Formation – Page 23 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

190th Anniversary of the birth of St Daniel Comboni

15 March, 2021 by Alberto de la Portilla

« I have come to bring fire to the earth and how I wish it were blazing already! » (Lk 12,49)

Keeping the flame alive

Introduction. As we celebrate the 190^th anniversary of the birth of Daniel Comboni (Limone Sul Garda, 15 March 1831) and the 140^th anniversary of his death (Khartoum, 10 October 1881), we are invited to celebrate our charismatic memorial and to invoke the presence of the Spirit which illumined his life from birth to death. His beatification (17 March 1996), whose 25^thanniversary recurs this year, was a charismatic gift for the entire Comboni Family. On that occasion, ([1]), the general councils published a message together with a letter to encourage the members of our missionary family to be joyful and to gaze in spiritual manner at our father, seeking inspiration and fruitfulness for our missionary service. Finally, with the canonisation, the Church enrolled him in the register of saints, recognising the validity and relevance of the Comboni missionary charism and proposing St Daniel Comboni as a model of Christian life and mission, the example and paradigm of universal missionary commitment, which unites different continents and people in the passion for God and Humanity. Then too, our general councils gifted us with a message ([2]) and a letter ([3]) inviting us to look upon St Daniel as the witness and master of that sanctity to which we are called and the mission we live. This letter is part of this movement of the memorial and actualisation of the charismatic gift entrusted to St Daniel and, in him, to all of us: a gift from God that is revived in every Comboni generation.

Considering his roots. The memorial we keep of the birth of St Daniel Comboni invites us, before all else, to consider the family, ecclesial and social roots that influenced him so much and which he often mentioned ([4]). His birth occurred amid difficulties and limitations. His parents were migrants, having come to Limone looking for work. His father, Luigi Comboni had, at the age of fifteen, come to Limone from Bogliaco in December 1818. His mother, Domenica Pace, was born in Limone (31 March 1801) but her family was from Magasa, in the mountains. Luigi and Domenica married on 21 July 1826, in the church of St Benedict and, according to the baptismal register, had six children; to these we may also add twins who died and were not baptised ([5]).

“Daniel Comboni grew up with his parents in their modest house in Tesol, sharing the joys and sorrows of the family. Of all his siblings, only Vigilio (1827-1848) and Marianna (1832-1836) survived” ([6]). He had great affection and esteem for his mother and father. His mother died on 14 July 1858, during his first journey to Africa, and it was with his father Luigi that Daniel kept up constant correspondence in which he recognised the religiosity of his parents and the influence they had on his missionary life and vocation. Contained in those letters are the human and Christian elements that constituted the fertile soil that gave growth to the vocation and mission of St Daniel (the memory of the beauty of the lake and the mountains, pride in Christian faith and life, devotion to the Cross and the Saviour, the contemplation of his love and Pierced Heart, the passion for God and the most needy): “Have courage therefore, my dear father. I have always opened my heart to you, I speak to you every day, I am aware of your worries and I am enjoying a foretaste of the delights God has reserved for you in heaven. Courage therefore! May God be the centre of communication between us. May he guide our undertakings, our affairs, our destiny and let us rejoice that we are dealing with a good master, a faithful friend and a loving father” ([7]). The celebration of the 190^th anniversary of his birth gives us a new opportunity to come closer to him and his family and ecclesial roots, strengthening awareness of our own roots as a spiritual background that gives stability to our personalities and spiritual fecundity to our missionary life. This celebration also gives us an opportunity, as the Comboni Family, to deepen the role of Limone and to continue the collaboration undertaken at the birthplace of St Daniel Comboni.

Faithfulness in the midst of adversity. The memorial of the 140^thanniversary of the death of Daniel Comboni invites us to look at his life from the viewpoint of the supreme moment of his gift of himself for the regeneration of Nigrizia. In the letters he wrote during the last months of his life, he appears to be a missionary surrounded by difficulties but rooted in the faith: famine, plague and hunger, the lack of water, the scarcity of means to keep the missionary work going, the sickness and death of his missionaries … In his own words, those were “times of desolation” when “the sufferings to be alleviated are unfortunately too many” (^[8]).

