We continue with our series of missionary testimonies. In this one, Sister Lily, a Comboni missionary, tells us about some important moments in her life.
We invite you to watch it.
America
Celebration of our founder’s feast day
The Comboni Family of Guayaquil, Ecuador, organized several activities to celebrate our founder, St. Daniel Comboni. A novena was held from October 1 to 9 this year at the Divine Word Missionaries, with the participation of parish groups, under the direction of Fr. Seraphin Kakwata, MCCJ.
Each day began with the missionary rosary focusing on the continents, followed by the Eucharist and the novena with readings from Comboni’s writings in order to increase knowledge and charism, not only among the members of the Comboni community, but also in the parish community.
For the feast day, we were joined by more parish groups, groups that are part of and collaborate with the Comboni Missionaries: the Afro Pastoral, Lay Missionaries, Ecopax, Friends of the Mission, Missionary America, and Prohuma.
On Friday, October 10, Mass was concelebrated by Fathers MCCJ Seraphin Kakwata, Fernando Flores, and Vicente Turinawe, who shared with the entire community present facts and stories about the mission and invited us to participate more actively in proclaiming the Gospel and helping communities.
At the end of the Eucharist, we were invited to a fraternal agape with the parish community, and we took the opportunity to talk and share our experiences as a Comboni family. Fr. Vicente Turinawe MCCJ from Uganda gave a presentation on some of the activities in his missionary journey and also on what has been done in the parish so far in 2025.
We give thanks for all that we have experienced and achieved during this time, which has strengthened us as a Comboni family and, in one way or another, is motivating others to share the missionary charism in the style of St. Daniel Comboni, not only among those of us who are on this journey but also among others who want to be part of this apostolate, aware that our work and action can be the seed that will bear fruit for the mission in the coming years.
Congratulations to all Comboni Missionaries on this celebration, which fills us with joy and rekindles in each one of us the love and commitment to the charism of our Founder and his zeal for the mission to the poorest and most needy in our places of action.
Greetings in Christ,
Abg. Susana Ortega Delgado, CLM
How wonderful it is to reap the fruits of one’s labor!
It is very rewarding to produce with dedication, striving for quality in nutritious, healthy, and unique food. But selling it and getting a fair price, hearing the praise of those who take it to their table, is even better.
This is what our third-year students at the Rural Family House in Açailândia experienced on Friday, thanks to a partnership between social movements, the Municipal Department of Agriculture of Açailândia, and the PAGES project of SAF/State of Maranhão. An Agroecological Fair for Family Farming.
This is the second year that the Rural Family House of Açailândia, in a project involving the subjects of Rural Economics, Introduction to Agroindustry, and others, has provided microcredit so that our students can have their first experience of entrepreneurship in the solidarity economy. We lend amounts of R$ 500 so that groups of 4 to 5 young people can produce a product based on ingredients from family farming and have a marketing experience. Thus, they produced geladim, truffles, cake in a jar, pé de moça… very tasty and sold them at school events and fairs.
Everyone repaid the microcredit and still made significant profits, in addition to learning how to organize production, marketing, working cooperatively, managing production costs, setting prices, and sharing profits. A win-win situation!
In addition, they also sold the routine production of all CFR students: fish, vegetables, fava beans, puba…
And they even helped other market vendors with their sales.
Cooperation is the way forward for family farming and overcoming capitalism!
Message from the General Council for the Feast of Saint Daniel Comboni
REKINDLING THE FIRE OF MISSIONARY PASSION
Dear confrères,
We greet you with the peace and joy of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we extend our warmest wishes to you on the solemnity of Saint Daniel Comboni, our Founder. This day is a special occasion for all of us, and for everyone whose life has been touched and inspired by his example and mission.
Two weeks ago, we concluded our Inter-capitular Assembly, which had begun with a day of formation on the theme Reviving the Fire for Mission. A clear message emerged: the urgent need to strengthen our unity and to build communities capable of responding to the challenges of our times, making careful use of the human and material resources entrusted to us. At the same time, we must recognise that our Comboni identity must be preserved and strengthened: some confrères leave the Institute, others retire, and we wonder where the courage to go where others dare not go has gone
From the very beginning, we have been an international and multicultural family. This diversity is not a mere detail: it is a sign of the Kingdom and a testimony that communion among peoples and cultures is possible in Christ. It is a message of hope for a world often divided. Preserving this gift is more essential than ever, if we want to counteract nationalism and tribalism, which risk creeping into our communities too.
To face these challenges, we must rekindle the fire of our missionary passion. Fire is a symbol of zeal, courage, and conviction; it drives us to mission and sustains us in difficult times. Jesus Christ, the first ‘Missionary of the Father’, said: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” (Lk 12:49). Comboni also often spoke of a “heart burning with genuine love of God”: “When the Missionary in Africa has a heart burning with the pure love of God, when he keeps his eyes fixed on the contemplation of the great goodness and sublimeness of the work for which he spends himself, then all the privations, the continuous hardships, the greatest trials become a paradise on earth for his heart” (Writings, 2705).
When this fire burns in us, crosses and difficulties cannot stop us. A heart on fire remains focused on the goal and is not distracted by obstacles or setbacks.
We are convinced that a mission such as ours — whose fruits we may not fully see, where years of work may seem fruitless, and which sometimes challenges logic and hope — can only be carried forward if we are truly inflamed with passion.
Today more than ever, we feel called to rekindle this fire. Many of us feel weary or fragile, and this fatigue can affect our communities as well. To nourish the flame, we must remove the ashes and add fresh wood. The best way to do this is to return to the original fire that burned within us when we first responded to the Comboni missionary call — those moments when Comboni’s life and the mission of the Comboni Missionaries touched our hearts deeply.
Each of us remembers the moment when Comboni’s life set our hearts ablaze: perhaps it was his selflessness in responding to God’s call as an only son; or his courage to leave the Mazza Institute to pursue what he considered essential; or his perseverance in the face of opposition, even within the Church; or his steadfast faith in times of loss; or his conviction of the dignity of the African people, his tireless commitment to integral human development, his openness to diverse cultures, and his prophetic vision of mission.
Whatever the spark that first inspired us, it still burns and can rekindle our missionary fire. When we let it burn again, we overcome fatigue, indifference, and complacency; our love for mission is renewed, giving us strength to face every challenge.
And what better time than the feast of our Founder to rekindle this flame, remembering that he has given us a unique identity in the Church and in the world as Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus?
Wishing you a joyful feast day!
Rome, 10th October 2025
Solemnity of Saint Daniel Comboni
The MCCJ general council
God’s Gift of Earth
When God created the world and gave it to humankind,
He thought of their well-being, not the chaos that man would cause.
He devoted himself with great love to a full life for all.
The earth is a divine gift; without it, there is no life.
We need to change our destiny and transform reality.
We must know that we are responsible for life to continue.
Preserve what God created, reforest the place
Clean rivers and lakes, respect the ocean
Take care of animals and plants and preserve life.
Change our lifestyle, recycle and reuse
Use organic fertilizer and plant our vegetables
Change our agriculture and prevent diseases.
Demand from our authorities public policies to improve
The life of citizens and the place where they live
Have the courage to assume that politics is for working
To improve the lives of people and respect the planet.
This is the awareness that every human being should have
That we are not alone, we were made to live together
Respecting each one, because, no matter how small they may be
They have their usefulness, they have the right to live.
Laudato Si teaches us that it is possible to transform
Pope Francis shows us practices to use
The Encyclical is the path where Christians should find inspiration.
Regimar Costa – LMC Brazil in Mozambique
