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New commitment of the Comboni Lay Missionaries of the DRC

20 October, 2020 by Alberto de la Portilla

Since April 2018, this is the third time that the Comboni Lay Missionaries of Congo commit themselves to the mission ad gentes and ad vitam in the international movement of the Comboni Lay Missionaries.

There are six new members (6): Flory SEZABO, Paulin KUVULA, Guy SINYEMBO KALENGE, Fabienne EKENGE ALENGO, Christian NSONA and Cécile WAMBA, who have freely and voluntarily decided to commit themselves before God and the Christian assembly this Sunday 11 October 2020 in the parish of St. John Paul II of the Comboni Missionaries.

“You too go into my vineyard” (Mt. 20:3-4). “The lay faithful are also personally called by the Lord, from whom they receive a mission for the Church and for the world”.

All lay people are missionaries in virtue of their baptism, referring to the words by which Jesus Christ, Crucified and Risen, before ascending to heaven, entrusted to the Apostles the missionary mandate: “Go, therefore, from all nations, make disciples, baptizing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you”, in fact, it does not cease to resound, as a universal call and an ardent appeal.

As the Comboni laity grows over time, the province proceeded, for the third time, to the definitive consecration of 6 members and this, during the Eucharistic celebration presided over by its Chaplain, Fr. Célestin NGORE GALI, mccj and animated by the Choir afriquespoir des Laïcs Missionaires Comboniens, on 11 October 2020.

After pronouncing the formula of commitment before the altar, the chaplain imposed the cross on them, a sign of the following of Christ. Jesus died crucified, nailed to a cross. For Christians, the cross is the symbol of Christ’s death and resurrection. For Comboni too, suffering was represented by the cross: “We will have to tire, sweat, die; but the thought that we sweat and die for the love of Jesus Christ and the salvation of the most abandoned souls in the world is too sweet to make us turn away from this great enterprise”. It is the sign of salvation that God offers to all mankind. And the Writings of Comboni, a sign of his definitive belonging to the Comboni family.

As a driving force in mission promotion, after having organized its second provincial assembly in December 2019, the province is working to hold its 20^th Congress next November 2020, together with the other Cenacles of Prayer and Missionary Spirituality.

In summary, the activities of participation for the creation and promotion of Cenacles of Missionary Prayer (MSC) and similar are developing normally. In addition to the realization of the Mission Ad Gentes, therefore, we inform that there are two members, one of whom had just completed his mission in the Central African Republic and the other is doing it locally in an orphanage.

CLM DRC

Communication Officer : Gabriel MANIMA MPELA

Domund (World Mission Sunday) 2020

17 October, 2020 by Alberto de la Portilla

This Sunday, October 18, the Church celebrates Domund, the world mission Sunday; a day to keep the missionaries present more than ever, those people who, from their vocation, gave a “Yes” entrusted to God to leave their homes and go to very unknown places; places that have ended up becoming their homes, communities that have welcomed them to share life from faith in the Good Father and fraternity as sisters and brothers, because of our condition as Sons and Daughters of God.

It is a good time to pray intensely for them, to remember, to be questioned by their life testimonies and to support their missions and projects.

Because as baptized we all feel called to go out and share with what we are the Good News of God’s Love.

Come on sister!, Come on brother!, the mission awaits you, and it begins deep within you, to leave you overflowing.

Here I am, Lord, send me.

Central Africa Republic – Help for “DA TI NDOYE” Medical Center

14 October, 2020 by Alberto de la Portilla

Central Africa Republic – Help for “DA TI NDOYE” Medical Center

Comboni Lay Missionaries, serving on the mission in Mongoumba, are young people who want to dedicate part of their lives to work among the poorest and most abandoned of this world. However, it is not always as easy as it sounds. We create an international community here and participate in the life of the parish in collaboration with the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (MCCJ).

Our mission in Mongoumba in the Central African Republic is situated right on the border with Congo-Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Our service is primarily to integrate people living in the depths of the forest – Pygmies with the people of the village. We go to small villages situated in the forest to provide at least basic medical help to these people, together with our local health center employee, we conduct short lectures on diseases occurring here, personal hygiene, we introduce simple catecheses that can be applied to their lives, as well as we give moments of carefree childhood to the youngest through games and fun.

Pygmies are a tribe that the local people of the village consider cheap or free labor, they are pushed to the margins of society, but unfortunately that’s the reality here. Integration is the most important task for us, but it is hard to talk about integration, when it often happens that Pygmies are not willingly admitted to the hospital to dress wounds, test for malaria, or even show the slightest interest in their health. They are sent home or to our mission.

