America – Page 57 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

Visitors from Rome

28 January, 2019 by Alberto de la Portilla

Fraternal greetings from Guatemala!

We, the Comboni Lay Missionaries in the province of Central America, Guatemala, feel happy for the forward progress Jesus has guided us on in order to offer and grow in the love and missionary service in the style of Comboni.

In early January the MCCJ of the PCA held their yearly assembly. This year was special because it included the presence of their superior general, Fr. Tesfaye Tadesse, and of Fr. Alcides Costa, assistant general.

As part of their agenda, they included a time with us, the CLM of the Province of Central America (CLM-PCA).

On Wednesday, January 9, to be exact, we accepted the invitation that Fr. Victor Hugo Castillo, Provincial Superior, and Bro. Humberto Rua, our moderator (who also attended the meeting) had extended a few days earlier.

Nine of us, CLM, attended and we had the opportunity to talk with them, to tell them about our activities during these last four years concerning formation, mission experiences, mission promotion, together with our projects for the future. They listened attentively and gave us time to expand on anything, if we wanted to. In the end, Fr. Tesfaye told us how he appreciated the answer we have given to Jesus and also our availability to proclaim the Kingdom in the style of Daniel Comboni. He encouraged us to move forward and assured us of his support.

We, the CLM-PCA, thank the MCCJ provincial Council of Central America, who wholly supported us during these four years. They did it in our formation, in our organization, by including us in their six year planning of two years ago and with their availability to help us at any time.

We thank Fr. Tesfaye and Fr. Alcides, for the time they gave us. We have felt motivated to continue in this loving madness for Christ, in this passion for mission.

Lily Portillo, Guatemala

Holy and able making common cause with the poorest and most abandoned

St. Daniel Comboni

United as a family

24 January, 2019 by Alberto de la Portilla

Love has a meaning only when it is shared. During this past year we have learned, lived and experienced this love with the smallest. The Project “My School, My Family and me” is not a project for children, but families.

Enabled families – happy children.

Community of Ayllu. Paula and Neuza, CLM in Peru

The Church of Christ on mission in the world

22 January, 201922 January, 2019 by Alberto de la Portilla

The Guide for the Extraordinary Missionary Month October 2019, “Baptized and Sent: The Church of Christ on Mission in the World”, promoted by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP) and the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS), is a subsidiary text collecting contributions from and for Christians all over the world. The drafting of the Guide was made possible also thanks to the cooperation of the PMS National Directors based in various countries of all continents.

The purpose of the Guide is to support the single dioceses in meeting their needs as to missionary formation and activities, thus preparing the faithful throughout the world to live the Extraordinary Missionary Month wanted by Pope Francis on the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of the promulgation of Pope Benedict XV’s Apostolic Letter, Maximum Illud (November 30, 1919).

The Guide will inspire the creativity of the local Churches and of their parishioners in facing the challenges inherent to evangelization, starting from “missio ad gentes” and their own particular context, without any claim to be exhaustive or to provide a systematic theological or catechetical reflection on the mission. The sections of the Guide correspond to the spiritual dimensions outlined by the Holy Father in calling the Extraordinary Missionary Month: the personal encounter with Jesus Christ living in the Church, the witness of saints and martyrs of the mission, the catechetical formation for the mission and the missionary charity. The text is published in English, Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

Prayer Intentions of the Comboni Family 2019

18 January, 2019 by Alberto de la Portilla

January – That the conclusions of the VI General Assembly of the CLM may help the members of the movement to grow in unity, fraternity, collaboration and missionary commitment both within and beyond their own countries. Lord hear us.

Happy New Year from Brazil

17 January, 2019 by Alberto de la Portilla

For the Glory of God we have been here a month and a half. We thank ALL the people we know, who consequently are a part of our lives and of this project of life, whom we constantly place in the Lord’s hands.

By the grace of God we have been adapting within the Brazilian community, especially in Ipê Amarelo. Above all, it never ceases to surprise us how God already was here, namely, God always takes the initiative and no one is ever excluded from him, as we realize it over and over just by our being here, so far from the earthly place where we were born and lived, but where others live: my brother, my brothers.

During this time we joyfully celebrated the 60^th birthday of Lourdes Viera. She has been a tireless CLM and charter founder of the CLM in Brazil for about 20 years ago.

For us as a family having her is a great blessing, she is our Vovó, especially to the children. She has been introducing us with great energy and with great charity to this community and to mission life in general.

We also celebrated Christmas (Natal in Portuguese) with great joy and enthusiasm because it was our first Christmas away from our home and our family. By God’s grace our children spent it in a normal and happy way. God’s gift is the fact that our being together is our greatest strength.

Gratefully, the CLM family of Alejo and Tere de Ramirez, who have provided a lot of inspiration for us over the years, decided to spend Christmas here at home. In fact, we had not known them up to now, because we had only seen a picture of them four years ago. They, too, have been part of the CLM for about 20 years, and even though they could never leave their country, they did it in the way God asks us to do it on a daily basis: moving from within themselves towards the others and for the others as a family, like many others who have not been able or have chosen not to leave. They are a beautiful couple with three daughters, and they have worked in the spiritual formation of many CLM and are an example of Christian life to be followed.

We are grateful to God for the coming of the New Year when we had the opportunity to spend it at home as a family, which is what we personally like to do. It gave us time to talk about all the blessings we have received from God our Father during the year that just ended. The best moment was to be able to exchange blessings, each one of us personally to recognize ourselves as a united family blessed by God now and forever. You may ask? Are the children aware of what is happening and of what they are doing? As it is for many things in life, this is not an exact science, but we are together and, from Lucia, the smallest, to Esteban, who is the most aware, each one is valuable, important, worthy, loved, and they know it and this is how we feel towards them: Our most cherished treasure!

Our local pastor here in Brazil, Fr. Agustinho, already said it during the last Sunday of the year, dedicated to the Holy Family: “the family is the best hospital, the best doctor, the best school, the place where we live in love, a place we have in common.”

We wish you all a Blessed Beginning of this Year of Humankind and a blessed life, as we entrust ourselves to the hand of God and to your prayers. We say good-bye to you with the blessing that our Father gives us through the Church every year to enable us to start anew:

“The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up his face upon you and give you peace.” (Num 6:24-26)

The Camey Family, CLM in Brazil