Comboni Lay Missionaries

Logo LMC
LMCCentroafrica2
MisionenGuerrero2
Natal20162

America

Janett, an active Comboni lay missionary

by
LMC Colombia

Janett Rocio Escobar Angulo, born in Tumaco Colombia in 1974, like many other people, arrived displaced to the city of Bogotá, only burdened with the hope of finding better opportunities that would give her and her family the security and stability that was taken away from them in their homeland.

The arrival to the city was not the most difficult thing, what really required temperance and resilience, was to learn and unlearn new trades that would allow her to earn enough income to be able to send it to her family in Tumaco; not to mention what she had always heard on television, but had never had to live … “DISCRIMINATION“; being treated in the most offensive, grotesque, demeaning and humiliating way in every daily situation, from taking public transportation to the offensive orders in each of her jobs. But “Defeat is only defeat if you don’t learn something from it”, today she thanks God for each of those moments, because those sad situations have opened the doors to live opportunities of joy and prosperity, besides finding people who helped her to be formed, to be today leading her beloved Afro processes.

The lack of opportunities for the Afro population and the issue of discrimination and violation of rights, made Janet, Carlina, Maria Angelica and Angela Preciado, in 2016, as part of the association Renacer Afrocolombiana, give life to the training program on rights, self-recognition and empowerment for Afro children, youth and adults. On their first opening Saturday, Janett and her three musketeers decided to occupy the Villa Gladys park with their first 10 children and begin the task that no one had wanted to take on; that of teaching the Afro community the voice, the mechanisms and the strength to shout, claim and assert their rights. With the passing of time and being part of the Afro pastoral, they found an ally in the process and the cause, the International Comboni Brothers Formation Center (CIFH), they began to support training in English and French since they had foreign brothers who were in the country, teaching their native language to children and young people who were part of the program.

In this way Janett and the Comboni Missionaries began to know each other and it was not long before they decided to strengthen this bond and become Comboni Lay Missionaries. Her knowledge, her personality and her dedication to the mission made her a valuable member of the lay team.

Currently the program is made up of more than 100 children, youth and adults in the Engativá district; the Comboni Lay Missionaries support the activities that are carried out with a monthly contribution to sustain the program; every Saturday they meet at the Antonio Villavicencio school from 10 am to 3 pm, where they receive training from different professionals; as part of the strategies taken to achieve its objectives, the trainings have been opened to mestizo children; this so that they can socialize the Afro traditions, their culture and their stories, generating empathy to reduce prejudice and discrimination from these early stages of life. This program also includes a snack and lunch.

After working in restaurants and family homes, Janett is now a member of the Afro pastoral, leader of the district and national programs on empowerment and promotion of the rights of Afro-descendant communities.

Janett and the Comboni Lay Comboni Missionaries of Colombia have an active mission process, thanks to the presence and the need to support a project that every day becomes more visible and benefits a more significant population of a sector of Bogota.

Prepared By Alexandra García

Towards a synodal Church going out to the peripheries

by
LMC America

Last Saturday, February 11, the Comboni Lay Missionaries at the continental level in America organized a formation entitled “Towards a synodal Church going out to the peripheries“.

Rafael Gonzalez Ponce, mccj, presented in a clear way a series of clues that help us to understand what refers to synodality and how it is central to the concept of Church and our responsibility in it.

The conference is in Spanish

Walking as CLM Ecuador

by
LMC Ecuador

To conclude the year 2022, the Comboni Missionaries convened a prayer meeting, in unity with all the lay groups that make up the Afro Cultural Center in Guayaquil. In order to thank God for what we have received in the year that is ending, and asking for blessings for the new year.

The year 2023 began with the great news of the ratification of Fr. Serafin Kakwata MCCJ as our reference in our city. We were able to share this news from Fr. Serafin himself when we met at the Comboni parish of Verbo Divino in the south of the city of Guayaquil. In that meeting we discussed the activities that Father Serafin will carry out this year with the participation of the CLM, as well as the formation process of the CLM Ecuador and their candidates.

We also want to share with all of you the two activities that we carried out at the end of January:

First, the Eucharist with the Comboni Family, a celebration presided by Fr. Antonio Jerez MCCJ, which is held on the last Tuesday of each month.

And secondly, at the invitation of the Congregation “Friends of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary”, the CLM of Ecuador, we moved to present our missionary witness to all the catechists and guides of the rural communities of Rocafuerte Canton in the Province of Manabi. This event initiates the process of formation of missionary groups in each one of the communities of that parish in charge of the mentioned religious congregation; and thus to impel the missionary animation in those communities; in this event the candidates to CLM in our country could also participate.

In Rocafuerte, we had the opportunity to talk about what the mission is for the catholic believer and its implications in the life of each one of us and of the people we accompany. Later we went to visit the rural communities in that region of the country, such as: Ojo de agua, San Eloy, Cerro Verde and other localities with whom we were able to share the afternoon; and in the evening we met in the chapel of each community to share the Word and comment on some passages of the gospel.

Greetings to all of you.