Faced with such difficulties, Comboni remains anchored in faith in God and the missionary vision that inspired and sustained his life. “I am happy in the cross which, when borne willingly out of love for God, gives birth to victory and eternal life”: these words ([9]) sum up, at a crucial moment, the mindset of his whole life. His return to the foot of the Cross, to the contemplation of the Pierced Heart where it all began, fills with light and courage the moment of his return to the Father and lies at the origin of the confidence and “courage for the present and even more for the future” ([10]) that Comboni instils in his missionaries in the moment of A-Dio: “I die but my work will not die!” ([11]).

The two dates of the memorial we keep this year mark out a life’s journey in which the power of the Spirit takes shape in the life of St Daniel and renders perceptible and alive a small patch “of the unlimited love” of God ([12]); he lets himself be “formed” by the Love he contemplates, keeping his gaze fixed on Jesus crucified. St Daniel leaves us a testimony that generates life for our time.

Birth and death. We are celebrating these anniversaries of the life of St Daniel Comboni after a year, 2020, that was marked by the coronavirus pandemic and after having begun the year 2021 while the whole world is still experiencing uncertainty in public health and the economy. In the Comboni Family, we too are suffering the consequences of this situation: we have lost men and women missionaries who, after many years of mission, enriched us with their testimonies and hoped to live out their old age in peace ([13]); the pace of our activities has been brought to a halt and our plans and projects have been suspended; the limits placed on our travelling has sorely tried us, challenging us to be creatively close to the poorest and the least and those most affected by the pandemic; we feel unable to find a way out and we share the feeling of disorientation and loss that is overpowering many of our brothers and sisters.

Seeing Daniel Comboni and in the span of his missionary life and vocation, from birth to death, we understand how, in the moment of crisis and uncertainty, he recognised and awaited the movement of the Spirit, reviewed his plans and renewed his missionary commitment, embraced the Cross and its difficulties, seeing in all these things a sign of the loving presence and mysterious action of God, of a divine hour with its promise of renewed life. In all these situations, he yields to the attraction of the love of God for Africa and he is not afraid to be part of a tiny group; he perseveres, plans, takes risks and is able to offer his life, without counting the cost. From him we learn the attitudes we need to live through such uncertain times as the hour of God: patience and faithfulness to the missionary vocation; the ability to involve ourselves creatively, always placing people and God at the centre; the sense of communion (being a cenacle) that keeps us together and strengthens our charismatic identity and our missionary vocation in the Church of today.

Daniel Comboni urges us never to allow the burden of Covid-19 and the negative consequences of social distancing to close us in upon ourselves but to overcome conflict and competition and regain the spirit of collaboration between laymen and laywomen, sisters, brothers and priests; to increase the feeling of communion and friendliness of living together which Comboni recommended to his followers; to keep hope alive, even in darkness and rediscover the strength to care for ourselves and to be resilient; to accept the changes that are taking place and see opportunities where others see failure; to assume birth and death as doors to pass through, challenges to our creativity and occasions for mutual support; to consider losses (lives, occupations, health and economic security …) as an opportunity for conversion and support among ourselves, individuals, families and communities. During the pandemic we have maintained communion, we have exchanged information and set in motion processes such as the Social Ministeriality Forum with meetings held using Zoom; the present situation challenges us to find new ways of being united as a Comboni Family, to face together difficult movements and changes and continue the process of collaboration ([14]).

The light of the testimony of St Daniel Comboni illumines the discernment that what we are living calls us to prepare for the immediate future which will not simply be a return to the familiar past. It offers us criteria for assuming the values we hold dear, the friendship and affection of family and friends; to understand the common destiny of humanity, threatened by the pandemic and ecological disaster; to commit ourselves to social transformation (including climate change, care for our common home and healthcare for every person …) giving our contribution creatively, rejecting the superfluous and favouring solidarity.

