Comboni Lay Missionaries

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Comboni Family

Visit of Fr. Ottorino to the CLM group in Mexico.

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Visita

As we well know, the laity have an advisor at continental level, in America we are accompanied by Fr. Ottorino who serves in the province of Ecuador and was physically present in our country on the occasion of the vows that the already scholastic Larzon Alexandre Angulo Burbano made.

I had the opportunity to go to Mexico City, to accompany his visit and so I was able to walk a little accompanied with Fr. Juan Diego Provincial of Central America, Fr. Gabriel and Fr. Filomeno in order to visit Our Lady of Guadalupe. Besides walking around, we discussed the way in which the meeting with the Laity could be, since we are in different cities and we had to define the best option. With the group from Mexico City the date was set and without any problem the meeting took place. We had to adjust the way in which we would meet with the other groups since we thought of visiting each of the houses where there was presence of Laity, but by suggestion of the Provincial Fr. Enrique it was decided that he would only go to Sahuayo, the CLM of Guadalajara and San Francisco del Rincón would try to get there to be present. To facilitate the presence of the coordinating team where all the groups are present, a virtual meeting was organized where all the groups could be present, Vero from San Francisco del Rincón could not make it to Sahuayo for reasons of force majeure, but she connected virtually, so only Juan José from Sahuayo was missing, responsible for National Formation.

visita

Fr Ottorino visited us, he listened attentively to each one of us and took note of everything we talked about, it was a lot of information in a short time. He proposed that soon we could meet, have our assembly, present reports, establish agreements, it is very good to have an advisor like him who is interested in each person and for the group to know how we are progressing, he also told us that he was already vaccinated and that he had had a quiet trip.

On May 10, which is celebrated as “Mother’s Day in Mexico” we had the opportunity to walk in the city of Sahuayo, visit the “Sacred Places” as the Shrine of Joselito, Cristo Rey, Catacombs of the Sacred Heart and the chapel of San Francisco where the MCCJ Fr. Tonino works; as well as Mexican handicraft stores, Huaraches (woven shoes) and the Municipal Market where the father could greet the family of Monica as they have a stand of seeds and dried chili peppers. In the afternoon we went to have lunch with the family at a farm and in the evening we enjoy a coffee in front of the main square. We know that on his return he would meet with Katarzyna and Adán a couple from Mexico City and before making his return trip he would meet with MCCJ Fr. Gustavo, advisor of the CLM in Mexico.

“Thank you for your sharing” Fr. OTTORINO.

Beatriz, CLM Mexico

African Memory Project: Enrique Bayo Mata

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Fr Kike

We continue this series with Fr. Enrique Bayo Mata, a Comboni Missionary who spent fifteen years in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Fr. Enrique tells us about his rich experience of learning the African liturgy and his work on the continent, which includes, in addition to pastoral service, publishing, radio and television. For many years he has collaborated with the CLM in Congo, at the African level and even within the Central Committee of the CLM. (Interview in Spanish)

Meeting of the General Councils of the Comboni Family June 2021

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Consejos Generales

Last Saturday we held the regular meeting of the General Councils of the Comboni Family (Comboni Missionary Sisters, Secular Comboni Missionaries, Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus and Comboni Lay Missionaries).

Consejos Generales

As it is usual at in this time of pandemic, we had to do it online. Hopefully we will soon be able to return to face-to-face meetings that allow us to share and talk, and at the same time to be able to extend them and address more topics. The online meetings have helped us to stay in touch in these pandemic times, but we all looked forward to being able to meet face-to-face.

We started the meeting with a simple welcome and a common prayer that put us in situation.

We were able to dedicate a first moment to share the concerns that we are currently experiencing in the different branches of the Family and thus update each other.

The first topic to work on was the result of the work of the ministeriality commission. In particular, the members of this commission presented the results of the data collection that has been carried out at the international level and that were presented in the last webinar of March 5 and 6. We were able to deepen in some of the data that are being extracted about the projects and missionary presences in the different continents. We were also able to learn about the work proposal for the next webinar to be held on June 25 and 26. This third meeting will close the first cycle of work and we hope that new proposals for collaboration and joint deepening as Comboni Family in our missionary service will emerge.