On our mission, we have a small health center that is not in the best condition and a rehabilitation center called “Da ti Ndoye”, which means “House of Love”.

The project aims to modernize this rehabilitation center that has existed since 1985. We would like to combine it with our health center to create one complex offering many possibilities. It is one of the few rehabilitation centers to which patients come from the entire area of the M`Baiki diocese. In addition to restoring the physical building, we would also like to renew our missionary animation through physical work for the benefit of the local people by giving the most precious gift – health.

Depending on the financial possibilities, we would like to:

replace the water sewage system; clean and disinfect the water tank or replace it with a new one; clean the well; purchase a generator for pumping water, replace water supply pipes;
install solar panels and batteries
purchase a power generator
renovate the kitchen (replacing worktops, installing tiles)
renovate the toilets (cleaning the walls, installing tiles, replacing doors, purchasing equipment)
make a ramp for wheelchairs and install railings on the porch
replace the ceiling throughout the building, clean and renew the walls
equip the offices with the necessary equipment
purchase the most necessary drugs

BUDGET

Drugs and dressing materials: EUR 4,000

Equipment for physiotherapy: EUR 2,000

Construction materials: EUR 12,000

Equipment for health center: EUR 5,000

Solar panels and batteries: EUR 5,000

Water pump and generator: EUR 4,000

Employees: EUR 3,000

Transport of materials: EUR 1,000

Sewage: EUR 2,000

TOTAL 39,000 EURO

If we manage to receive an extra money, we will use it for medicines and the health care and development programs for the pygmies’ population.

Donations can be done to MCCJ account in your country with annotation: Medical Aid Center “DA TI NDOYE” in CAR. CLM Mongoumba.

CLM in Central Africa Republic

Message of his Holiness Pope Francis for World Mission Day 2020

9 October, 2020 by Alberto de la Portilla

Here am I, send me (Is 6:8)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I wish to express my gratitude to God for the commitment with which the Church throughout the world carried out the Extraordinary Missionary Month last October. I am convinced that it stimulated missionary conversion in many communities on the path indicated by the theme: “Baptized and Sent: the Church of Christ on Mission in the World”.

In this year marked by the suffering and challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic, the missionary journey of the whole Church continues in light of the words found in the account of the calling of the prophet Isaiah: “Here am I, send me” (6:8). This is the ever new response to the Lord’s question: “Whom shall I send?” (ibid.). This invitation from God’s merciful heart challenges both the Church and humanity as a whole in the current world crisis. “Like the disciples in the Gospel we were caught off guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm. We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other. On this boat… are all of us. Just like those disciples, who spoke anxiously with one voice, saying ‘We are perishing’ (v. 38), so we too have realized that we cannot go on thinking of ourselves, but only together can we do this” (Meditation in Saint Peter’s Square, 27 March 2020). We are indeed frightened, disoriented and afraid. Pain and death make us experience our human frailty, but at the same time remind us of our deep desire for life and liberation from evil. In this context, the call to mission, the invitation to step out of ourselves for love of God and neighbour presents itself as an opportunity for sharing, service and intercessory prayer. The mission that God entrusts to each one of us leads us from fear and introspection to a renewed realization that we find ourselves precisely when we give ourselves to others.

In the sacrifice of the cross, where the mission of Jesus is fully accomplished (cf. Jn 19:28-30), God shows us that his love is for each and every one of us (cf. Jn 19:26-27). He asks us to be personally willing to be sent, because he himself is Love, love that is always “on mission”, always reaching out in order to give life. Out of his love for us, God the Father sent his Son Jesus (cf. Jn 3:16). Jesus is the Father’s Missionary: his life and ministry reveal his total obedience to the Father’s will (cf. Jn 4:34; 6:38; 8:12-30; Heb 10:5-10). Jesus, crucified and risen for us, draws us in turn into his mission of love, and with his Spirit which enlivens the Church, he makes us his disciples and sends us on a mission to the world and to its peoples.

“The mission, the ‘Church on the move’, is not a programme, an enterprise to be carried out by sheer force of will. It is Christ who makes the Church go out of herself. In the mission of evangelization, you move because the Holy Spirit pushes you, and carries you” (Senza di Lui non possiamo fare nulla: Essere missionari oggi nel mondo. Una conversazione con Gianni Valente, Libreria Editrice Vaticana: San Paolo, 2019, 16-17). God always loves us first and with this love comes to us and calls us. Our personal vocation comes from the fact that we are sons and daughters of God in the Church, his family, brothers and sisters in that love that Jesus has shown us. All, however, have a human dignity founded on the divine invitation to be children of God and to become, in the sacrament of Baptism and in the freedom of faith, what they have always been in the heart of God.