These attitudes are rooted in the faith, in “a strong awareness of God” and “lively interest in his Glory and the good of people”, especially the impoverished and marginalised who are the antidote St Daniel suggests to counteract the stress of the pandemic and the uncertainty of the times we live in. He inspires us to see the world and the events we are living with “the pure eye of faith” ([15]) and warns us that any missionary, whether man or woman, lacking this attitude “will end up in a kind of emptiness and intolerable isolation” ([16]). He also points out the way to remain faithful: “… to keep one’s gaze fixed on Jesus Christ, loving him tenderly and striving to understand better every moment that passes the meaning of a God dead on a cross …” ([17]). Comboni speaks of an “impetus of divine fire” coming from the Pierced Heart which men and women missionaries receive at the foot of the Cross to take everywhere; that flame that nourishes their commitment to the regeneration of people and the transformation of the society in which they live ([18]).

Keeping the fire burning. The memorial of the birth and death of St Daniel Comboni reminds us that the chief challenge we are faced with at this time is precisely that of keeping alive this flame, this divine impetus burning in our hearts and “seeing the beauty of the spiritual paternity of St Daniel whose heart was burning and (…) succeeded in prophetically kindling the fire of the Gospel, overcoming boundaries, (…), suffering misunderstandings, limiting visions and concretising an innovative missionary vision”. Fidelity to Daniel Comboni is played out in “keeping to the path he has commenced” and in “believing in the power of the fire of the Spirit (…) that comes down upon us and makes us courageous frequenters of the future” (^[19]).

General Councils of the SCM, CMS and the MCCJ and the International Commission of the CLM

[1] Letter dated 23 February 1996, for the Day of Reconciliation. The message “Gazing at the rock from which we were carved” is dated 6 April 1995.

[2] “A Gift to be Welcomed and Studied” dated 15 March 2003.

[3] “Daniel Comboni, Witness of Holiness and Master of Mission” dated 1 September 2003.

[4] Both by visiting his native home and especially by letters to his parents, to his father after his mother had died, to his cousins, the parish priests and citizens of Limone. The correspondence of Daniel Comboni with his father includes 31 letters. The first was written from Cairo on 19 October 1857, the last on 6 September 1881, a month before his death.

[5] Positio, Roma 1988, Vol. I, p. 14.

[6] Mario Trebeschi and Domenico Fava, San Daniele Comboni e Limone, Limone sul Garda 2011, p. 39.

[7] Daniel Comboni, Writings 188.

[8] Daniel Comboni, Writings 6631.

[9] Letter to Sembianti, Writings 7246.

[10] In Annals of the Good Shepherd 27 January 1882.

[11] Giovanni Dichtl, letter to Cardinal Simeoni, 29.9.1889.

[12] Daniel Comboni, Homily in Khartum, Writings 3158.

[13] During the first wave of the pandemic, 13 Comboni Missionary Sisters died in Bergamo. In the second wave, between 8 November 2020 and 10 January 2021, 20 Comboni Missionaries died in Castel d’Azzano; others died later in Milan, Ellwangen (Germany), Guadalajara (Mexico) and in Uganda; a total of 35. Altogether, up to the end of January 2021, 48 Comboni men and women missionaries died victims of Covid-19.

[14] During the Social Ministeriality Forum, the member of the Comboni Family commission reflected together on this time as a good opportunity for new modes of encounter, while waiting for better times when we can meet face to face. To keep the process going, two webinars were planned. For the first one in December, 279 people registered, representing the Comboni Family all over the world.

[15] Daniel Comboni, Homily in Khartoum, Writings 2745.

[16] Daniel Comboni, Rules of 1871, Chapter X.

[17] Daniel Comboni, Rules of 1871, Chapter X.

[18] Daniel Comboni, Plan for the Regeneration of Africa, IV Edition, Verona 1871, Writings 2742. “… Then he was carried away by the impetus of that love set alight by the divine flame on Golgotha and came forth from the side of the Crucified One to embrace the whole human family…”.

[19] Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Homily for the memorial of St Daniel Comboni, Rome 10 October 2020.

