Comboni Family – Page 73 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

Aguilectores in Sahuayo 2017: living the values in the family with Black Smoke

21 February, 201715 February, 2017 by Alberto de la Portilla

Last weekend, the Aguilectores (readers of the Comboni´s missionary magazine for children) annual meeting was held in an atmosphere of joy, sharing moments of prayer, games, dynamics, food and topics of current interest, which led them to become aware of their reality.

It was inaugurated with a moment of animation with songs and dances for children. This help to integrate them in teams with missionary colors to begin the contest of drawings, whose theme was the values in the family. This motivated them to join as a team, to get points and be the winning team, their prize is to publish them in our magazine.

In their analysis of reality, Internet, social networks, as well as mobile phones that have been addictive for most of them, could not be lacking. Therefore, they agreed to select three rules to use them properly, recognizing that they are useful today for our life. The rules are as follows: 1) make a schedule to use them, 2) obey at the first moment to our parents / guardians, 3) use internet in the company of an adult.

The main theme of our day was “LIVING THE VALUES IN THE FAMILY WITH BLACK SMOKE”, teacher Rosita and her children explained some of the values that have great importance for a healthy family coexistence, such as: Belonging, faith, forgiveness, honesty, curiosity, respect, flexibility, communication and generosity. All the children participated very kindly giving contributions of their own family experience, revealing to us how important it is for them to belong to a natural family.

At noon, we celebrated the Eucharist for the children, at the end we continued with a march through the streets near the park. The prayer of the rosary was interspersed with songs and batons. Concluding the event with a fraternal meal among the children and collaborators making alive the joy of the gospel.

Because of the affluent of participants, we have started a new project of missionary formation for children every Saturday from 09:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., with headquarters in Uganda Martyrs’ Park.

We will wait for you!

Carlos Manuel Castillo Villanueva.

MCCJ Assembly of January 2017 province of Central America

20 January, 2017 by Alberto de la Portilla

During the week of January 9-11 the CLM of the Central American Province were invited to take part in the provincial assembly of January 2017 which took place in the municipality of San Lucas, Department of Sacatepéquez, near Guatemala City.

According to the capitular documents of the MCCJ, the 18^th General Chapter at the #44.14 encourages new forms of communications so that the MCCJ, SCM, CMS and CLM, still respecting the integrity of their identity, may work together according to the charism of Comboni and his passion for mission.

And so it was that a delegation of three CLM (Carol de Rosales, Alejandro Camey and Lily Portillo) attended the entire assembly in order to plan with our moderator, Bro. Humberto Rua, the various activities that will take place during the next six years.

We, who attended the Continental Meeting in Mexico last September, are the only ones who could help planning the proposed activities from a purely lay point of view.

It was a very positive experience, because we filled ourselves with the spirit of the Comboni charism and felt part of the family. There were moments of formation, planning and sharing.

We are grateful to God for this opportunity and may we all, by the intercession of St. Daniel Comboni, proclaim Jesus to those who are the farthest and most disadvantaged.

Caption: 24 priests, 2 brothers, 3 lay people and 5 postulants attended the assembly.

In the Spirit of Christmas we celebrated together another weekend as breat as the CLM of Portugal!

26 December, 2016 by Alberto de la Portilla

On December 9-11The CLM of Portugal held another meeting in Santarem.

In the Spirit of Christmas we celebrated together another weekend as breat as the CLM of Portugal!

Each meeting begins with a welcome, warm hugs, laughter and jokes typical of people who meet in a joyful mood and hoping to spend the day conversing with each member of this growing “family,” sharing in friendship.

On Saturday morning, after prayer and breakfast, we started with the report from Rufina García on the topic of “Refugees in the world and in Portugal.” Following the presentation of this very relevant reality, she spoke to us of her work in the Caritas of Porto Alegre, Brazil, as an example of how much needs to be done for refugees who run away from war, with nothing, hoping to survive and find peace. Following the charism of St. Daniel Comboni and remembering the challenge formulated at the European meeting of the CLM, we need to keep track of this crisis and act accordingly.

Later, we were asked to put ourselves in the shoes of a refugee from different continents and build a Christmas tree with our desires and dreams. Only by placing ourselves in other people’s situation can we begin to understand a bit of their sorrow and become attentive to the refugees’ problems.