Life itself, as a gift freely received, is implicitly an invitation to this gift of self: it is a seed which, in the baptized, will blossom as a response of love in marriage or in virginity for the kingdom of God. Human life is born of the love of God, grows in love and tends towards love. No one is excluded from the love of God, and in the holy sacrifice of Jesus his Son on the cross, God conquered sin and death (cf. Rom 8:31-39). For God, evil – even sin – becomes a challenge to respond with even greater love (cf. Mt 5:38-48; Lk 22:33-34). In the Paschal Mystery, divine mercy heals our wounded humanity and is poured out upon the whole universe. The Church, the universal sacrament of God’s love for the world, continues the mission of Jesus in history and sends us everywhere so that, through our witness of faith and the proclamation of the Gospel, God may continue to manifest his love and in this way touch and transform hearts, minds, bodies, societies and cultures in every place and time.

Mission is a free and conscious response to God’s call. Yet we discern this call only when we have a personal relationship of love with Jesus present in his Church. Let us ask ourselves: are we prepared to welcome the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, to listen to the call to mission, whether in our life as married couples or as consecrated persons or those called to the ordained ministry, and in all the everyday events of life? Are we willing to be sent forth at any time or place to witness to our faith in God the merciful Father, to proclaim the Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ, to share the divine life of the Holy Spirit by building up the Church? Are we, like Mary, the Mother of Jesus, ready to be completely at the service of God’s will (cf. Lk 1:38)? This interior openness is essential if we are to say to God: “Here am I, Lord, send me” (cf. Is 6:8). And this, not in the abstract, but in this chapter of the life of the Church and of history.

Understanding what God is saying to us at this time of pandemic also represents a challenge for the Church’s mission. Illness, suffering, fear and isolation challenge us. The poverty of those who die alone, the abandoned, those who have lost their jobs and income, the homeless and those who lack food challenge us. Being forced to observe social distancing and to stay at home invites us to rediscover that we need social relationships as well as our communal relationship with God. Far from increasing mistrust and indifference, this situation should make us even more attentive to our way of relating to others. And prayer, in which God touches and moves our hearts, should make us ever more open to the need of our brothers and sisters for dignity and freedom, as well as our responsibility to care for all creation. The impossibility of gathering as a Church to celebrate the Eucharist has led us to share the experience of the many Christian communities that cannot celebrate Mass every Sunday. In all of this, God’s question: “Whom shall I send?” is addressed once more to us and awaits a generous and convincing response: “Here am I, send me!” (Is 6:8). God continues to look for those whom he can send forth into the world and to the nations to bear witness to his love, his deliverance from sin and death, his liberation from evil (cf. Mt 9:35-38; Lk 10:1-12).

The celebration of World Mission Day is also an occasion for reaffirming how prayer, reflection and the material help of your offerings are so many opportunities to participate actively in the mission of Jesus in his Church. The charity expressed in the collections that take place during the liturgical celebrations of the third Sunday of October is aimed at supporting the missionary work carried out in my name by the Pontifical Mission Societies, in order to meet the spiritual and material needs of peoples and Churches throughout the world, for the salvation of all.

May the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Star of Evangelization and Comforter of the Afflicted, missionary disciple of her Son Jesus, continue to intercede for us and sustain us.

Rome, Saint John Lateran, 31 May 2020, Solemnity of Pentecost

Franciscus

Ministeriality: an approach based on the semantic riches of biblical texts

6 October, 2020 by Alberto de la Portilla

Introduction

This article is intended to be a simple and brief contribution to the process of reflection and sharing on the theme of ministeriality in Biblical texts. Given that the abstract noun “ministeriality” is not to be found in Sacred Scripture, our approach will be based on the semantic plurality of the term “minister”. It is important at this point to emphasise that our text does not include all the Biblical terms equivalent to “minister”, or to study the so-called Biblical ministries such as those of priests, kings, prophets, apostles, evangelists, pastors or doctors. We will limit ourselves, therefore, to taking up some theological-linguistic elements associated with the terms and afterwards share, by way of conclusion, a brief reflection and some questions in view of possible further study of the theme.