My year of mission as a laywoman in Colombia (III)

26 February, 2021 by Alberto de la Portilla

(Third part of the testimony that we send you in three different moments)

The realization of a home a little more dignified

Among the children who started the school support were two little brothers Dibisay and Javier, they lived with their mother in a house that was on the other side of a sewage pipe and was in precarious conditions; a house made of reused zinc, a leaking roof, a dirt floor, a toilet and a zinc tile that served as a bathroom, a baby bathtub that served as a sink and dishwasher, a kitchen in a ravine and a wooden bridge that was about to fall down.

The first time I went to this house I was very sentimental for the conditions in which the children lived, their mother, a housewife, and their father, a master builder who works in Ibagué. One day I talked to Vane and told her about the situation, then we decided to make a video of the house and upload it on social networks so that our family, friends or friends of friends would join the cause of giving these children a more dignified home.

At first we did not imagine the impact the video was going to have and we thought we were going to collect money to make the bathroom, or maybe to change the roof, or to buy a laundry room… But I have always said that my God manifests his love when you do things that do not hurt anyone. In this way we gathered almost 7 million and together with some people who knew about construction in the neighborhood during the whole month of July we were working on the project that we called “Dibi’s house”, we were able to raise foundations, build the entire front facade of the house, change a roof, make a kitchen, make a bathroom, make two rooms (one in material and the other in Zinc), change the bridge to enter the house and the installation of pipes.

This house allowed us to learn the names of the construction materials, to learn how to make cement mixes, to cut wood, to lay the boards of the bridge, to check the quality of the material, to deal with the construction masters. Another work was finished with all the love, with a lot of learning and with a house in better conditions for the children.

Our Neighborhood Enterprise

In the month of September, Father Franco was informed that the Comboni Missionaries were going to send financial aid to families in the neighborhood that were affected by the COVID-19. In a meeting with the mission team, we wanted to convert this money into something sustainable and not something for charity. So we made a call for some people we knew who had no work and we started meeting groups where we shared cooking skills, initially there were 15 people, in each Saturday meeting there were less and less people left. When there was a group of 6 people left (Darilys, Lucero, Mrs. María, Don Cicerón, Don José María and Mrs. Claudia), after analyzing the products made and the demand in the neighborhood, it was decided that from the first Saturday of October we would start selling chicken empanadas, that day 45 empanadas were made and every Saturday we increased the production reaching on November 14 to sell 90 empanadas, in addition to the opening of a point of sale that was entrusted to God. This microenterprise has allowed us to intertwine friendships, trust, laughter and teamwork, in the pursuit of an enterprise with people who want to get ahead.

Gratitude for the Mission

I end this report of my year’s mission by thanking God for all the little people who have supported me in the distance; from Luz Dary for her economic contribution for the Christmas sharing of the children of Bajito de Vaqueria, for the chocolate with bread from the neighbors of the prayer of the block and the Dibi Project, to Diego Montilla and my cousin Edwin Vargas in the first edition of the video that was of great help in the collection of funds for the children’s house and in the edition of the second video of the finished house of the children, to my family for their support, love, understanding and for giving me money for my expenses, to my spiritual family and to my team of Comboni Lay Missionaries of Colombia for giving me money for my rent, food or my cell phone plan. Thank you from the bottom of my heart because without you it would not have been possible to support me emotionally and economically during this year. Thanks to my Marisol and my Vane for being partners in every idea, every walk, every school reinforcement, God rewarded me with their presence. A mission loaded with 90% of laughter, projects, dreams, love and blessings, 5% of tears before those people who are not so good and treated me badly and 5% of fear before the gunshots that were heard blocks away from the house.

Alexandra Garcia, CLM Group Colombia

My year of mission as a laywoman in Colombia (II)

23 February, 2021 by Alberto de la Portilla

(Second part of the testimony that we send you in three different moments)

Choir and first communion catechesis:

We started together with Bro. Pontien a choir, and in turn I also committed myself to be a catechist for a group of 17 children who wanted to receive their first communion sacrament, but the momentum lasted two weekends because our country was quarantined by the COVID-19, a little insecure and assuming a reality that we thought was going to be temporary became 7 months where group meetings were allowed with a limited number of people and where holding something virtual was not a possibility because of the conditions in which a significant group of families live in the sector.

