Missionary Experiences – Page 30 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

Pilgrimage of the Servant of God Ezekiel Ramin – 2020

15 July, 2020 by Alberto de la Portilla

“Martyr to the earth and to God’s dream! Remember the 35 years of his martyrdom!”

On 24 July 2020 we will celebrate 35 years of remembrance of the martyrdom of the Servant of God, Fr. Ezekiel Ramin, a Comboni Missionary killed in Rondonia for defending the lives of the indigenous peoples and landless families.

This year it will not be possible to celebrate the pilgrimage of Fr. Ezequiel as we always do in Cacoal/RO and Rondolância/MT, with many people because of the COVID 19.

The COVID at the same time calls us to prudence and solidarity, especially with the most threatened territories, with our beloved Amazonia, the Indigenous Peoples and the native populations. Therefore, we will celebrate this pilgrimage in a different way, involving many more people throughout Brazil.

Throughout the days we will have a programme with various activities that will be transmitted live, always at 8 p.m. (from Brasilia) and through the Comboni-Brazil YouTube channel. There will also be daily videos with testimonies in memory of Fr Ezequiel.

We are together in this pilgrimage of Fr. Ezequiel which will extend throughout Brazil. Let us walk in defence of life! In defence of the Amazon!

Programming:

July 19th at 8 pm. – Missionary Vocation Vigil in memory of Fr. Ezequiel Ramin International Comboni Scholasticate /SP

20 July at 8 p.m. – Conversation round with Don Roque Paloschi, Archbishop of Porto Velho/RO and president of CIMI, with CPT/RO and with Fr. “35 years of the martyrdom of Fr. Ezequiel Ramin: a prophetic witness in defence of the indigenous peoples and landless families”.

TRÍDUO IN MEMORY of Fr. Ezequiel Ramin:

DAY 21/07 – 20h – 1st day of the Triduum (from the Community of Curitiba/PR)

Day 22/07 – 20h – 2nd Triduum day (from Contagem/MG Community)

Day 23/07 – 20h – 3rd day of the Triduum (from the Community of Piquiá/MA)

Day 24/07 – 20h – Eucharistic celebration of thanksgiving by Father Ezekiel Ramin and as a collective commitment in defense of Life. (from the SP Community).

Comboni Family Brazil

European CLM online meeting

14 July, 2020 by Alberto de la Portilla

This past weekend we had the opportunity to meet online at a European level.

The meeting organized by the European Committee for all the CLM from the different countries had as its central theme “The challenges of living our missionary vocation as lay people in Europe“.

We had the opportunity to expose each country’s reality. Many of the contributions helped us to enter into the reality of the Church in Europe, the difficulties we are finding in sharing our faith, the decline of religiosity and religious culture among young people and the lack of vocations.

The geographical component of the mission is something that we are gradually overcoming and together we are discovering the missionary needs that we find in Europe. The old continent needs our missionary presence, the hope of the Gospel and solidarity, which is an expression of our faith, among the most vulnerable groups.

We had the opportunity to expose each country’s reality. Many of the contributions helped us to enter into the reality of the Church in Europe, the difficulties we are finding in sharing our faith, the decline of religiosity and religious culture among young people and the lack of vocations.

The experiences of each of the five groups give us new ideas to be present in these moments where people need a hopeful presence.

To rediscover the video calls as a way to remain united, to pray together, to continue our formation and to carry out solidarity actions. We have rediscovered the domestic Church, responsible and protagonist of its faith.

The confinement that at first disconcerted us gave place to numerous initiatives that allowed us to remain united and in prayer and at the same time initiatives that we were opening up to others who were also seeking to share and continue to grow in those moments.

We also shared the difficulties of mobility at this time and how this has affected our companions who were already ready to leave the country to serve in America or Africa.

These are moments in which we must be in solidarity with all those who are having a hard time. The difficulties are becoming more acute for many, especially for those who were already on the lowest rung of the ladder, such as the immigrant population and other precarious sectors. On the other hand, we must remain attentive to the needs of our brothers and sisters in other continents. The pandemic is hitting almost every country and even those that do not suffer a large number of cases are being punished economically by the need to confine their population. Now more than ever we understand how small and needy our common house is and the need for solidarity among us all.

We must be part of a change of priorities in today’s world, continue to be committed to the education of the young so that they grow up knowing this need, but at the same time continue to fight for a more fair world from wherever we are.