1. A general outline of Biblical terms equivalent to “minister!

1.1 In the Old Testament

1.1.1 MESHARET

The root of this Hebrew word signified any form of service. In the context of our theme: the service of Joshua to Moses in Ex 24,13; 33,11, Nb 11,28 and Jos 1,1. In these texts, MESHARET means minister, a direct helper, a disciple. In fact, Moses would bring Joshua to his encounters with God on the mountain and in the tent. The ministry of Joshua consisted in helping Moses to understand the message of God and then transmit it to the people. Interestingly, these texts show that being a minister is a stage in the preparation to be a guide, or a true discipleship. Therefore, MESHARET goes back to the theme of the disciple-master relationship, of being able to learn in order to continue a mission or a ministry. From this perspective, the concept of MESHARET gives us to understand that, in the disciple-master relationship, the disciple learns not only from the master but from reality. In other words, reality becomes the master. This shows that the minister is a disciple both of the Lord and of reality.

1.1.2 EBED

Another term used in the Old Testament to signify ministry is EBED. This term indicates not only the common service of any person working under a master, as in the case of Naaman (2 K 5, 6), but also subordination to divine plans as in the case of the servant of God (EBED ADONAI or EBED HA–ELOHIM) in Is 42, 1-4; 49, 1-6; 50, 4-9; 52, 13-15; 53, 1-12. Even though exegetes do not all agree on the historic identity of the EBED ADONAI, the texts clearly show submission to the plans of God and the condition for realising the mission received.

1.2In the New Testament

In the case of the New Testament )NT), the following terms merit discussion:

1.2.1 PAIS/DOULOS

In ordinary language, PAIS means ‘child’. In Mt 12, 18, however, the Greek version of Is 42,1 is used in which the term PAIS is translated with the Hebrew meaning of EBED (servant), to show that Jesus is the Servant of God. With the same intuition, after Pentecost, under the Jerusalem portico, Peter declares for the first time that Jesus is the Servant of God (Ac 3,13). In effect, Peter was so moved by the image of Jesus-Servant that this became the reference point of his first preaching, after Pentecost. In this way, he presents the image of Jesus-Servant as the paradigm of any service whatever in the nascent Church. Textual proof of this is to be found in the semantic transposition made in the NT of the terms PAIS (child, servant) and DOULOS (slave, servant). Here we must be careful: addressing the apostles in Jn 15,15, Jesus qualifies his relationship with them as one of friendship and not of service or slavery. Furthermore, the term DOULOS (servant) continues to characterise the mission of the disciples. Jesus recommends that interpersonal relations be marked by the attitudes and sentiments of a servant and that they must be adopted by anyone who wishes to be great in the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt 20,27; Mk 10,44). It is also worth noting that DOULOS is the title with which Paul presents himself to his communities (Rm 1,1; 2 Cor 4,5; Gal 1,10; Ep 6,6; Ph 1,1; Tt 1,1). Some Christians are called servants (DOULOI) in Col 4,12; 2 Tm 2,14; Jm 1,1. Peter, Jude and the whole Church are DOULOI of Christ according to 2 P 1,1; Jude 1,1; Ac 1,1. We may then see that the terms PAIS and DOULOS become synonymous and Jesus-Servant becomes the unique paradigm in the exercise of ministries.

1.2.2 LEITOURGOS

Three meanings of this term merit particular attention:

indicates public servants and administrators who are called servants of God for the zeal with which they carry out their duties (Rm 13,6). The Christian must be submissive to them and pray for them that they may live tranquil, peaceful, pious and honest lives (2 Tm 2,2).

The one who announces the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who do not know Him, so that they may become an offering pleasing to Him, is also called LEITOURGOS (Rm 15,16).
The term is also applied to Jesus to indicate his ministry as mediator between God and humankind (Heb 8,2). It is also interesting that, in the NT, by this term, the ministry of the public servant is seen as equal to that of the evangeliser because both, inspired by Jesus the Mediator, serve the same God. As we have just seen, being inspired by Jesus the Mediator means assuming and performing, within and outside the Church, the priestly dimension of the ministries. All the ministries, without exception, are clothed in a priestly dimension or, in other words, the mediation between the Creator and creation.

1.2.3 HYPĒRETES

As regards the term HYPĒRETES, we find it means only “minister of the Word” (Lk 1,2; Ac 26,16). In these texts, the experience of Christ is seen as a necessary condition for the exercise of the ministry. We need only see that the “servants of the Word”, mentioned in Lk 1,2, are eyewitnesses. Saul, in Ac 26,16, is constituted servant and witness of what he had just seen and of what the Lord still had to show him. From these passages, the idea emerges that ministries are born of the experience of Christ and take nourishment from it.