Prayer in the Cuadra

In the first weeks of the quarantine, the mission team came up with the idea of organizing some activity that would allow us to be united with the neighbors and strengthen the spiritual area, and we called this new idea the “Prayer on the block”, we called the neighbors and Mr. Robinson, who belonged to a different religion along with his family.

One Thursday in March we began to call neighbors to come out of their homes and we, with Vane, animated the songs with the cununo and the Bombo (a learning process). Each week two neighbors were in charge of the Bible reading and its reflection. In addition, a basket was placed in the center of the block where each neighbor contributed with something from the market to help one of the families that participated in the prayer. This activity generated excitement and gave us peace because we trusted that God was going to protect us from COVID-19.

We spent three months meeting from the doors of our homes so that once a week in the afternoon we would share the gospel and some of the food that arrived in our neighborhood. In this way we got to know our neighbors Karen, Luna, Laura, Yolanda, Don Jose and his family, Don Esau (who lent the extensions and the microphone), Alexandra and her little Juan (who lent the sound), Mrs. Sandra (who allowed us to connect the sound in her house), Mrs. Maria, etc.

Markets Full of Solidarity

In mid-April we received a financial donation to give markets to 35 families affected by COVID-19, AFRO families were selected from the neighborhood, who were nominated by the Afro group led by Father Franco for more than 4 years. This market contained a prayer inside for the families to thank God for the people who had contributed money inside and outside the country for the purchase of these markets. This activity allowed us to meet more families living inside and outside our neighborhood.

Termination of my Contract

My contract was for three months, and when the contract ended there was no possibility that it would be renewed, the situation scares me but thank God those months were paid and with that money I could support myself for two more months. Then came my birthday and I received money from my blood family and my spiritual family (community Señor de los Milagros de Tauramena/ Casanare). In this way I was able to sustain myself until July.

Donation of a printer and school accompaniment.

At the end of April, a relative of Vanesa donated us the money to buy a printer and in this way help some families in the neighborhood with the online education of their children, we contacted teachers of second and third grade of the Buenos Aires Educational Institution, and with a group of five children (Dibisay, Juan Sebastian, Jhovanni, Laura and Javier) started in the apartment a school accompaniment, these children were two of second grade and three of third grade. They came to the apartment in the mornings and afternoons we proposed to work in order to be leveled, by the end of June the goal was achieved and we had a picnic as a prize.

The requirements that these five children met were as follows:

That their family did not have access to internet data.
Not to have the help of a person to explain the topics.
They should always come bathed, with clean clothes and eaten breakfast and/or lunch.
Comply with the schedule 10 am to 12 pm and 1:30 to 5:00 pm.
To leave their suitcase with all the supplies at my house so they did not carry their suitcase every day (I made sure we always had all the materials to work with).
Leaving the space in the apartment where we did our homework clean.
Not disrespecting each other.
Behave like smart kids to learn and get good grades.

In addition to this, thanks to the printer, 10 families would pick up printed guides after five in the afternoon, so that the children could work from home. One child came once a week for me to take the evidence of the solved activities and send it to the grade director.

In July, two new girls (Jondarlys and Sharick) joined the school reinforcement program, they were also behind and were in third grade, so I set up a schedule in the morning from 8:30 am to 12:00 pm and in the afternoon I received only three children, because when Laura and Juan Sebastian were leveled, they began to work from home on the two daily guides sent by the teachers. In that month of July, we started a construction of a house and Marisol (Laywoman) supported the school reinforcement from her house. In August I resumed the school support with three new children in the morning schedule (Paula, Shari and Adrian) two of second grade and one of third grade, and in the afternoon we attended all the children of third grade who were up to date with homework, by then there were 5 children, from this month some parents according to their needs made me a contribution of 15 or 20 thousand pesos per week and thus helped me with my expenses.

