Formation – Page 75 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

Called to live and be community

19 March, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

During the weekend 21 and 22 of February, the Comboni Lay Missionaries gathered in Viseu for the sixth formation meeting on the theme: “Community: Challenges and Opportunities” oriented by the community-life of Oporto. The meeting was held at the Monastery of Santa Beatriz da Silva, who graciously welcomed us and we are very grateful for that.
During this meeting, we had the opportunity to reflect and understand in depth what is community life. The community appears at the beginning of the Bible, when God says, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2, 18). So, in fact, we are called throughout our life to live and be community. As Susana said: “The world is our structure. People are our home. Without this world we cannot have another, without people the human been does not live”. Thus, it must be with people and for people that the community exist.

“We have to be parts of one body”

IMAG0618 The community is everywhere, in every field of our life: school, work, family, friends, church, catechesis and mission. However, we can only speak fully of community if we accept Jesus Christ as a member of our community, as the brother who loves us so much to die on the cross with the weight of our sins. Jesus loves us and is part of our community and together with the Father and the Holy Spirit are the center, the heart of any community. Like them we must be one voice, be one soul, we must be parts of the same body. This is the real challenge of being community. This is because we are all different in our weaknesses and qualities. And God calls us individually by name. God calls different, sinners. God calls us. And we are, with all that characterizes us, who form community.

“We have to be parts of one body”

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And the question we ask many times is: Does the community work despite the differences between people? Yes, it is not easy but it is definitely possible. It works if we know our center, if we are honest with each other, if we use the gifts of each to serve in things where we’re good. It works if we have the humility to share tasks. But not to divide but to unite. Thus, the community goes through faith in the other. The community is a matter of love in which there is only one heart, one mind and one voice. Stop being “me” to be “us”. Where everything is put together.

“The community is love”

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The community is undoubtedly love. The love that comes from God, born of Him who loves us first in an overwhelming way. It is this love that moves the world we are called to be for our brothers. And as S John Paul II said: “Love is an act of will.”

So depend on us to forgive, excuse, want to love the others, choose to love despite all its faults and errors, which I also have, and love with our differences and our weaknesses.
By: Paula Sousa

Gathering in Trujillo 2015 (CLM-Peru national meeting)

2 March, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

On 20, 21 and 22 in the city of Trujillo (northern Peru) was conducted the national 2105 CLM meeting. This meeting is held once a year and is nationwide.

It is a time where all CLM in Peru, including foreigners, share experiences on our missionary work: ad-gentes, mission fields, pastoral and missionary animation.

Thanks to the host’s MCCJ Community in Trujillo, the CLM could happily share part of our lives with our CLM brothers of Trujillo and his advisor Fr. José Chinguel. We have no lack of opportunities for prayer, reflection, discussion and sharing on the daily work of the missionary lay life.

On this occasion, we work under the framework of “the conclusions of Guatemala” from which we could make our proposals integrating them within our priorities for this year and the next one. We went to the meeting CLM from Lay Lima 8 and 7 from Trujillo. Unfortunately, some brothers could not attend due to various circumstances. We also have the presence of Anna, a young German missionary who serves in Arequipa. At this meeting we reach specific conclusions for this year aimed to achieve our objectives and goals together as one community of Comboni Lay Missionaries of Peru.

Why this gathering?

It is my third national meeting as CLM and once again reaffirms my missionary vocation. It is a joy to know I am not alone but with me there are others who feel the same call to serve in the periphery. Each testimony has been for me a conviction that we are on track. And the best is that the Lord was present, inspiring and directing our work.

This experience, in which we have gathered to share our life, our joys and why not also our difficulties, is the experience with the Brother, hear and be pleasant host, but with Jesus who calls us to share as a community that has one heart.

This space where everyone comes as he (she) is, with dreams, encouragement, but also weak and with fears, have made us been able to see ourselves reflected in the other. It was an appropriate time to deepen and reflect our missionary being.

Rocio Gamarra CLM – Lima

Aspirants CLM meeting in Ghana

25 February, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

We held our meeting this 14th Feb. We first have a talk on Comboni Spirituality which was presented by our Spiritual Director Fr Godwin Kornu. First of all, he showed us the books that can help us in our journey: The Writings of Comboni, The passion of a life of Don Lozano, We the Heirs of Francesco Pierli. He then explained the word Spirituality by the way a person experiences God, him or herself and the world he/she is part of. The spirituality must be shaped by Christ but it is influenced by the time and our environment. And talking about the spirituality of a person demands to pass through the life, the history of the person, the way he experiences God. And this experience of an individual is unique. Father led us to discover that the “loving heart is a suffering heart” and “what is good is not relative” which means what is good cannot be determined by a tradition or a culture. What is good is good by itself. The relativism is one of the points that the Pope Emeritus Benedict condemned lots. (The theme is very broad so for now it is just an introduction).

