America – Page 89 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

Mgr. Romero, a life and mission model for the Comboni Missionaries of America

20 May, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

The delegates from America and Asia to the XVIII General Chapter, meeting in a continental assembly in Mexico City from 11 to 15 May, share their approach and reflection through an open letter addressed to those responsible for the Comboni Family on the occasion of the beatification of Mgr. Oscar Arnulfo Romero, to be celebrated on Saturday, 23 May, in El Salvador. Below is the letter of the missionaries.

Open Letter
from the Comboni Missionaries of America/Asia
on the Occasion of the Beatification of Bishop Romero

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
As the delegates from America and Asia to the XVIII General Chapter we greet you fraternally. We wish to express our closeness to you and to share with you our reflections on the Beatification of Bishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero (Saturday, May 23, 2015). Without doubt this is an historic event of great importance for our Church. For this reason we would like to share our reflections on some aspects of this event:

The solemn beatification by the universal Church confirms what our people already believe and celebrate: Romero is a martyr. In this beatification we also celebrate the gift of their lives offered by so many other martyrs whose struggles we have perhaps never known about. We admire the courage and fidelity of those who will be beatified in Peru this coming December: Fr. Zbigniew Strzalkowski, Fr. Michael Tomaszeck and Fr. Alexander Dordi, victims of terrorism, as well as of hundreds of committed lay persons, catechists, men and women who obstinately defended human rights; they were adults, the elderly, youth and innocent children, religious and priests martyred for the love of Christ, the Church and the people in societies that regard themselves as Christians. The Reign of God is proposed to all to become the commitment of all. Like them Bishop Romero was a victim of the forces of evil embodied in the alliance of the economic, political and military powers that hold on to their illegitimate privileges against the struggle of the oppressed for freedom.
In a time of rapid and great changes in which we are called to rediscover the prophetic dimension of our faith and consecration, we wish to reaffirm that Bishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero is a model prophet for our time. The suffering of our defenseless brothers and sisters, violence in all forms that is increasing everywhere, and criminalizing human rights defenders are challenges to our prophetic commitment today.
To be a martyr cannot be improvised. With this affirmation we mean to highlight the profound mystic quality of Bishop Romero that was forged in the daily prayer by which he lived out his being a Christian, priest and pastor. His priestly spirituality is manifested in his Episcopal motto: “Sentire cum Ecclesia”. However since all spirituality is a journey of growth and docility to the Spirit, the martyrdom of Fr. Rutilio Grande, SJ and the violence carried out by the military against the people, mark his process of conversion: from indifference/comfort to solidarity with the poorest and oppressed.
In Bishop Romero we discover the image of the Good Shepherd who fully identifies with his people and who suffers in his own flesh the abuses against the dignity of persons, who raises his voice to condemn injustice and preach peace, who prays for his brothers and sisters and loves them so much that he willingly gives up his life in the firm hope that his death will be a source of life for the Salvadoran people.
What meaning does this ecclesial event have for us today? The beatification of Bishop Romero presents him as a model of life and mission:

Interpreting reality in the light of faith should bring us to a personal and community conversion;
Evangelization includes commitment to the integral liberation of persons and peoples;
The evangelizer identifies in a radical way with the situation of the people in their sufferings and hopes;
The values of the Reign of God are always the utopia that enlightens the path of our missionary service;
Giving one’s life for the sheep gives tangible form to our vocation to follow the pierced Heart of the Good Shepherd who gave his life for his sheep.

Finding security as we trust in the words of the Gospel: “If the grain of wheat does not fall into the ground and die, it remains alone; but if it dies it produces much fruit” (John 1224), we want to invite you to create a new path of renewal and hope for ourselves and our peoples. In communion with all of you, in memory of Bishop Romero and of all the martyrs of America, and in particular Fr. Ezekiel Ramin, we firmly believe that the XVIII General Chapter that is now approaching offers us all an opportunity to renew ourselves in faithfulness to the charism of St. Daniel Comboni and in imitation of the martyrs of our church in America.
Mexico City, May 15, 2015

Mission-field Metlatónoc, Mexico 2015

17 May, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

This year 2015, the mission team have consisted of ten people, we went on Friday March 27 to Sunday April 5 to six communities in the mountains of Guerrero, all of them belongs to the parish of Metlatónoc: Llano del Nopal, Cocuilotlatzala, Buenavista, and San Pedro and San Pablo Atzompa. Carolina, who is on a mission permanently, participated accompanying the community of San Juan Huexoapa and Minerva (who is on community experience with Caro) went to El Paraiso.

