America – Page 53 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

Meeting of Spirituality and Methodology with staff and subjects in the newest APAC of the state of Maranhão

28 October, 2019 by Alberto de la Portilla

APAC is the Association for the Protection and Assistance of Convicts. This acronym designates teams that adopt a method based on valuing humanity, tied to evangelization, in order to offer to convicted inmates a way to redeem themselves.

From a wider perspective, it also seeks to protect society, promote justice and help the victims.

The main difference between APAC and the average penal system is that in APAC the inmates (here called redeemable) are co-responsible for their redemption and receive spiritual, medical psychological and legal assistance from the community. Security and discipline are tied to the cooperation of the subjects, with the help of the staff, the volunteer and the directors of the institutions, without the presence of police or prison guards.

The FBAC – The Brazilian Fraternity of assistance to inmates – held today November 24 a meeting on spirituality and methodology for staff and subjects of the newest APAC in the state of Maranhão.

The APAC of Bacabal began its activities on July 11 with the arrival of its new subjects, counting on the support of both the redeemable and the staff of the APAC of Pedreiras, MA. We started this course, which is ongoing with great joy and we will soon be able to successfully implement the entire APAC methodology.

We are evaluating this meeting very positively, with the participation of all subjects and staff, and this will facilitate the work ahead in establishing this APAC.

We are grateful to God for this 53rd unit established in Brazil and ask for more prayers for the consolidation of all the APAC already in existence and the creation of new ones, thus giving the opportunity to all recuperating inmates less time outside the law.

Let us keep in touch!

Regimar shared this short text about his departure to Ipê

26 October, 2019 by Alberto de la Portilla

“It’s time to leave, leave family, friends, work, community, get out of our comfort zone. It is a mixture of happiness and longing. A heartbeat for two reasons, leave our previous life, but in the direction of another, living the mission. You can’t talk much, because you can’t identify your feelings right now, it’s a mix of everyone. However, we are sure of what we want and we trust that everything will go well with God. ” Regimar, LMC Brazil

Mission leads to defending life

25 October, 2019 by Alberto de la Portilla

Can the life of common human beings prepare them for mission?

– Yes, when it is accepted, given and shared. This is how the Comboni Lay Missionaries (CLM) including Regimar and Valmir of Balsas, MA understand it.

The latest struggle that Regimar took up was the establishment of a CVV – a Center for the Value of Life, in Balsas.

During a missionary symposium held in Bacabal, MA in October 2018, Regimar for the first time heard about CVV, a center for the prevention of suicides run by professionals from different fields, such as psychologists, social workers, doctors and lawyers. At the time she thought: “This is exactly what Balsas needs now, because it is one of the worst areas of Maranhão for suicides.” In general, the first contact is by telephone, because it allows people to remain anonymous, and a vulnerable and fragile person will feel more protected. To do this, volunteers are needed.

In the months that followed, she faced the challenge of finding available people, because we all have many commitments.

She almost gave up. But she found great strength in her family, because Valmir, her husband, always believed in this cause and supported her.

The next step was motivated by the recurring situation of anguish caused by the large number of suicides. In August 2019 she contacted the deputy mayor and, following a conversation with Fransuíla, a member of council, she organized a public event for September 30 and October 1 attended by Régis, the national expansion coordinator of CVV, who introduced the method of this activity and helped to develop a presence in Balsas.

The date was based on Regimar’s commitments: “Since you are the leader of this project, you cannot miss the implementation meeting,” the municipal authorities told her.

It turns out that the following week, on October 6 to be exact, Regimar celebrated her missioning Mass as a CLM. Together with Valmir, she left for Ipê Amarelo, a neighborhood just outside Contagem, MG on October 23 for their immediate preparation to missionary service, to delve more deeply into themes of spirituality, community life and insertion.

The couple left behind their 22 years old son, Lucas, who being a computer science graduate, has good chances of finding a job quickly and, leaving with Mary, plans to get married

Valmir and Regimar travel in silence, leaving their grown son ready to face life.

