That deceased missionary women and men may enjoy the peace of the encounter with the Lord whom they proclaimed to the world during their earthly lives. Lord hear us.
Comboni Family
Campaign on the harmful effects of mining activity on health and the environment
Today, October 29, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), together with Justiça nos Trilhos (Justice on the Rails), launched a campaign to alert the world’s citizens who unconsciously consume the products of mining and steel companies that for more than three decades have been deteriorating the health and polluting the environment of the community of Piquiá de Baixo, in the Brazilian Amazon.
The campaign marks the 30th anniversary of Grupo Ferroeste in the municipality of Açailândia and invites everyone to support the struggle for the rights of this community, to which the companies and the State have closed their eyes for so long.
To know more: https://bit.ly/3kFKur8
New commitment of the Comboni Lay Missionaries of the DRC
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 20th 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
Central Africa Republic – Help for “DA TI NDOYE” Medical Center
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
Ministeriality: an approach based on the semantic riches of biblical texts
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