At the beginning of September, the group expanded, now I had 6 children in the morning (Shari, Jordanys, Gabriela, Nicol, Paula), who belonged to different grades; first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth. Then I had to look for someone to support me and God sent Natalia, a girl from the neighborhood who was 20 years old and had already worked with children. The afternoon group expanded and now there were 6 children (Jhovanni, Adrian, Jondarlys, Luis Ferney, Javier and Victoria). The processes here became more challenging because Jordanys and Shari did not know how to read and we proposed to start the process of teaching reading and writing.

By the end of October, Elvin, a third grader from another institution, joined the program and the challenge was to help him save the year, so by the second week of November this process was completed with two children in the morning and four in the afternoon. Only Jhovanni, 9 years old, was there from the beginning to the end of this experience.

The school support became a process where some children learned to read, write, do reading comprehension, color and work judiciously to meet the daily goals. They were months of laughter, tension, frustration tolerance, field trips (every month we did an integration excursion with the children who were there), a process where you help children not to lose a school year, to do good quality work, they were months of love and details. These children gave meaning to my mission because their witticisms, their personalities, gave meaning to my weeks. God bless each one of them and their families, and keep them safe from harm.

Alexandra Garcia, CLM Group of Colombia

Missionary experience at St. Paul Catholic Church of Akonoma, Cape Coast (Republic of Ghana) from 21st December 2020 to 4th January, 2021.

19 February, 2021 by Alberto de la Portilla

Our chaplain, Rev. Fr. Leopold Adanle, in his zeal to further our formation, suggested to our group to do some days experience in Manigri, Benin. Later on, after the Provincial Council, it was agreed to go for the experience in Cape Coast, Ghana.

We had to leave our families to celebrate Christmas festivities far from our residences. Early the 21st December, 2020, Frank Amenyo and Justin Nougnui started the journey from their various areas to meet Christian Wotormenyo at Accra. From Accra, the three of us took a car for Cape Coast. Cape Coast is about 300 km from our towns. The Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Bonaventure Gnaha came to pick us from the lorry station to our station, St. Paul Catholic Church of Akonoma. The experience was in two aspects, with the Church Community and our CLM Community.

1. Experience with the Church Community

Our service was to revive the Church of Akonoma. We moved from house to house at the quest of the church members who have stopped coming to church. None of the three of us knew Fante, the local language of the area. Two of us could say very few words in Fante. We moved with an interpreter. We had the grace to visit some aged and sick members of the church and also from Akonoma’s community. After the house visitation, we planned meetings with the various societies of the church to form and consolidate them. We enjoyed the festivities of Christmas. On the 24th, 25th, 27th, 31st December, 1st January and 3rd January which were the Christmas vigil, The Christmas day, the feast of the Holy Family, the New year vigil, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God and the Solemnity of the Epiphany, the population at church was encouraging. The Rev. Fathers, Bonaventure, Joseph and Anthony came one after the other for the various celebrations. The 31st night, new year vigil, School of Jesus, a society of children exhibited a night performance.

2. CLM community

Monthly, we had a meeting. But for this experience, the three of us had the time to live together.

a. Prayer life

We had our daily schedule. We prayed the Laudes in the morning, read the daily Gospel with a commentary, a Life History of St. Daniel Comboni written by Bernard Ward. After the breakfast, we had our indoor or outdoor activities. At 12:30, we had lunch followed by siesta. In the afternoon we had activities, at 6:30 we prayed the Vespers, ate. Every day before the Night Prayer we reflected upon the day activities and planned for the following day.

b. Division of labour

We cooked ourselves, served the meals and washed the bowls. We fetched water ourselves sometimes, other times, the youth helped us. Each one has a responsibility, Mr. Wotormenyo the team leader, Mr. Amenyo the bursar and Mr. Nougnui the secretary.

c. Vocation promotion

We spoke about the Comboni Family in general when we met some active members of Akonoma. We laid emphasis on CLM, who they are, the requirements to be CLM, the activities of CLM. We did the same thing when we attended the parish Liturgical Committee meeting. We also took the opportunity to visit a group of Friends of Comboni at St. Paul Catholic Church of Nkanfoa. As it is now in our province, being a member of the group of Friends of Comboni is one of the requirements to aspire to CLM. We chatted with the members and encouraged them to move further to CLM. We promised to be in touch with them for the way forward.

d. The neglected

The visit from house to house showed us the reality of the neglected and the abandoned. Some aged and sick persons were a little bit forgotten. In order to continue the Caritative aspect of the Church, we created from the Church Committee the Welfare Committee. Its role is essentially to look for the sick, to find “the lost sheep” and also to assist members who are bereaved.