Besides this week celebrations, we visit the families and share their joys and sorrows, leaned with alternative medicine in the community of Llano del Nopal. There was no lack of gathering with football matches or trips to the river, enthusiasm and youth participation, tolerance and support of the elderly, and the joy of children painting and sharing the material we prepared for them.

It was a great experience of openness, respect, teamwork, dialogue. A great moment to be available to the meeting and knowledge of other ways to celebrate Easter.

And the opportunity to be attentive and listen to what God wants to say to each one of us in a particular way, but also to his “Church” through this simple Church that allowed us to accompany and enrich each other.

We thank God for this beautiful experience and also for all the people who went to mission in different parts of Mexico, all the families of the communities that welcomed us, especially those who treated us with love, for all the Comboni family.

We share with you the celebrations and gatherings of this week in images.

CLM Mexico

Jesus passes the mission “baton” to us

15 May, 201515 May, 2015 by Antonio Villarino

A commentary on Mk 16, 15-20: Ascension Day, May 17th 2015

This time the liturgy “jumps” from the Gospel of John, which we have been readings in the last Sundays, to the last chapter of Mark. We actually read the five last verses, where it’s shown to us how Jesus passed the “mission baton” to the community of disciples, the Church that is now continuing His mission in the world; Let us see briefly each of these five verses:

1.- “Go into the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation”
It cannot said more clearly. Jesus’ friends and disciples understood quite soon three things: a) that the experience of friendship and discipleship they had with Jesus was a kind of a “precious pearl”, that it was the most important thing that ever had happened in their lives; b) that in spite of His death – or rather in and through His death- Jesus was not a looser but a winner –not by way of arrogance but way of love- and that He is now living with the Father – and, consequently, continuously present in each and every historical time-; c) that this marvellous news could not remain hidden, but it should be spread to all the corners of the Earth. To proclaim this “Good News”, this “gospel”, is a mandate, not to impose on others an ideology or a set of rites, but to share with all the enormous gift received.

2.- “He who believes and is baptized will be saved”
The disciples understand that the mercy of God has been revealed to them and to all the human beings in the person of Jesus Christ. To receive that mercy, they do not have to be “the best ones”; they only have to believe, that is, not to close themselves up in their own arrogance and hypocrisy, but to open themselves and accept the free Love that is offered to them. The Baptism is the meaningful sign of that “conversion”, of that acknowledgement of our sins and of our purification an liberation by the powerful love of the One, “who did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, being born in the likeness of men”.

3.- “They will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover”
Sometimes, it seems that doing mission consists in preaching. And, certainly, words are quite important; they allow us to illuminate our way, to enter into relationships with others and with God… But the Christian Message is much more than just words. It us action, education, health, freedom… It acts in the concrete lives of people. It’s interesting to note how from the beginning Mission has gone together with solidarity (hospitals, schools, homes for elderly and children…). This actions are not means to gain the sympathy of people; they are “messianic signs”, actions similar to those Jesus used to do in Galilee, concrete actions that show the concrete love and care of the Father for each person in need and distress. For the western world, quite often, healing is reduced to “physical healing”, but the healing the disciples experience is much more: it goes to the deepest root of the person, with evident positive effects in all its dimensions: physical, psychological, social and others. There’s no doubt, The Gospel, when it’s announced and received in sincerity, carries in itself a powerful healing and liberating force.

4. “He was taken into the heaven and sat down at the right hand of God”
Certainly, the words used in this sentence –taken into heaven, Sat down, right hand- are part of a symbolic language that tries to transmit an important truth with various dimensions, one of which can be expressed in the following terms: Jesus, being now “in heaven” (beyond the Earth), has overcome the limitations proper to a Galilean born in the first Century; now He is sharing the same age and condition than all of us, from every culture and human condition. In his new condition, Jesus cannot longer be manipulated (“Do not touch me”, He said to the Magdalene), but He is near to each one in whatever condition we are: man or woman, black or white, more or less sinner, left -wing or right-wing… We all can be in communion with the One who is now “sitting at the right hand of God”, in every historical epoch and in every human condition.

5.- “They went forth and preached everywhere, while the worked with them”
The disciples did not remain passive in Jerusalem, lost in a nostalgic attachment to the past. They took responsibility for the Gospel in the world and put themselves on the way, sure that the Lord was with them, even if in a different manner. This is the Church, the community of disciples that takes upon itself the responsibility to share the gospel to the last corner of the Earth. Each one of us is a part of this Church and has a part in its mission. The mission that Jesus entrusted to us for the life of millions.
Fr. Antonio Villarino
Roma

Missionary CLM Meeting in Mexico – March 2015

14 May, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

With God’s grace the monthly meeting of the Mexican CLM took place, where we had a great gathering, laugh, sing, prayer. We pray the Holy Hour, have prayer of Lauds and participate in the Eucharist.

