Comboni Family – Page 55 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

News from the Central Africa Republic mission

13 May, 2019 by Alberto de la Portilla

The CLM María Augusta writes for her parish paper, the Astrolabio.

I came to Bangui, the capital of the Central Africa Republic, because Fr. Fernando had an accident and is here in the hospital. The accident happened when he was returning from Mbaiki after attending the Chrismal Mass. Mongoumba belongs to the diocese of Mbaiki. The CLM Cristina and Fr. Maurice were with him and behind them there were seven people. Luckily, Cristina and Fr. Maurice were not hurt and had no great physical pains, but it is always difficult to absorb the accident emotionally. However, they were able to stay by Fr. Fernando, which was the important and necessary part.

The people following behind were hurt a bit, but fortunately there was nothing serious and only one was taken to the hospital, but with nothing major, by God’s grace. Fr. Fernando was thrown out though the glass on the door side and suffered a double trauma, one in the face including the eyes and one in the back. He underwent surgery on Easter Sunday and all went well.

Ana and I arrived in Bangui on Tuesday and stayed at the postulancy, because they were having the Comboni Assembly. We spent Easter worrying a lot, because we did not know how they were doing. When we saw Fr. Fernando he was still in a bad shape. Only today he came briefly to Comboni House, the Comboni residence in Bangui, because we have been very busy with him. By God’s grace, he is improving every day. Just the same, he must eat everything pureed because his upper jaw does not meet his lower jaw and so he cannot chew. We are hopeful that at the level of his head everything is working, because he speaks well and all his senses work… We thank God who protected all the travelers. God’s Providence was with them, because the accident happened 1 km from the Mbata mission and also because a vehicle went by that took them to the town hospital, where Fr. Fernando was sutured, and then all the way to Bangui.

Fr. Fernando will be moved to Benin for a CAT-scan of his head, to make sure he is well, and then to rest and get his energy back to continue the mission the Lord has chosen for him. I am confident that, by God’s grace, all will be well!

Cristina underwent some tests and all is well. She helped Fr. Fernando a lot! She will remain in Bangui to rest until she recovers enough to go back to Mongoumba.

Fr. Maurice is well, but very tired… up until Wednesday he spent night and day taking care of the wounded. Thanks be to God that on Thursday and Friday he could rest and begin to feel better…

Fr. Samuel returned on Wednesday, fully animated for the mission waiting for him. In July and August he will do mission promotion in the United States.

We hope that by then Fr. Fernando will be back in good health.

The assembly went well. A brother from Togo, a friend of Fr. Maurice, came to take part in it.

The twin girl I talked to you about in my last message, eventually died… The Lord welcomed her in his arms, because she suffered a lot.

Always united in prayer.

I wish all of you a Happy Easter!

A worldwide embrace to you all! Thanks for your prayers.

María Augusta, CLM

For Astrolabio

Year 5 – No. 147 – May 5, 2019

The parishes of Cabril, Dornelas do Zêzese, Fajão, Janeiro de Baixo, Machio, Pampilhosa da Serra, Portela do Fôjo,Unhais-o-Velho and Vidual

Meeting of the CLM in Nuremberg, May 3-5

7 May, 2019 by Alberto de la Portilla

At this meeting we enjoyed the presence of Thomas Mecha, who up to 2018 worked as an AGEH agent in Burundi in the diocese of Bururi in the field of Peace Development. There are over 2,000 basic committees who work in mediation and arbitration of land and family conflicts – an enormous potential! The report by Thomas and the debate that followed were very interesting and inspirational for us and for our activities in building bridges of peace.

We also worked on the CLM logotype at the international level, we received information from other CLM groups and we agreed on some monthly activities to improve communications.

Also very pleasant was meeting again with the coordinating team of the Province (that was also meeting) and with Fr. Juan Goicochea of Peru.

Thanks to Thomas, Bro. Hans, Father Günther and the community of Nuremberg!

CLM, Germany

Prayer of the Comboni Family 2019 May

5 May, 2019 by Alberto de la Portilla

May – That women may be ever more aware of their specific role and talents and participate fully in the life and leadership of the Church. Lord hear us.

