America – Page 69 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

New Experience in Brazil

18 July, 2017 by Alberto de la Portilla

We arrived! On June 3 we set foot in Piquiá!

At the airport of Imperatriz we were received by CLM Xoán Carlos who took us by car to Açailândia.

After about a one hour journey we reached the house where we will stay, which had already been prepared for us with the help of the local community.

At 7:00 p.m. some community leaders, the Comboni Missionaries, Xoán Carlos and his wife Dida came over bringing something for a lovely supper we all shared together. We were given time to introduce ourselves individually, to chat and share in relaxed and vivacious atmosphere.

The next day we had lunch with the Comboni Missionaries and the team that gives social and legal support to the people of the community of Piquiá de Baixo, who are in the process of resettling.

So, a little at a time, we are getting closer to and getting to know the situation and the people, in order to integrate ourselves in this common journey in the establishing the Kingdom of God.

We count on the prayers of all of you!

Flávio and Liliana

Second Meeting of Mission Promotion Guatemala-El Salvador

7 July, 2017 by Alberto de la Portilla

On Friday, June 30 we, members of the CLM-PCA of Guatemala were sent to El Salvador by our community.

The first meeting took place in December 2016. On that occasion in our mission promotion we shared about St. Daniel Comboni, the members of the Comboni family, the CLM, how we are organized and, at least a little bit, how in Guatemala the community followed a journey based on the indications of the directory.

On this second occasion, the mission promotion part took place on Saturday, July 1 and lasted from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

These were the points of our program of activities:

To go back to recognize St. Daniel Comboni, the Comboni family and the charism that identifies us;

The missionary vocation and how to be community in the Comboni style;

The directory and an explanation of the stages of human, spiritual and Comboni formation. At the same time, as an example, how we took care of our formation over two and a half years;

A small workshop on human development to end the day and to explain a little bit the role of the CLM in the field of the integral development of the person.

Results of the meeting:

Identification of and connection among the people who will be the contacts between Guatemala and El Salvador;

Several people were motivated to know better the Comboni charism in order to discern their vocation;

To start having meetings the last Saturday of each month, beginning now in July;

From our part, a commitment to nurture properly and periodically the seed that has been planted;

To pray for fruits and for our brothers of El Salvador.

We, the CLM of Guatemala, believe in the name of Jesus and with the intercession of St. Daniel Comboni, that this work is from God and will have success. The people of El Salvador are intelligent, fighters, lovable, accessible, open and, above all and most importantly, full of faith and of love of God and ready to serve the most needy.

This past weekend, we, from Guatemala, without any merit on our part, have enjoyed and shared in the mercy of God.

“THE MISSIONARY MUST AT TIMES BE HAPPY WITH SOWING A SEED THAT WILL GIVE FRUIT WITH THE MISSIONARIES WHO WILL FOLLOW.”

St. Daniel Comboni

COMBONI LAY MISSIONARIES OF THE PROVINCE OF CENTRAL AMERICA

“HOLY AND CAPABLE MAKING COMMON CAUSE WITH THE POOREST AND MOST ABANDONED.

St. Daniel Comboni

Yearly Assembly of CLM in Brazil

6 July, 2017 by Alberto de la Portilla

On June 21-22 we held our Yearly Assembly of the CLM of Brazil at the Comboni Minor Seminary Bro. Alfredo Fiorini of Curitiba, PR.

The theme, “To celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the ACLM with daring and missionary commitment,” helped us to review our history and to have a privileged time of exchange, sharing, community living and celebration during this year when we complete 20 years since the creation of the Association of Comboni Lay Missionaries – ACLM.

In the context of the 150^th anniversary of the foundation of the Comboni Institute, we were graced by having with us the MCCJ provincial, Fr. Dario, who helped us reflect, by way of a comparative diagram, on some of the fundamental intuitions of Comboni and of Pope Francis. We also the enjoyed the presence Sr. Nilma de Jesús, provincial of the Comboni Missionary Sisters of Brazil, who shared some of the essential moments of the missionary journey. As a united Comboni Family, Mission takes shape in our being as relationship, nearness, reaching planned goals in the world of our peripheries, of the prisons, of those who have no land, of the indigenous people, of those who have no voice and no chances: all those who live at the margins. We lived through a great fraternal meeting because, due to the distances and the realities around us, we cannot meet as often as we would like. It was a privileged moment to nourish what is mystical, replenish the strength, reinforce the ties and reflect on our faith and on our missionary identity.

