During April and May 2026, our community experienced moments of formation, reflection, and missionary service that strengthened our faith and commitment to our neighbors.
On Saturday, April 19, 2026, a formation day focused on human, Christian, and missionary maturity was held at Casa Comboni. We explored topics such as self-esteem, self-worth, and vocational discernment, reflecting on God’s call and the importance of persevering on the missionary path. We also strengthened our community formation by sharing teachings inspired by Father Damien and Carlo Acutis, as well as preparing formation materials for the CLM in San Luis Petén.
Later, on Saturday, May 2, 2026, at the De León Community in El Manzanillo, San Lucas Sacatepéquez, we experienced a beautiful missionary day under the theme “Holy Spirit, Soul of the Mission.” Through prayer, cleaning, visits, fellowship, and workshops, we shared moments filled with joy, service, and love for our neighbors, discovering Christ in every person we visited.
As part of the celebration of Mother’s Day, we gave special thanks to all mothers for their love and dedication, and in a very special way to our Mother Mary, the first missionary and the first tabernacle, an example of faith, humility, and obedience.
May these experiences encourage us not to give up, to continue walking with hope, and to keep serving with joy those who need it most.
“God’s works are born and grow at the foot of the Cross.” — St. Daniel Comboni
Once a month, we experience our internal day of recollection — a special time to pause, pray, and look more deeply at what is happening in our hearts and in our mission. Although our CLM community in Chelopoy (Kenya) is small and consists of only two people, this is exactly what gives this time such a personal and profound character.
We divide the day of recollection into two parts. In each of them, we reflect on a passage from the Holy Scripture, which becomes the starting point for personal reflection. We try not only to read the Word, but truly allow it to touch our lives — our joys, struggles, questions, and experiences connected with the mission. It is a moment of silence, listening, and honest reflection deep within ourselves.
After personal prayer comes the time to share what we are experiencing. And it is often then that we discover that despite different experiences or ways of living our faith, many of our emotions and difficulties are very similar. These conversations help us understand each other better, notice how God works in another person’s life, and learn greater openness and mutual support.
Such a day also reminds us that community does not depend on the number of people, but on God’s presence among us and our willingness to be together in truth. Even in a very small community, one can experience the great strength of unity, mutual encouragement, and the peace that is born from shared prayer and listening to one another.
I am grateful for every such day — for the silence, for the conversations, and for the opportunity to pause and look at our mission from a new perspective. It is a time that strengthens us spiritually, helps us find meaning in everyday life, and reminds us that God leads us step by step, even when the road is demanding.
The spiritual retreat for the CLM is very important; it helps us recognize what God is asking of each of us, it renews us when we need to make corrections in our lives, and it prepares us when we need to make decisions. Our spiritual director, Fr. Filomeno Ceja MCCJ, led the opening and closing of the retreat. He accompanied us through personal conversations; his advice is always spot-on and helps us make decisions both personally and as a group.
Mariana joined us virtually from the mission in Metlatónoc, Guerrero, to greet us; we continue to invite people to join the missionary project. She is very happy; it always brings us joy to see her so happy and increasingly integrated into the service she performs, following the work plan with the parish.
The monthly half-day retreat that we CLM hold in Mexico is very important; it prepares us and helps us better experience our annual three-day retreat, giving us time to be at the source and find God’s grace for ourselves. on this occasion our central theme was Pope Leo XIV’s message for DOMUND 2026, “One in Christ, United in Mission.” Fr. Héctor Manuel Peña MCCJ was the preacher; we had moments of prayer, reflection on the theme, personal reflection, lectio divina, sharing, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and the Eucharist, all of which helped us have a personal encounter with God.
Eight of us were able to attend: Daniel, Alejandra (widow), Cesar, Ana and Florencio (married couple), Hortensia, Adriana, and Beatriz. It has been very interesting to see how each of us is walking this path, the challenges to overcome, and the goal to reach. We regret that some of our companions could not be present due to work and study commitments; we kept them in our prayers, which always unite us.