To Lucas and Maria, to the two local families and to the communities that shared their journey, they express gratitude, appreciating their support and trust, and count on their prayers.

We, too, must pray for this couple and for their dedication to mission!

Fr. Carlos (the couple’s pastor)

Comboni Ladies Auxiliary and Benefactors

23 October, 2019 by Alberto de la Portilla

Extraordinary in your actions, baptized and sent

Echoing the message of Pope Francis to live in an extraordinary way the month of October, during which we celebrate World Mission Sunday, the Comboni seminary of San Francisco del Rincón, Gto., held the yearly meeting of the Comboni Ladies Auxiliary (known as Damas Combonianas in Mexico) and Benefactors.

Starting very early in the day, about 350 people arrived from several areas of the States of Guanajuato and Jalisco to share a day of fun, prayer and meetings. In attendance were Comboni priests and brothers, seminarians, religious and lay people and, above all, friends who share the same filial relationship with God as an ecclesial act, which is communion and source of a new life together with many other brothers and sisters. (From the message of Pope Francis for World Mission Sunday 2019). As one of the Comboni women said: “Coming here, I feel at home.”

They are, in the words of Pope Francis, “a Church going out to the farthest borders, requiring a constant and permanent missionary conversion.” Perhaps they do not leave their country to proclaim mission, Christ’s Great Work of Mercy, but they are always going out to meet others and to ask for support for those who have been chosen to witness to the prophetic vision of the Church in faraway lands.

Mrs. Macaria Bendita, a Comboni dama of the Dolores Hidalgo, Gto. group, is a great example of this Church going out, of constant and permanent conversion. For about 50 years she has been sending literature to friends and acquaintances inviting them to support the missions by prayer and financial help. She commented that engaging in this activity has been a source of great joy for herself and for her family.

Later, during the welcoming and coffee session, everyone was invited to listen to presentations and take part in missionary activities and songs. “How beautiful it is to see over the mountains the messenger announcing peace.” (Isa 52:7) These words seemed to come alive looking at the Comboni women and other benefactors as they listened attentively and with enthusiasm to the Comboni Missionary Fathers Mario Alberto Pacheco Zamora and José Arellano. Both of them had a lot to share from their experiences in the Philippines and in Egypt respectively.

Mrs. Macaria herself commented on how these witnesses are a source of joy and increase the desire to keep on working for the missions.

In the course of the Eucharist, Fr. Enrique Sánchez recognized, thanked and encouraged the work of the women and other benefactors, saying: “With your prayers, sacrifices, work and affection and with the collections you do for the missions, you are like the wheels of a car, like little ants who with anonymous and discrete work, you are not even aware the good you do for the missionaries, allowing them to realize their vocation without having to worry about tomorrow. You are the people who make it possible for the Comboni Missionaries to continue to bring the good news to many nations of the world.”

The Eucharist was followed by a meal, the cutting of a cake, a raffle and music. In this context it was possible to notice the communion and festivity generated by the gathering. It makes the participants feel important and recognized in their work and, as Mr. Armenta, a benefactor of the San Felipe group added, makes them feel at home.

The example of these women and benefactors invites us to think about the meaning of ourselves as being baptized and sent. That very important message that Pope Benedict XV gave us in the encyclical Maximum Illud, 100 years ago, referring to the missionary mandate to go into the whole world and freely proclaim the message you received without excluding anyone, is still relevant in today’s society. We are not called to proclaim the gospel in order to “conquer,” like in the days of colonization, but with the conviction that our belief in Christ, alive and risen, is a richness to be shared, communicated and announced.

Maricruz Torres Armenta

CLM San Francisco del Rincón

October 2019

Daniel Comboni, Passion for Mission – Love to the end

18 October, 2019 by Alberto de la Portilla

We leave you with a new video about San Daniel Comboni.

Prepared by the Comboni missionaries in Brazil, it tells us about the historical Comboni and the challenges that our founder’s life continues to launch today.

Saint Daniel Comboni (1831-1881)