Finally we listened to the story of two refugees from Pakistan, Nadia and Milam. They told us about some of the many difficulties they encountered and still face. Nadia arrived about a year ago, thanks to the work of Caritas, but she does not speak Portuguese, because it has not been possible for her to exercise her right to be taught the language. Milam, currently unemployed and a driver by profession, arrived in Portugal four years ago after a six months journey. His greatest desire is to get his driver’s license in Portugal and find a job.

On Saturday afternoon, we held several activities designed to make us know the difference in the economic power of the different continents. The inequalities are abysmal! Finally, we were invited to go to the meeting of “love” which includes a time for reflection and personal prayer.

In the evening we had a time of relaxation together with other members who were not even present, such as Marisa, with whom we conversed extensively through Skype. In the spirit of Christmas we exchanged small gifts and good wishes.

On Sunday, family members and friends joined us for the Eucharist. After that we had the opportunity to listen to the witness of the CLM Elia, who recently returned after five years of missionary work in the Republic of Central Africa.

She spoke of “Christmas in Mission.” The sharing of Elia, simple and real, was marvelous and enriching, especially for us candidates who have not yet had mission experience. Other lay people joined us to share more briefly their experiences of Christmas lived in the missions, in poverty, but rich of the real meaning of Christmas, without materialism, consumerism and the distractions that are inescapable in our western world.

The desire to continue this path of formation and of sharing was evident in all of us. Following the example of Mary, the mother of Jesus, let us put our trust in the Lord.

We wish you all the continuation of a happy Advent! Let us welcome Jesus who may be coming, who knows in the person of a refugee!

By Gloria Rocha

Merry Christmas!

24 December, 2016 by Alberto de la Portilla

Passing through Bangui

13 December, 2016 by Alberto de la Portilla

We arrived in Bangui to meet Irene, a CLM coming from Kinshasa. She is from the Democratic Republic of Congo group and will stay with us for about a month. A very charming person. May God allow us to give her a good missionary experience and an unforgettable one for her.

We brought along one of the orphans to whom we feed maternal milk. Her name is Mervelle (Wonder) and she weighed around 4 pounds at birth. She is now five months old, is growing normally and weighs in at 11 pounds, but by December 2 she had lost over a pound and the grandmother said that she had diarrhea. We immediately sent her to the UNT and she was admitted. She was undernourished, and had a fever on a daily basis… Both the director of the hospital and Tenda, another medical colleague, thought that she may suffer from meningitis, so on Wednesday we decided to transfer her to Bangui.

We reached Emergency, an Italian NGO working in the pediatric division of the hospital in Bangui, on Friday around noon and left at four. She was checked from top to bottom and x-rays of her lungs were taken. In the end, Mervelle, our Wonder, was admitted to the ICU for pneumonia, and with symptoms of meningitis, anemia and malaria.

They immediately started to give her oxygen. It was difficult to get enough of her blood for analysis. May God help her to recover quickly, if it is his will! May he watch over her. Today is Sunday and, thanks be to God, a nurse told us that she is doing better.

On December 8 we celebrated the closing of the Year of Mercy with the participation of the entire parish. The Eucharist was very lengthy and lasted three hours, but everyone was happy. At 6:00 in the morning we said the rosary, accompanied by many songs, as we took the image of Mary in procession through the communities of Mongoumba. The faces of our people were glowing with joy and with devotion to our Heavenly Mother.

The Family Jubilee was a success. We held catechesis for both parents and their children. It was good to see the parents and their children take part in the Eucharist together, because they usually do it separately. After Mass, each couple went out looking for a couple that was not married in Church, taking upon themselves the responsibility to catechize them and prepare them to receive the sacrament.

We also want everyone to know that now we have a new car! We thank the Comboni Missionaries of six provinces who shared with us the donations of their benefactors. We are grateful to God who gave them the inspiration to help us, to show solidarity and love.

Do not forget to pray for us. We pray for you.

WE WISH YOU ALL A HOLY CHRISTMAS AND A GOOD 2017 FILLED PEACE, JOY AND MUCH LOVE.

Hugs and kisses from the CLM Anna and Maria Augusta

Mongoumba, CAR