Europe is a place of missionary presence, of a missionary presence which is close to the people and a sign of hope among the most needy of the continent (materially and spiritually because we cannot forget that to nourish this spirit and the values which make a more united society possible is fundamental). But at the same time a missionary presence that continues to open Europe to the world, motivating towards responsibility for a better, more human and more fraternal world. That it puts an end to the inequalities that the economic system imposes in so many countries, placing the person at the center and where the economy and the structures are put at the service of human beings.

The mission remains more necessary than ever. To announce that we are all brothers and sisters, that we must be in solidarity with one another, building a better world for all, caring for nature which is on loan from future generations and allowing a dignified life for all the peoples of the earth.

Our meeting ended with a prayer where each one, in their own language, could share hopes, petitions and give thanks by placing everything in the hands of the Father who takes care of us and accompanies us.

Comboni said that if he had a thousand lives he would give them all for the mission. We want to offer ours and we want to encourage all of you who share these concerns to join us in this great work which is so necessary.

Greetings

Alberto de la Portilla

Guatemala in time´s of COVID

22 June, 2020 by Alberto de la Portilla

The Comboni Lay Missionaries of Guatemala are concerned with the proclamation of the Kingdom in an integral way: being there, teaching, evangelizing with doctrine and witness, sharing some bread, some refreshments, giving a little monthly help, both in Santa Cruz Chinautla and in the Chispuditos programme. Our material resources are few, however, God has allowed us to remain in his works, our greatest resource is the desire to proclaim God’s love.

Love, the driving force, the charism of Comboni, the way:

“We will have to work hard, sweat, die; but thinking that one sweats and dies is for the love of Jesus Christ and the salvation of the most abandoned souls in this world, I find the necessary consolation not to give up in this great undertaking“.

(St. Daniel Comboni)

These times of COVID, in which it is forbidden to “be” with people, to “tire and sweat”, literally, is not possible. This has been a time for reflection, for reorganization of the mission, it has been necessary to make an effort to discover, with God’s help, how it is possible to announce Jesus from the “passivity” of our house. At the beginning of the pandemic, uncertainty, some optimism as well, we thought it would be a matter of only a couple of months, we have been here for three months already, and the health crisis currently being experienced in our country is going through the most critical days.

It has become necessary to find a way to at least take something… however little it may be… Fr. Roberto, parish priest of Santa Cruz Chinautla, told us. This suddenly makes us feel as if we were some kind of philanthropists, and not missionaries announcing Jesus. It was time to be on the social networks to raise funds, and to bring only things, not presence, not sharing time, not “be”. It seems that we are carrying out the mission in the style of Comboni, half way.

The Catechism of the Church says: “With the help of the Holy Spirit, Christians must distinguish between the growth of the Kingdom of God and the progress of the culture and promotion of society in which they are involved. This distinction is not a separation. Man’s vocation to eternal life does not suppress but rather reinforces his duty to put into practice the energy and means received from the Creator to serve justice and peace in this world”. (CEC 2820)

In other words, the Church shows that we are on the right path. And I offer, together with the present missionary action, the following prayer:

“Lord, more than the material, make people receive hope, and believe in your love and in your presence always, especially in the most difficult moments“.

“…Holy and capable. The one without the other is worth little to the one who follows the apostolic career. …The missionary must go to heaven accompanied by saved souls. And although they must first of all be holy, that is, completely free from sin and offense against God, and humble, this is not enough: they need to have charity, which is what makes them capable”. (St. Daniel Comboni)

Lily Portillo

CLM-PCA, Guatemala

Two young lay missionaries at the time of coronavirus

18 June, 202018 June, 2020 by Alberto de la Portilla

Among the novelties brought about by this sadly famous Covid-19 pandemic is that it does not give much room for charitable action or heroism in favour of others. In old times of plague, whoever chose to do so could dedicate himself totally to the plague-stricken even at the risk of his life. This was done by people who were later declared saints, such as Louis Gonzaga, King Louis of France or Daniel Comboni. But that’s now forbidden. We are in a super-organized society that acts according to scientific hygiene criteria, and what we are told is that the best way to help others is to stay at home to reduce the risks of contagion. However, there is always room for generosity, even in times of coronavirus.

I say all this from a corner of Africa where, thank God, the coronavirus has not “yet” arrived and where government measures of isolation are not as draconian as they have been in Europe. But we are still conditioned in many ways by the virus, which is like a sword of Damocles that hangs menacingly over our heads.