Each day the invitation is renewed to be open to others, to widen the horizons, to be on the move, to share faith and life, and be signs. Our missionary vocation impels us to move out of our reality, to break through borders, to go to meet God with the least, to celebrate hope and to become family with humankind.

We had the opportunity to talk about the present situation of the ACLM, its progress and difficulties. It is a journey that is taking shape, despite its frailties. Thus we recognize this treasure we carry with us and our responsibility to continue to promote mission in the Church and to awaken all to our common commitment as people who have been baptized.

The highlight of our meeting was the Thanksgiving Mass for the 20^th anniversary of the ACLM celebrated in the parish of Santa Amelia, which has been a great source of support in the CLM journey since the beginning in 1995. The welcoming of the CLM couple, Liliana and Flávio, who are traveling to Maranhão, in the region of Piquía, and their missionary sharing, touched all present in a special way and very fraternally we celebrated and shared our new projects in a mix of joy, as well as tears, dreams and desires.

We left with some stated objectives and the desire to work more united as Comboni Family, both in mission and in mission promotion, strengthening the groups of Comboni spirituality found in Curitiba and Balsas as well as other places where the Spirit blows. We also felt united to the journey of the International CLM and with our brothers and sisters spread over more than 20 countries across the globe with whom we will hold the International Assembly of the CLM in 2018.

With the grace of celebrating the 300^th anniversary of Our Mother Aparecida, inspired by St. Daniel Comboni in the following of Jesus and united to the missionary journey of the Church in Brazil and in the world, may we be ready to guard and to help flourish every day more the missionary call of the Comboni vocation. Let us stay in touch!

CLM of Brazil

Announcement of the Comboni Family at the general level

4 July, 2017 by Alberto de la Portilla

On June 2, 2017, the annual meeting of the Central Committee of the Comboni Lay Missionary and the General Councils of the Comboni Missionaries, the Comboni Secular Missionaries and the Comboni Missionary Sisters was held in Rome at the General House of the Comboni Missionaries Sisters. A full day lived with moments of prayer, exchange, reflection, programming, meals together and Holy Mass. The MCCJs had just finished their Symposium on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of its founding, and therefore shared with us all the fruits and provocations gathered during the symposium.
Fifteen years after the letter written together by the three General Councils on “Collaboration for the Mission” we now wanted to return to our intuitions, recognizing the path cover, reinforcing certain aspects and exploring new proposals for cooperation. The Comboni Lay Missionary are an integral part of the Comboni family that now also wants to open to new forms of Combonian laity that arise in the different realities.
The publication of two letters, one for all members of the Institutes and movement and another for those in charge of formation will collect the work and guidelines that emerged during this day.

General Counsels of MCCJ, SMC, MSC and the Central Committee of the CLM

Sharing life and knowledge

28 June, 2017 by Alberto de la Portilla

What is there in common between an over 70 Russian woman with a university education and an uneducated woman of about 50 from Guinea-Bissau? Perhaps the fact that both live in Portugal, in a low class neighborhood of the great city of Lisbon and that they both want to learn Portuguese.

And so it is that in the Quinta de Mós, in a space given by City Council for the use of the parish of Camarate, based on the concrete need of these two people, a literacy program for adults came into being. Based on the method of Paulo Freire, suited to this specific reality, we start classes in the afternoon. The learning levels and the individual needs vary greatly. But with this method, that fosters learning starting from the concrete reality, and allows the person to look critically at herself, interaction is possible and, even more, it creates solidarity between the people involved.

A little bit at a time, people are joining the group and we open a new class in the morning, because some of the women work in the afternoon. The flow is constant. There are desertions due to work, health, domestic problems.

The two classes are made up of women. A group ends and three continue. The two original women are still there and another girl, much younger who only has a second grade education.

Classes involve more than alphabet and words. They consist in conversations, in sharing of difficulties, of support, help in filling out documents, finding apartments for rental, translating conversations, clearing doubts from day to day, improving pronunciation… One has to leave her home, but another has a house to rent; One wants to learn sewing, and another knows how and is willing to teach; One finds food and shares it with another who draws no salary… And so we move on, sharing life and knowledge, promoting learning and the appreciation of the person, the sharing and the solidarity! “Saving Africa with Africa!”

CLM Flávio Schmidt