CLM Ecuador

Comboni Lay Missionaries in the Radio program Women of Religious Diversity and the Feminist Struggle

by
LMC Mexico

A small house, a large patio, a small living room and a blue booth were the spaces for the meeting between a lay woman who acted as host, an Anglican woman, two representatives of the Hare Krishna community, an agnostic online teacher, two CLM women, a Comboni priest and the State Coordinator of Religious Affairs. The topic? To discuss whether it was possible to talk about feminism from a religious point of view. Crisol de la Alegría, Radio y Televisión was the host thanks to the invitation of Father Mario Escalera, Coordinator of Interreligious Dialogue in Monterrey.

They talked about the history of feminism, the main representatives, the struggles that women of yesteryear had to fight in order to obtain achievements that today are a normality for those of us who live in this era.

Is it possible to speak of a feminism based on religious diversity? Throughout history there has been, yes, a patriarchy that oppresses, however, religious organizations have been opening the way to talk more and more about the rights and responsibilities that women have not only in the field of associations that promote different forms of faith, but also in the daily life that sees women increasingly as important pillars of the dynamics of societies.

Is there a Secretariat for Equality and Inclusion? Yes, there are efforts in the current government such as the creation of the Secretariat for Inclusion and the Women’s Secretariat in order to promote education in the respect of women’s rights and the promotion of their powers as creative citizens, agents of change and people responsible for productive life.

What can women do from their trenches to achieve nonviolence against women? Sorority is definitely an important response. This empathy and accompaniment in the pain of a woman who has in other women a support that will lead her to discover new ways to overcome the barriers that, because of gender inequalities, are still experienced today, will help us to overcome not only violence, but also the different forms of discrimination and disadvantage.

How can we educate children to see the father-mother God without religious patriarchalism? Begin to promote the image of a God who is not only father but also mother, that is, a God who, as he presents himself, just “is,” without distinction of gender or race.

As a Christian community, how can we join the feminist struggle? It is not absurd to think of women of faith fighting from their trenches for a change that benefits not only themselves, but society in general; that seeks the integration of feminine and masculine efforts for the construction of a peaceful, supportive, inclusive world that defends dignified life and cooperation to achieve technological, social, scientific, educational, economic, political advances and, of course, a growth in our religious institutions that share a liberating faith that promotes love.

Definitely, a feminism from the faith is possible, understanding our doctrines as a source of wisdom for living together in harmony and having as a premise that it is people and not genders who should matter, because in the eyes of God, the dignity of each and every one is the same.

By: Silvia Tapia Jiménez (CLM of Monterrey, N.L., Mexico)

On the rails of love and friendship our train travels through life (3/3).

by
LMC Brasil

And the train goes on. Up and down these tracks. We stop in front of the station below. From Piquiá de Baixo. Land of suffering people, forgotten and mistreated. Land of exploitation, of confusion and resurrection. The dragons described in the book of the apocalypse are there. There are five of them. One of them has 12 heads that spit fire and iron, forming a river of blood that begins in the north and flows into the southeast. Where death is present, fighting for life is not a choice, it is an obligation. The obligation is not to fight for your own life, but to put yourself in the fight for the life of the poorest, the most fragile, the smallest in our society.

We are surprised by another train that passes by our side and accompanies us for a few good moments. With its strong machine, its well-structured cars and wheels capable of crossing the country’s borders, this train has a name and a surname: Justice on Rails. Justice is one of those words that allow many meanings and significance. But it needs to be accompanied by struggle, dedication, and wisdom. This justice is not like many we come across around, this one has a strong purpose: the “us”. Not for there or here. It is “us. It is where it needs to be present. That’s where it really needs to be: rails. Where we can come and go. The right and safe way. But this last name is determinant, it goes where justice is acclaimed and is necessary. It is these tracks that guide, that direct, that lead, the dedicated work of all those who put themselves on the train of life.

There were many stations that helped us get to know more of that piece of land and dream. The ground of people who work, who do, and who insist. A dream dreamt by those who feel the burning of the missionary call, the dream of many and the call of all. We got to know the school that is family, that is rural, but that the asphalt of the city leads us to. A family with many fathers and mothers. Planting knowledge, watering with doubts and harvesting lives. Young students who have a thirst for knowledge, who disconnect from their families to live connected to learning. Educators who are not teachers. They are beyond. If we have a word that represents the one who teaches, who is dedicated, who overcomes limits, who puts body and soul into the art of teaching, who does not measure efforts and does not count resources. These are the missionaries of education, or educators in mission.

From afar we can already see the next station. Full of welcoming people. They are the ones who form the communities: of the Rosário and Santa Luzia. They are women, men and children. They are elderly, bedridden and barefoot. They are everyone who makes us learn about life and living. It’s a quick conversation, a broad smile, but always, a gesture of affection that always accompanies them.

It was at this station that we shared the food, drank juice, lots of juice, shared our anguishes and doubts. It was there, in that little piece of Brazil, that we met to learn, with each other, with those who welcomed us, and with everyone else who joined us on this trip, under the tracks of humility and unconditional love.

Tranqüillo Dias