I live in the mission of Gilgel Beles, in Ethiopia, with two young Comboni lay missionaries, one Spanish and the other Portuguese, who arrived here a year ago. Nothing was known about the coronavirus at that time, and they came full of enthusiasm to do many things for others. They gave themselves without measure in services such as teaching everything they were capable of teaching, visiting the villages, taking the sick who fell in their path to the health center… They worked hard to make the most of the brief two-year period of their stay.

Then, unexpectedly, in the middle of the work, so to speak, came the coronavirus. Many organizations called on their members to return to the nation of origin. They too were called. If they stayed, it was their responsibility. And they did not hesitate in their choice: they remained “on their own responsibility”, even when the mother of one of them is awaiting a delicate cancer operation and even when they themselves are afflicted by continuous attacks of typhus and typhoid fever, which weaken both of them…

And here they are. As I said, it’s not that the containment measures are particularly harsh. The range of movement is still quite wide, at least as long as the first contagions don’t show up in our area.

However, the whole rhyme of the activities has suffered. With academic life totally paralyzed and meetings banned, they can no longer teach groups and the library that they had opened no longer has any customers.

Despite all these limitations, they try to resist to the limit. They have become attached to these people and, although they cannot do many things “for them”, they can be “with them”. And they feel that the simple presence in these moments of tribulation is a value that in itself justifies both coming and staying as long as possible.

Fr. Juan González Núñez

From Gumuz, Ethiopia

Third Anniversary Chispuditos´ Program

12 June, 2020 by Alberto de la Portilla

Third Anniversary Chispuditos Program in La Aldea la Salvadora, Santa Catarina Pínula, Guatemala

I give infinite thanks to the love of God, His Mercy and Providence, for these three years of service in the Chispuditos Program. (Chispuditos, is the name of a food that is given only for children enrolled in the program, between the ages of 6 months to 6 years. The objective of the food is to provide the vitamins and minerals necessary for the integral development of the child, help strengthen their immune system, and prevent anemia and malnutrition. In Guatemala, there are several places where this program works, it is free, sponsored by foreign benefactors).

Since June 10, 2017, every first Saturday of the month, the CLM of Guatemala, arrive at the village La Salvadora, to pray, share, give an evangelizing message, accompany, weigh and measure the children registered and keep their growth record. It is a wonderful experience, we return home with our hearts full of joy and gratitude. The last time we did the program activity was on Saturday, March 7. Days later COVID 19 arrived in our country, the first case appeared around March 12. As in all parts of the world, it trampled on our freedom of meeting and moving, limitations began and that prevented and continues to prevent meetings up to this day. Because of responsibility and conscience, we kept the social distance and took the measures to wash our hands and #StayHome as it has been seen all over the world.

After a few days of uncertainty, we began to discern how to move forward with the missionary service in the Chispuditos Program. It was then that, thanks to Divine Providence, we made solidarity campaigns through the social networks to get economic contributions and donations of different products. Thus, we took some food for the families three times, during March, April and May. These deliveries have been made taking certain safety measures: use of a mask, social distancing and to avoid gathering, only one person would come to collect the aid. It was beautiful to see everyone’s responsability, not one person failed to follow the instructions.

There is nothing in the world that impedes the proclamation of God’s love, the pandemic teaches us that we must continue with the mission, in different ways, but to continue, always ahead, with joy and happiness, to announce the Living Jesus.

So how do we celebrate the third anniversary of the program?

Since the pandemic, we made a group of WhatsApp with those families who have this means, they have committed to keep informed those who do not have it. The celebration was not with a cake or a meeting, the celebration has been virtual with many messages of love and encouragement, through videos, audios, and virtual cards, that each CLM in Guatemala made, and also some people from abroad like Sonia Lara, on behalf of the CLM from El Salvador, Fr. Máximo Huamán from Peru and The Camey Family from Brazil.

The party had so many virtual contributions that it lasted 10 days! From the 1st to the 10th of June.

Currently, there are 34 children enrolled in the program. Six have persevered since 2017, two since 2018, sixteen since 2019, and ten children who barely registered between January, February, and March of this year. I pray to God for the mother of each child, that the program will be completed until her son or daughter turns six years old. The youngest of the 34 Chispuditos is 8 months old and the oldest is 5 and a half years old.

A hug to every CLM in the world. My solidarity for those who have been infected with the virus, my prayers for your health and that of your family.

“Holy and capable, making common cause with the poorest and neediest”

(St. Daniel Comboni)

Lily Portillo

LMC-PCA, Guatemala