We are so grateful for the opportunity given to us. We thanked the Provincial Council, our Chaplain, the parish priest of St. Paul Catholic Church of Nkanfoa, the church community of Akonoma for helping us respond to our vocation. This missionary experience strengthened our faith and motivated us to continue our journey on the footsteps of St. Daniel Comboni.

Justin Nougnui, CLM coordinator.

Message of his holiness pope Francis for lent 2021

17 February, 2021 by Alberto de la Portilla

“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem” (Mt 20:18)
Lent: a Time for Renewing Faith, Hope and Love

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Jesus revealed to his disciples the deepest meaning of his mission when he told them of his passion, death and resurrection, in fulfilment of the Father’s will. He then called the disciples to share in this mission for the salvation of the world.

In our Lenten journey towards Easter, let us remember the One who “humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:8). During this season of conversion, let us renew our faith, draw from the “living water” of hope, and receive with open hearts the love of God, who makes us brothers and sisters in Christ. At the Easter vigil, we will renew our baptismal promises and experience rebirth as new men and women by the working of the Holy Spirit. This Lenten journey, like the entire pilgrimage of the Christian life, is even now illumined by the light of the resurrection, which inspires the thoughts, attitudes and decisions of the followers of Christ.

Fasting, prayer and almsgiving, as preached by Jesus (cf. Mt 6:1-18), enable and express our conversion. The path of poverty and self-denial (fasting), concern and loving care for the poor (almsgiving), and childlike dialogue with the Father (prayer) make it possible for us to live lives of sincere faith, living hope and effective charity.

1. Faith calls us to accept the truth and testify to it before God and all our brothers and sisters.

In this Lenten season, accepting and living the truth revealed in Christ means, first of all, opening our hearts to God’s word, which the Church passes on from generation to generation. This truth is not an abstract concept reserved for a chosen intelligent few. Instead, it is a message that all of us can receive and understand thanks to the wisdom of a heart open to the grandeur of God, who loves us even before we are aware of it. Christ himself is this truth. By taking on our humanity, even to its very limits, he has made himself the way – demanding, yet open to all – that leads to the fullness of life.

Fasting, experienced as a form of self-denial, helps those who undertake it in simplicity of heart to rediscover God’s gift and to recognize that, created in his image and likeness, we find our fulfilment in him. In embracing the experience of poverty, those who fast make themselves poor with the poor and accumulate the treasure of a love both received and shared. In this way, fasting helps us to love God and our neighbour, inasmuch as love, as Saint Thomas Aquinas teaches, is a movement outwards that focuses our attention on others and considers them as one with ourselves (cf. Fratelli Tutti, 93).

Lent is a time for believing, for welcoming God into our lives and allowing him to “make his dwelling” among us (cf. Jn 14:23). Fasting involves being freed from all that weighs us down – like consumerism or an excess of information, whether true or false – in order to open the doors of our hearts to the One who comes to us, poor in all things, yet “full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14): the Son of God our Saviour.

2. Hope as “living water” enabling us to continue our journey.

The Samaritan woman at the well, whom Jesus asks for a drink, does not understand what he means when he says that he can offer her “living water” (Jn 4:10). Naturally, she thinks that he is referring to material water, but Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit whom he will give in abundance through the paschal mystery, bestowing a hope that does not disappoint. Jesus had already spoken of this hope when, in telling of his passion and death, he said that he would “be raised on the third day” (Mt 20:19). Jesus was speaking of the future opened up by the Father’s mercy. Hoping with him and because of him means believing that history does not end with our mistakes, our violence and injustice, or the sin that crucifies Love. It means receiving from his open heart the Father’s forgiveness.