The focus was place on preparing the group to participate in the Easter mission field to Guerrero, where there is permanent MCCJ presence and also the CLM, with the presence of Carolina Carreon and Minerva Juarez in the community of San Juan Huexoapa. This mission is in the Diocese of Tlapa in Guerrero, in the parish of Metlatónoc. Father Gabriel talked about the willingness and openness with which the missionary must prepare, Eric told us about the customs and traditions of the people na saavi, Manuelita told us about the history of our permanent mission house, and Ramon shared with us his experience in mission field last year that his first time.

With great enthusiasm, we continue forward with the invitation to all who have the concern to be part of this project of the Comboni Lay Missionaries. Continuing with the ideal of St. Daniel Comboni.

Thousand lives for the mission.

CLM Mexico

A moving declaration of friendship

8 May, 2015 by Antonio Villarino

A commentary on John 15, 9-17, VI Sunday of Easter, May 10th 2015

We continue Reading the gospel of John, as in previous Sundays, but this time we leave behind the allegories (the Good Shepherd, the Vine and the branches) to come to a direct and moving declaration of friendship in a circle formed by Jesus, the Father and the disciples. I invite you to read this text imagining to be there in that room “at the upper floor”, in that house in Jerusalem, where Jesus was staying with his friends, before confronting the most decisive “hour” in His life. Let us go a bit into detail:

1.- The decisive hour, the time of truth
In chapters thirteenth to fourteenth, John tells us about Jesus’ gestures, feelings and words in those last hours of His life, when He was already aware of the deadly conflict He had with the authorities of His nation and His project of the Kingdom appeared set for a complete failure. The text we read today resounds with a special emotional energy, because what is at stake it’s not an idea or a project, but something much more relevant and “personal”: the quality of His relationships with His Father and His disciples.
In fact, that Holy Thursday was one of this crucial moments that we have in life, when we can become cowards and traitors (avoiding suffering) or reach the maximum of generosity, confirming our unconditioned faithfulness and our readiness to give up even our whole life in a supreme decision of confidence, trusting in God and in the Project (vocation) he has called us to follow. In that crucial moment, Jesus celebrates with his friends, the most important rite of His religious Tradition, the Passover, making it new and present in His own life. As the People did in Egypt, the same way Jesus prepared Himself “to pass”, in His case, “from this world to the Father”. In such a moment of supreme decision, life is played at its very essentials and Jesus thinks shows what it’s that really matters to Him.

2.- In the end, only love matters
Jesus has shared three intense years with His disciples. Together they travelled quite a lot from Galilee to Jerusalem; together they cured sick people, announced forgiveness to sinners, ate with humble and rich people, had big arguments with Pharisees, proposed a strong moral renewal… But now, when the end is nearing, all that seems to a certain point secondary. In fact, what really matters to Jesus in those dramatic hours is what He says clearly in today’s reading: “As my Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love”.
This is the secret of His life: Jesus has no doubts, even in the most dramatic moments and sufferings, that He is loved by the Father. That is the source of His strength, serenity, and deep joy that makes Him exult before the beauty of Nature or before those simple people, to whom God reveals himself as a God of wisdom and pardon, ready to re-construct broken hearts. That is the source of His complete freedom from fanatic moral condemnations from left or from right. And Jesus shares that experience of love with His friends, even if they do on understand Him fully. As a matter of fact, they do not have to be perfect or very clever; the only thing that, at this dramatic moment, really matters is that He loves them as the Father loves Him. They are not “servants”; they are not “civil servants” of a determined political, social or even religious project; they are “friends”, more, they are “brethren”; with them He shares everything; joys and sorrows, failures and successes… and, over all, the Father’s love.

3.- To abide
To His Friends and brothers, Jesus aske sonly one thing: that the love each other and abide in His love. But this love between Jesus and His disciples is not a “cheap” feeling for superficial or “shallow” people, with no roots (like a plan in the sand). It’s rather a stout friendship, rooted in the awareness of being children of the same Father and of sharing the same project of a new humanity. It’s not a friendship of convenience (that ends when the benefices end), but a friendship that endures beyond failures and successes, a friendship that remains in time and open to all those who want to follow Jesus from whatever culture or condition. A friendship that leads to the acceptance of His mandates in a mature and concrete faithfulness. A friendship that becomes affective nearness, capacity to forgive and understand, faithfulness and so many things that we can experience in our daily lives.
A friendship we celebrate and confirm in every Eucharistic celebration; a friendship that we pray that it becomes fertile and gives is Jesus Joy and mission.
Fr. Antonio Villarino
Roma