That, in our pastoral practice, we may be ever more aware of the situations of sexual exploitation and the spread of the phenomenon of the trafficking of women and children, giving attention and support to those who work to eliminate these situations of suffering and injustice. Let us pray.
That the rights, cultures and ways of life of indigenous peoples may be ever more respected in their journey of emancipation and reaffirmation of their full dignity, and that the deep religious sense they express may find a new welcome in a secularised world. Let us pray.
On July 23, 2023 we celebrated the sending of the Comboni Lay Missionary Cristina Paulek, in the community of Nossa Senhora Aparecida, in the Ipê Amarelo neighborhood, a Comboni parish in Contagem / Minas Gerais, where she was currently on mission.
It was an emotional moment of great joy and several reunions of the CLM family of Brazil.
Cristina is leaving for the Central African Republic after several years of missionary dedication in Brazilian lands. She began her work in 1998 in formation and then dedicated herself to the indigenous cause in Rondônia; since then she has developed various missionary works in the Association of Comboni Lay Missionaries, including as general coordinator and accompaniment of people in preparation to be CLM and to leave. Most of that time was spent in the Community of Ipê Amarelo, which now sends her on mission to other frontiers.
Present at this sending-off celebration were: Alejo Ramirez and his wife Terezinha Ramirez, Vanessa and Feliciano with their daughter Valentina, Adriana and Marcelo with their children Bernardo and Esther, Liliana and Flávio with their daughter Maria and also the founder of the Comboni Lay Missionaries in Brazil, Valdeci Ferreira, who on the occasion declared that he was surprised by Cristina’s decision, a joyful surprise. He also said that the dream of Africa has always been the missionary dream of the CLM project and that he thanks God for the gift of Cristina’s life and asks the whole community to be united with her in prayers.
After the Mass, we had a very special moment of farewell to Cristina, together with the community and all the lay people present at a lunch at the mission house, a moment of great joy and satisfaction. The lay couple Adriana and Marcelo declare that: “this was a very exciting moment that strengthens the bonds of the mission and gives a missionary sense to the life we live day by day, in our work in our base community, together with the education of our children Bernardo and Esther”.
The current coordinator of the laity in Brazil, Flávio Schmidt, who traveled 4 days from Maranhão to Ipê Amarelo with his family, highlights: “it is a moment of great joy for our group and for the movement as a whole. Cristina has already done a lot for the mission and now continues her missionary service in the lands of the heart of St. Daniel Comboni, together with the Comboni family present there. It is also inspiring that this sending out takes place on the day when the martyrdom of Fr. Ezequiel Ramín in Brazilian lands is remembered. Let us pray for her and for all the people who dedicate their lives to the construction of the Kingdom”.
We thank God for the gift of Cristina Paulek’s life and ask Him for His blessings so that this new missionary time in the heart of Africa may be a fruitful time of peace, joy and, above all, enthusiastic dissemination of the Gospel of the Kingdom.
We count on the prayers of all!
Adriana Moutinho, CLM Brazil
New digital evening prayer open for interested people once a month – sometimes brings forth a surprise!
The Comboni Lay Missionaries in the German-speaking countries have introduced and tried out a new, open format: The upcoming meetings will initially consist of a digital evening prayer. This is to be kept rather short, so that it is possible for interested people to log in and participate once or spontaneously. Those who want to stay longer afterwards and still want to stay for an open exchange are welcome to do so with the group.
The second evening prayer with the new schedule designed by the CLM group took place on 23.7.2023. Youtube recordings of communities of the Comboni Family – in English, Italian, Brazilian, Spanish – were chosen as the introduction and outgoing songs to symbolize the worldwide connectedness of the CLM movement. The lyrics and images keep the global concerns current and present. Together we shared our thoughts around the Bible text from Paul’s letter (Romans 5) on peace, grace, hope, love. From this, Brigitte highlighted the importance of Christ and the importance of prayer for the most neglected, but also for the privileged decision makers. For St. Daniel Comboni the relation to Christ is as important as the relation to all kind of groups in society. The international prayer for mission of the Comboni-Family concludes the prayer.