Florencio and Ana made a one-year commitment to follow the CLM path during Sunday Mass at the San Francisco del Rincón community in Guanajuato; they have pledged to continue doing monthly missionary animation and to support formation. Daniel took on a personal task and will continue his growth within the group; Alejandra will be accompanied as she works through her personal situation; Cesar decided to leave the group; Adriana, Hortensia, and Beatriz will remain on the coordination team.
God continues to challenge us through our lay reality; returning to daily life and making our missionary commitment a living reality is not easy, but we know that “All things are possible for those who strengthen us,” convinced that we will continue moving forward together in our missionary commitment to evangelization.
On Holy Thursday, we dedicated our morning for a moment of prayer at the home of a family from the Ipê community. We prayed together and reflected on the text written by Valdeci regarding CF 2026.
Afterward, we took a walk, observing the glaring contradictions around us.
Ipê Amarelo is a neighborhood born out of the organization of homeless families who used to pay rent. It is a story of the struggle to secure housing in the 1990s, when, through much struggle and resistance, they moved from living in tents to their own homes. But it is also bordered by a large wall that marks social inequality, for behind the walls, guarded by security guards, lies one of the most luxurious condominiums in the region. Visiting the families was a time to listen to their stories, learn about their joys and challenges, and experience the community’s characteristic hospitality.
In the evening, we participated in the foot-washing ceremony at the Nossa Senhora Aparecida Community, a beautiful moment that reminded us that “we are the church of shared bread, of embrace, and of peace.”
The 2026 Fraternity Campaign invites us to reflect on one of the most profound truths of the Christian faith: “He came to dwell among us” (John 1:14). The prologue of John’s Gospel reveals the heart of the mystery of the Incarnation. God did not remain distant from human reality. The Word became flesh, took on our condition, entered history, and chose to dwell in the midst of humanity. He did not come as a passing visitor, but as one who decided to share the life, the sufferings, and the hopes of his people.
The Incarnation is, therefore, God’s great gesture of closeness. In Jesus, God draws near to wounded humanity, especially to those living on the margins: the poor, the excluded, and those forgotten by society. Christ is born into a simple reality, grows up among the little ones, walks with those who suffer, and proclaims a Kingdom where the least are placed at the center. This logic of the Gospel breaks with the mentality of power and indifference, and reveals a God who chooses closeness, compassion, and service.
This perspective deeply illuminates Comboni missionary spirituality. Inspired by St. Daniel Comboni, the missionaries are called to make the same movement as Jesus: to go out to meet, to live among, and to walk alongside the poorest. Comboni understood that mission does not take place from a position of superiority or distance, but through the concrete sharing of life with those most in need. His missionary dream was clear: to save Africa with Africa itself, valuing the peoples, their cultures, and their dignity.
Within this logic, Comboni lay missionaries play an essential role. They bear witness that mission is not exclusive to religious or priests, but is a vocation of the entire People of God. The lay missionary is one who, immersed in daily life—at work, in the family, in the community—becomes a living presence of the Gospel. He embraces mission as a way of life, bringing the presence of Christ to places where the institutional Church often cannot reach.
The Incarnation teaches us that God does not transform the world from a distance. He commits himself to human reality. In the same way, Comboni lay missionaries are called to dwell in the existential peripheries, to draw near to the sufferings of humanity, and to build concrete signs of hope. Being with the poor is not merely an act of social solidarity, but a profound dimension of the Christian faith. In the faces of the poor and vulnerable, we encounter Christ himself, who continues to challenge us.
In this sense, the theme of the 2026 Fraternity Campaign, “He came to dwell among us,” also becomes an invitation to every Christian: to allow Christ to continue dwelling in the world through our actions. When we draw near to those who suffer, when we share life with the forgotten, when we fight so that all may have dignity, we are extending God’s presence in the midst of humanity.
For where life is defended, where dignity is restored, and where the poor are welcomed, there God continues to dwell among us.
Valdeci Antônio Ferreira – CLM Brazil
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