In these times of trouble, when everything seems fragile and uncertain, it may appear challenging to speak of hope. Yet Lent is precisely the season of hope, when we turn back to God who patiently continues to care for his creation which we have often mistreated (cf. Laudato Si’, 32-33; 43-44). Saint Paul urges us to place our hope in reconciliation: “Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20). By receiving forgiveness in the sacrament that lies at the heart of our process of conversion, we in turn can spread forgiveness to others. Having received forgiveness ourselves, we can offer it through our willingness to enter into attentive dialogue with others and to give comfort to those experiencing sorrow and pain. God’s forgiveness, offered also through our words and actions, enables us to experience an Easter of fraternity.

In Lent, may we be increasingly concerned with “speaking words of comfort, strength, consolation and encouragement, and not words that demean, sadden, anger or show scorn” (Fratelli Tutti, 223). In order to give hope to others, it is sometimes enough simply to be kind, to be “willing to set everything else aside in order to show interest, to give the gift of a smile, to speak a word of encouragement, to listen amid general indifference” (ibid., 224).

Through recollection and silent prayer, hope is given to us as inspiration and interior light, illuminating the challenges and choices we face in our mission. Hence the need to pray (cf. Mt 6:6) and, in secret, to encounter the Father of tender love.

To experience Lent in hope entails growing in the realization that, in Jesus Christ, we are witnesses of new times, in which God is “making all things new” (cf. Rev 21:1-6). It means receiving the hope of Christ, who gave his life on the cross and was raised by God on the third day, and always being “prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls [us] to account for the hope that is in [us]” (1 Pet 3:15).

3. Love, following in the footsteps of Christ, in concern and compassion for all, is the highest expression of our faith and hope.

Love rejoices in seeing others grow. Hence it suffers when others are anguished, lonely, sick, homeless, despised or in need. Love is a leap of the heart; it brings us out of ourselves and creates bonds of sharing and communion.

“‘Social love’ makes it possible to advance towards a civilization of love, to which all of us can feel called. With its impulse to universality, love is capable of building a new world. No mere sentiment, it is the best means of discovering effective paths of development for everyone” (Fratelli Tutti, 183).

Love is a gift that gives meaning to our lives. It enables us to view those in need as members of our own family, as friends, brothers or sisters. A small amount, if given with love, never ends, but becomes a source of life and happiness. Such was the case with the jar of meal and jug of oil of the widow of Zarephath, who offered a cake of bread to the prophet Elijah (cf. 1 Kings 17:7-16); it was also the case with the loaves blessed, broken and given by Jesus to the disciples to distribute to the crowd (cf. Mk 6:30-44). Such is the case too with our almsgiving, whether small or large, when offered with joy and simplicity.

To experience Lent with love means caring for those who suffer or feel abandoned and fearful because of the Covid-19 pandemic. In these days of deep uncertainty about the future, let us keep in mind the Lord’s word to his Servant, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you” (Is 43:1). In our charity, may we speak words of reassurance and help others to realize that God loves them as sons and daughters.

“Only a gaze transformed by charity can enable the dignity of others to be recognized and, as a consequence, the poor to be acknowledged and valued in their dignity, respected in their identity and culture, and thus truly integrated into society” (Fratelli Tutti, 187).

Dear brothers and sisters, every moment of our lives is a time for believing, hoping and loving. The call to experience Lent as a journey of conversion, prayer and sharing of our goods, helps us – as communities and as individuals – to revive the faith that comes from the living Christ, the hope inspired by the breath of the Holy Spirit and the love flowing from the merciful heart of the Father.

May Mary, Mother of the Saviour, ever faithful at the foot of the cross and in the heart of the Church, sustain us with her loving presence. May the blessing of the risen Lord accompany all of us on our journey towards the light of Easter.

Rome, Saint John Lateran, 11 November 2020, the Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours

FRANCISCUS