In between, during our CLM zoom-session, the global church became present twice lively: Barbara Ludewig sent just-in-time greetings from Brazil, where she is currently on an update-visit with some friends with whom she lived, prayed and worked during her mission several years ago. Together they continue to share life’s challenges, sufferings and joys till today. Thanks to all the donors who have supported the CLM projects in Brazil over the years and now!
Another surprise then logged on from Bressanone with some minutes of technical delay: The Superior General of the Comboni Missionaries Father Tesfaye Tadesse Gebresilasie and Brother Friedbert Tremmel (currently working for Missionary Awareness in South Tyrol and previously often present at meetings and actions of the CLM) digitally logged into the evening prayer unannounced. On the occasion of Father Eder’s 65th anniversary as a priest, they were both together in the Milland Mission House (and Friedbert knew we were meeting openly and surprised us). Father Tesfaye personally inquired about our current locations and missions and also remembered some meetings with lay people during his time in Ethiopia, among others Christine Hügler, who had been prepared through Comboni-Familiy members and had travelled out to work in projects of the Missionaries of Charity (“Mother Teresa Sisters”) ( https://comboni.de/briefe/selam-aus-aethiopien ). The Superior General of the Comboni Missionaries greeted us CLM community and wished us all the best. He blessed us and wished all the best for the future time, when the laity in the church will play an increasingly even more important role in the Church.
The next digital evening prayers open to all interested will take place on:
27.8.2023 from 20:00 / 8 p.m. Rome time (prepared by Barbara and CLMs)
24.09.2023 from 20:00 / 8 p.m. Rome time (prepared by Maria and CLMs)
29.10.2023 from 20:00 / 8 p.m. Rome time (prepared by Christoph and CLMs)
26.11.2023 from 20:00 / 8 p.m. Rome time (prepared by Willi and CLM)
Each date in zoom-room 67654472400 https://uni-bayreuth.zoom.us/j/67654472400?pwd=eXUxd1lzdG9vbEJ4WVNJZVk4cnFJQT09 with code: “IKL”
The next meetings in the Mission House in Nuremberg will take place on Fri-Sun 6.10.-8.10.2023 (possibly with a joint hike to the Sacred Heart Chapel in Velburg) and on
Fri-Sun 15.12.-17.12.2023 in the Mission House in Nuremberg (possibly with a live link to the CLM meeting on the African continent).
A warm invitation to all to one or several of these dates for prayer and exchange!
German CLM
“Love is fire that burns without being seen…”
I have in me this fire that suffocates but gives life!
Fire that in lava flows and sprouts in the most hidden place of my being.
He gave us to eat His Bread and drink His Wine …!
And in this simplicity He made us His most loved and desired Sons by All those who seek Him to Live…!
To live of, with and for His Love…
He is in me, and I in Him.
My heart is the Tabernacle, the Temple of Resurrection.
He is reborn in the deepest wounds of this Brother People.
People who suffer from a Tabernacle open to All.
People who silently scream to ears sickened by ambition.
People with bare feet, feet cracked by the dry and muddy earth.
Thin, dry, strong, well-defined bodies, covered by throbbing veins charged with the same lava that sustains me.
The difference between us is none, the tears, the smiles, the pains, the sighs muffled in hands filled with hope and desire for Love. They are equal, the same, authentically the same.
There are many times that I see you in the red and warm flesh of the wounds that I try to care for with the touch of my hands.
With tenderness and delicacy I tuck your pain in my breast and let my heart cry, for it is You who present yourself to me in the faces of the daddy, mama, children…
Inequality, indifference, selfishness, mutilated human rights leave me completely disintegrated…!!!
The weight of my reality increases my capacity for discernment and resilience.
With much affection I wrap with white cloth impregnated with your balm of love, your wounds that are also mine…!
There are many times that in my consciousness I have present the “No” to your call.
But here I am, Lord, at your disposal, give me the tools to work in the harvest of your vast and great Love…”.
The mission is done in “All” the Places where “You” are…!!!
Cristina Sousa, Comboni Lay Missionary in Mongoumba