We are very satisfied and grateful for the great work of the commission on ministeriality and the welcoming and participation of the members of the Comboni Family in these meetings.

We will try to hold a meeting to study these results in greater depth once the third meeting is over and we have the proposals for the future drawn by all.

After a break we evaluated the work of collaboration that we have been doing as a Comboni family in recent years following the proposals launched in the joint letter of 2017 “Beyond collaboration: under Comboni’s gaze“.

We use an online tool to evaluate by cards the positive aspects, the difficulties encountered and the proposals for future work.

We see that the family feeling that permeates our council meetings is very good and the accompaniment that we maintain of the progress of the different branches. We understand that this is not only due to the people who are currently there, but that it is something that happens and must continue to happen regardless of possible changes in the teams.

In the coming months the general assembly of the Secular Comboni Missionaries and later the chapter of the MCCJ will be held. We wish them all the best and accompany these commitments with prayer and a willingness to collaborate as a family. How to further deepen this collaboration is something we will continue to work on in future meetings.

Greetings to everyone.

Alberto de la Portilla, CLM Central Committee

The Anniversary of the Founding of the Comboni Institute: June 1

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Sagrado corazón

«One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear
and immediately blood and water flowed out»
(Jn 19, 34)

Sagrado corazón

Dear Confreres,
Fraternal greetings in the Heart of Jesus.

This year, the celebration of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus finds us fully engrossed in preparing the next General Chapter, a synodal event that gives us the opportunity to grow in fidelity to the chrism and so to incarnate it in the particular mission of this historic moment. This time is marked by the pandemic caused by the COVID which has been a shock at all levels, by conflicts and wars in different parts of the world and by tensions in some local Churches.

Our Rule of Life reminds us: «The Founder discovered in the mystery of the Heart of Jesus the thrust of his missionary commitment. Comboni’s unconditional love for the peoples of Africa had its origin and model in the saving love of the Good Shepherd who offered his life on the Cross for humanity » (RL 3).

The Heart of Jesus is for us the anchor that keeps us joined to the source of life and the mission; it is the sap that gives life to our Institute; it is, without doubt, a fundamental element of the charism which helps us to re-qualify and renew our commitment. The Comboni mission, 154 years after the foundation of the Institute, continues in time and space, enriching us with shades of meaning that find concrete expression in new ways of being and living the mission. One of these expressions is, without doubt, integral ecology to which we are called to respond with the courage and creativity typical of our Founder.

In this feast, we renew our desire to follow Jesus in his total giving of himself for the salvation of the world and, in all humility, to place our gifts at the service of the Kingdom. We are invited to find in the contemplation of the mystery of the Heart of Jesus the audacity and the energy to set out where the Spirit leads us. Our missionary commitment will bear fruit only if it emanates from an experience of encounter with Jesus and is a living expression of that love which shines from the Cross towards all men and women, especially the most needy.

To celebrate the Heart of Jesus in a pandemic context that has forced us to seek new paths and adapt to the imperatives imposed by a situation that leaves us helpless and has made us suffer and weep for its victims among the Comboni Family, our own families and the people among whom we work, reminds us that we all belong to one interdependent family. To the loss of human lives we must also add the tremendous increase in the loss of employment throughout the world that inevitably leads to poverty. May the extraordinary gestures of solidarity we have witnessed be also signs of hope helping us to build up our humanity so needful of finding new coordinates that will enable all of us to have life in abundance. The blood and water that flow from the side of Christ are the sign that our fragility has as its final horizon the resurrection, and this lights up our work of proclaiming the Gospel of the infinite compassion of God for humanity. As Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus, let us make this suffering ours and let us renew our commitment in the mission Jesus has given us.

The renewal of our consecration on this Feast Day is an act of trust and an invitation to continue to grow in the vocation the Lord has given us as a gift for all humanity.

We beg the intercession of Holy Mary Our Mother who accompanied her Son at the foot of the cross and that of Saint Daniel Comboni.

We wish you a Happy Feast Day.

Rome, 1 June 2021
The Anniversary of the Founding of the Institute

The General Council