with the celebration of the Eucharist, reminding all CLM in the world and the challenges that lie ahead.

We remain united in prayer and mission!

We are together!

CLM Brazil

Annual CLM Meeting in Brazil

4 December, 2013 by Alberto de la Portilla

We ended the first day of the CLM meeting in Brazil. 11 people attended, including Marco and Valentina, couple of Italian lay missionaries who are working with the Comboni Missionaries in Açailândia, Maranhão, and Emma, Italian CLM who arrived on 2 of this month to join the CLM community of Ipê Amarelo.

We share the experiences made during 2013 of the various communities and reflect on “Comboni and missionary Juncture ” based on some challenges posed by Father George and the CLM coordinator team related to the concepts of new evangelization, conversion, some meaningful words from Pope Francisco and the proposal of the 51st General Assembly of the Brazilian Bishops’ conference.

By late afternoon, we reproduce the workshops held in the Assembly of Maia, which has helped us to start thinking about the next steps as CLM for reflection on the second day.

We concluded the evening with some videos about APAC (alternative prison system), the international community of Carapira and the indigenous cause.

We count with the prayers of all for the continuity of our meeting!

We are together!

CLM Brazil

Updating the Plan of Comboni

3 December, 2013 by Alberto de la Portilla

Meeting of the Comboni Family in Spain

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Plan for the Regeneration of Africa written by St. Daniel Comboni, the Comboni family in Spain (Comboni Missionaries, Comboni Missionaries Sisters, Secular Comboni Missionaries and Comboni Lay Missionaries) will meet the weekend 5th and 6th of April in Madrid.

It will be a time of reflection, prayer, fellowship and working together around the challenges that arise from Comboni insights to the reality of today.

This meeting will run by way of workshops and will be animated by Fr Joaquim Valente, Head of Comboni Studium.

We want to reflect on the challenges posed by the mission today rereading the Plan of Comboni at family key. Each specific vocation brings nuances that enrich this analysis. Comboni created us as Cenacle of Apostles in Africa, where religious, priests and laity work together to create a synergy that involve the whole Church to deal with the most abandoned continent of the world, Africa.

Currently as Comboni family we are in Africa, America, Asia and Europe. We want to be together faithful and update this missionary call that we receive from Jesus under the charism of Comboni.

In the communion of the same Comboni and missionary vocation, we greet you with affection, the members of the committee: Pedro Miguel Andrés (MCCJ), Carmina Ballesteros (CMS) and Alberto de la Portilla (CLM).