1.2.4 DIAKONOS

The term is widely used in the NT, but in different contexts and with different meanings. Fundamentally, we do well to examine the following: DIAKONOS is the person who receives the mission to serve the Church. Stephen and his friends are deacons since they carry out the charitable works of the community (Ac 6,1-6); Paul and Apollos, however much they work tirelessly in evangelisation, prefer to be considered simply deacons (DIAKONOI) of the Church (1 Cor 3,5-15); Tychicus (Ep 6,21), Epaphras (Col 1,7) and Timothy (1 Tt 3,2) are DIAKONOI since they collaborate more directly in evangelisation. Even Jesus Christ is a DIAKONOS since he did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many (Mt 28,28; Mk 10,45; Rm 15,8). Assistance to the neediest is considered not only a DIAKONIA (ministry, service) but a necessary condition to have a place in the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt 25,31-46). In particular, it is of help to highlight the texts on the inferiority of the DIAKONOS: Lk 12,37 22,26-27. The DIAKONOS is inferior to God and the people entrusted to him. In effect, it seems that this was an important characteristic of ministries in the first Christian communities.

1.2.5 OIKONOMOS

The OIKONOMOS is the administrator who looks after the property of his master. It must be noted that, in the Pauline and Petrine traditions, all Christians are called OIKONOMOI since they administer the graces of God (1 Cor 4,1-2; 1 Pt 4,10). The symbolism of the administrator of the house is indeed striking as it insists on the duty of every Christian to have a ministry. In this way, the ministers are seen as a way of administering the OIKOS (dwelling, house) of God (1 Cor 3,5-9).

2. Reflection

The semantic riches which we have already mentioned are not to be seen as mere linguistic research, for its own sake, of Biblical authors but as clear proof of the diversity of ministerial experiences among the people of Israel and the first Christian communities. In the same way, these semantic riches serve as a foundation and inspiration for the continual contextualisation of ministries.

2.1 A diversity of ministerial experiences

From what we have said above, it is clear that the various experiences of ministeriality recorded in the sacred texts are of interest to hagiographers to present, through them, a God who raises up ministries at the service of His house. We bear in mind that, in the NT, house of God (OIKOS TOU THEOU) indicates, strictly speaking, the Church of Christ (1 Tm 3,15; Heb 3,6) and, in a broader sense, the entire universe (At 7,44-50). The inherent complexity of the concepts shows the importance of deepening not only the meaning of the expression “house of God”, but also the ministries required for its integral administration. The house of God is so complex that it is not possible to administer it without a vast range of ministries. It is urgent, therefore, to stimulate the birth of new ministries within and outside the Church. In this sense, the Comboni Missionaries are called to animate this process that today, more than ever, seems to be a conditio sine qua non for the evangelisation of the contemporary world.

2.2 Contextualisation of ministries

The various experiences of ministeriality in the Bible are accompanied by a process contextualisation, making ministries fit for a given context. For Comboni Missionaries, contextualisation brings with it two intrinsically interdependent processes: the process ad intra and the process ad extra. Ad intra because it requires a re-think of ministries and missionary commitments in light of the internal situation of the Institute (number of confreres, academic formation, vocational geographics, the financial situation, etc.). Ad extra because it challenges us to identify, in the context in which we work, people, means and methods to promote, with and through these, new ministries or the actualisation of those already in existence. Both processes require realism, courage and optimism. It is to be noted that, in the process of the contextualisation of ministries, assumed either individually or as a group, the contextualised reading of Sacred Scripture plays an irreplaceable role. For this reason, it is fundamental to re-learn the Bible, starting from the context of the contemporary listener. Only in this way will it be possible to discover the ministries more suitable for each situation.

3. Study questions

a) In what does the “inferiority of the minister” consist, as applied to Comboni missionaries?

b) Do we see the need for new ministries in the Church and Institute today? Which ones?

c) The house of God is immense and complex. How is it to be administered integrally?

d) Have we succeeded in contextualising the Comboni charism and the ministries associated with it?

e) Have we succeeded in contextualising our hermeneutics of Biblical texts, for the purpose of arousing ministries fit for the situation? What difficulties did we find?

Recommended Bibliography

COLLINS, J.N. (2014). Diakonia Studies: Critical Issues in Ministry. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

COMISSÃO Teológica Internacional. (2002). Da Diaconia de Cristo à Diaconia dos Apóstolos.

GUIJARRO, S. (2017). La Aportación del Análisis Contextual a la Exégesis de los Textos Bíblicos. Cuestiones Teológicas, 44 (102), 283-300.

KING, N. (2019). Ministry in the New Testament. New Blackfriars, 100 (1086), 155-164.

MĂCELARU, M.V. (2011). Discipleship in the Old Testament and Its Context: A Phenomenological Approach. Pleroma, 13 (2), 11-22.

Fr. José Joaquim L. Pedro, mccj