Easter Retreat of the CLM of Portugal

26 April, 2019 by Alberto de la Portilla

On April 6-7 we held our Lenten retreat in Viseu, directed by Fr. José Vieira. We started in the morning by listening to a song by Aline Barros called, Renew me, Lord Jesus, in order to enter into the spirit of the retreat. It is a time to stop, to create empty spaces in order to listen to Jesus and make him live in the intimacy of our being. The morning had as a theme, “mission: holy and capable,” as Comboni wants us. There was a brief introduction by Fr. José Vieira as general outlines for a later time of individual reflection and prayer. We followed some of the points of Exult and be Glad by Pope Francis to help us see our mission in Christ and how we must be holy and missionaries in all the facets of our lives. “Be holy because God is Holy.” Namely, to feel in our hearts a life united to God, where we allow ourselves to be molded by Him and so walk towards holiness. Later, we prayed the Way of the Cross, guided by the Gospel and by St. Daniel Comboni, that took us to relive the last hour of Jesus, keeping in mind how he keeps on suffering in Mozambique, Malawi, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and many other places.

In the afternoon we reflected on the theme of “a missionary heart,” again with a short introduction by Fr. José Vieira before our individual reflection and prayer. The theme comes from the fact that the heart is the true home of mission. In this sense, we cannot run away from our heart, and that is why it is so important to understand what makes it beat. To help us in the reflection, we were able to meditate on various parts of Comboni’s Writings where the word heart is mentioned. It is interesting to know that the word comes up more than a thousand times in the writings of Comboni, to show the importance of the heart in the mission and in the missionary.

I give you three quotes that shaped my reflection:

“The four of us make up one heart, one soul. Each one making an effort to please the others” (SS1507). I see here the meaning of community, united in one heart.
“The heart of Jesus is our communication center” (SS4764) I saw this sentence as being very connected to this morning’s reflection, namely this union with Jesus who becomes the center of our communications, one with the others, and puts us on the road to holiness.
“When one has the full certainty of being following God’s will, any sacrifice, all the crosses and one’s own death are the sweetest comfort of our hearts” (SS3683). It resonates with the search I have done to find this will of God in my own life, this full certainty of the path to be followed. It gave rise to doubts and uncertainties that I could raise in prayer to the Lord during this retreat.

At the end of the afternoon we had a penance service that helped us renovate our repentant hearts and take a look at what keeps us away from God and his love. In the evening, we had a Lectio Divina and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, using as a base the Sunday Gospel, the one of the adulterous woman. It was an occasion to open our hearts fully before Jesus present there and meditate on the Word and what it was telling each one of us in our lives and our difficulties. For me it was a beautiful sharing and a true encounter with Christ.

On Sunday morning we meditated, based on Pope Francis’ Lenten message, on listening to the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth. We looked even into these environmental problems and this Lent as a way of full conversion, not only in our actions towards our neighbors, but also in our attitudes towards the work of Creation “that waits with eager longing, awaiting the revelation of the children of God” (Rms 8:19).

We ended our gathering with the Eucharist and a time of fraternal relaxation.

For me it was very important and very good to experience this retreat. It helped me to stop, slow down and break the routine of this life so full of worries and work. It helped me to have an encounter with Jesus, look at the cross, listen to what was in my heart. It helped me to allay the fears and doubts that often bother my heart, with the certainty that, when I walk with him, everything makes sense. Ana Sousa

Formation Meeting – “To re-read my history, my family structure and life project”

2 April, 2019 by Alberto de la Portilla

Last weekend, March 15-17, we held another formation meeting of the Comboni Lay Missionaries. The theme was: “To re-read my history, my family structure and life project,” and it was moderated by the psychologist Liliane Mendonça. The meeting started on Friday evening with the arrival and welcome of the members, giving us time to catch up with everyone. The theme that had brought us to Viseu started on Saturday morning, after the Eucharist, stimulating the group and each individual with exercises that revealed particular aspects of our being and of our family, especially in the eyes of our colleagues who did not know us very well. Going along with the exercises, we realized that, even without knowing the family, we were able to see details that fit the situation. After this discovery, we continued with other dynamics that helped us understand our lives starting from our own family roots, recognizing the strong connection and implications that it holds in the direction of our lives. The theme let itself to dialogue and to exchange experiences, referring to moments in life that left a mark in each one of us, in our families and even foreseeing in part what may be happening in the future. So we came to the conclusion that family is our system and that what we receive from it we will transmit it to future generations. The theme was picked up again on Sunday and ended with a fantastic witness by Ana and Artur Valente, who spoke to us of their experiences and family roots. And so this meeting evolved enriching us, originating debate, understanding and wisdom.

Mónica Silva