After the presentation, we moved on for some discussions. The minutes of the last meeting was read and few corrections made. From the matters arisen, we agreed to levy ourselves with an amount which can be paid from now up to the next second meeting. At last, we decided to have a recollection on the 14^th March to redo ourselves in the Lenten Season. The meeting was then moved to closure with prayer and benediction. After this, we had an agape.

Justin Nougnui, coordinator.

CLM Group Meeting in Ghana

9 December, 2014 by Alberto de la Portilla

On the 21^st October 2014, I met the Father Provincial about the journey of the CLM Aspirants. A chaplain was given to us and a new strategy was defined by the Province about us. Our chaplain is Rev. Fr Godwin Kornu. Since then, we were planning to meet and this 5^th December, we held our 17^th meeting at Mafi-Kumase the Quasi Parish where our chaplain is. We were in all 8 lays with our chaplain. After the opening prayer, we proceeded with the Spiritual Reading from He lived only for Africa by B. Ward and A. Mondini. The passage read was the Experience of the Cross. For the first meeting with our chaplain, we introduced ourselves. From our previous meeting’s minutes, we heard about the work of two Committees, Formation and Fund Raising. The two Committees reflected upon the formation process and the various ways of generating income. Their suggestions need now critical analysis and for that matter, any decision was not taken, for us to go and reflect more about the issues with the help of our chaplain. The report about our activities since the beginning was then given. Our chaplain took then the speech to tell us the journey he has to make with us. His service is to form us, a spiritual formation which involves”lay, Christian, missionary and Combonian formation”. He explained how he intended to proceed with us: themes to present, recollections, retreats… The place, time and date were at once decided for the coming meeting and the topic to talk about. After this, few matters were discussed and the meeting came to its end with the concluding prayer (Prayer of the Comboni Family) with blessing. We took our family picture and the lunch before departing from the place.

We are very happy of the attention and zeal of the Province towards us and we thank, of all our heart, for all the decision taken for our spiritual and vocational growth. We saw how serious and dedicated our chaplain is. The experience he had with CLM when he was at Chicago and also some years in formation predisposed him for this service assigned to him by the Fr Provincial and His Counsel. May the Lord strengthen him spiritually to strengthen us and lead us on Comboni’s steps. We are so blessed because we are surrounded by so dedicated persons and zealous priests who believe in the CLM reality. May we too be inspired and ceased by their missionary and combonian zeal.

Justin Nougnui, coordinator.

Annual Assembly of the CLM Brazil

7 December, 2014 by Alberto de la Portilla

The CLM in Brazil went back to the origins of their vocation, update the directory and assess progress made throughout 2014.

“In short, who is the missionary? Short, short, it is the one who transmit the love of God for others in order to become disciples”. On the first day of the annual meeting, which began on December 5, the Comboni Lay Missionaries (CLM) in Brazil were able to return to the origins of their vocation by reflecting with the Provincial Fr. Alcides. Which emphasized the importance of the church to encounter people and ask what the Spirit speaks to such a complex reality today. The provincial of the Comboni Missionaries in Brazil – which cited several times the II Vatican Council and the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis “The joy of the Gospel” – wanted to remember that “every place is a land of mission and who saves is Christ, not the church”.

The meeting included several Brazilian CLM – João, Lourdes, Guilherma, Valdeci, Adélia – three Italians – Emma, Valentina and Marco – and a Paraguayan, Alejo. In the afternoon came also Father Adriano, who was appointed as the MCCJ representative for the laity.

Another important theme of the meeting was to review the Directory of the CLM in Brazil, which is a document that was written almost 20 years ago and was in need of an update. Among other things, the board now anticipates the arrival of CLM from other countries and defines the modalities of cooperation with the other provinces in these cases.

The meeting, as always, was also an opportunity to learn more about the performance of the various CLM both in Brazil and in other countries: Mozambique, Peru, Rondônia, in Nova Comtagem (MG), in Itauna and other cities (APAC). Also announced the availability of the Mozambican CLM to receive Guilherma, Brazilian CLM, already next year. Among songs and dynamics in the afternoon was also made a report on the economy of the CLM.

The meeting was also an opportunity for the CLM to share the progress during 2014 in a more informal way, lunching and dining together at the Comboni House of Nova Comtagem. This Saturday, December 6, will be the second and final day of the meeting, with a very rich agenda: The schedule for the next biennium, the report on the meeting in Guatemala and the situation of the laity in Açailândia (MA) Adélia, the choice of the CLM coordinator in Brazil, reflections with the psychologist Richardson and other matters.

CLM Brazil