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Day 6 of our meeting, an important and definitive day, today we finalize the topics to be discussed, consolidate a document and elect the new continental committee.

Our day began with a beautiful prayer led by the team of Colombia, where through the biblical text Ezekiel 34; 1-15 we meditated on our roles of being shepherds in the midst of the community and as Pope Francis said sometimes also as shepherds in front of the flock and depending on the reality can be behind them, but always there, next to them, smelling like sheep at the service of the mission; Through thanksgiving we filled the map of the American continent with rose petals, painting it with its beautiful colors and the fragility of a people suffering from war, indifference and inequality.

During the day we meditated a little on the task that each of the participants will take back to their countries, because finally the systematic review that was made of the agreements of Rome 2018 exposed the realities that each country lives, we have evaluated the commitments and finally we have made a simple document that will help to take firmer steps towards the fulfillment of what was agreed, which ultimately is the ideal of our Comboni Lay Missionary community.

Before the evening Eucharist in assembly we elected the new American committee, where our companion Mireya Soto LMC from Guatemala handed over her responsibilities of 6 years ago and gave way to new ideas to move forward; Beatriz Maldonado CLM from Mexico who kindly accepted to continue as part of the committee for another period together with Roció del Carmen Gamarra from Peru and Father Ottorino Poletto MCCJ from Ecuador; we have a new American committee. In the evening Eucharist we prayed for them so that guided by the light of the Gospel they may continue to accompany the CLM of America.

We thank Peru excellent host, it is not easy to achieve the reception for approximately 30 people, they have really made us feel at home, thanks also to the old continental team Mireya, Beatriz, Father Ottorino and the always and unconditional support of Alberto de la Portilla and we also receive with joy the new coordinating team of America, welcome.

As every morning we started our day with an encounter with God. Today in our Eucharist we remembered St. Peter Clavel, the man who became a slave of the slaves to help teach and win souls for God from people who were denied.

Peru continues being a great host. Today as part of the program we went to the historic center of Lima; visiting the cathedral, the house of St. Rose of Lima and St. Martin of Porres (the saint of the broom), the catechumens of the Franciscans, and the great beach pier in the area of Chorrillos along the coast of the capital. It was a nice space to walk together getting to know the place but also getting to know each other a little better.

Today our day ended early to recharge our energies for the last days of assembly.

We invite all of the Comboni family of the world to continue praying for our meeting so that with a committed spirit we return to our communities, ready to move forward improving our weaknesses and strengthening our commitments.

We are still in Peru, and today the Central America Province was responsible for the animation of Morning Prayer and Liturgy of the Eucharist.

The hosts have been incredibly welcoming and the cultural differences are helping us to realize how beautiful our continent is.

We start our day with a very sad new as Comboni Family with the murder of Sister Maria de Coppi in Chipene – Mozambique. We join the CMS and the people of the region with our eyes fixed on Christ, we beg him to give us strength in this moment of profound violence and pain.

During the day, we analyzed aspects such as the Mission Ad Gentes and Inter Gentes, the need to spread our LMC vocation in a systematic and innovative way and also the themes related to Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation linked to the dimension of the Social Doctrine of the Church.

The work has been hard and tiring, but all this fatigue is being transformed into joy with the deepening of our understanding of the path we have taken and the perception of the advances and commitments we need to assume.

The evening came and we were graced with a cultural presentation organized by the LMC the Peru. Our hearts were filled with many colors, movements and hope in the diversity of dances that were presented to us by the young people.

José David Rojas Quesada

CLM – Costa Rica

Motivated by knowing the different experiences of each country and looking for a common response in our lights and shadows, we reflected that the path is the same, but with different nuances.

Walking, listening and being ourselves, allows the CLM to deepen the sense of openness with the farthest, the forgotten, the needy, questioning the reality of being CLM.

Juan Goicochea MCCJ; he places us in the time that our church is in, of listening, where social and ecclesial challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean are presented to us; it is also the time to open our arms and embrace the world. It is necessary to wake up to this global reality, in order to have concrete reasons at the local level.

If we continue with individual thinking, concrete actions cannot be taken.

The evening complemented the themes of the day with the missionary experience of Rossie (American CLM) and Ewelina (Polish CLM), two young people with permanent missionary presence in Arequipa, who every morning support a cradle with 5 year old children and in the afternoons they support the parish together with the community, they have been a true testimony of missionary service by the style of community life they lead, supported by daily prayer and excellent communication that allows them to be a true missionary witness in the community.

What are we going to do from the American continent, so that the Comboni Lay Missionary Family can visualize their mission fields ad-gente and inter-people.

Miriam Herrador

LMC Guatemala