Central America – Page 12 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

A Missionary Holy Week in El Salvador

31 May, 2017 by Alberto de la Portilla

…”Holy and capable, making common cause with the poorest and most abandoned” (St. Daniel Comboni)

We, the CLM of the PCA in Guatemala, want to share with joy the mission experience Mercedes Suy and Carolina Lorenzana had during Holy Week, on April 8-16 of this year.

They went to the parish of St. Anthony in Santa Tecla, El Salvador and this is their story:

On Saturday, April 8, at 6:00 a.m. we left Guatemala City for El Salvador. The bus trip lasted six and a half hours. We arrived at 12:30 p. m. and we were met at the bus station to be taken to the parish of St. Anthony where Fr. Juan José Hernández, mccj welcomed us and gave us lodging. In the afternoon we went to meet the community of San Rafael. That was our mission field.

On that same day we started the home visits that lasted through the week until Thursday. We visited many families where we told them about the CLM, and that we were from Guatemala. They listened to us with interest, but above all we listened about their needs, problems and illnesses. After a few days, another community called San José del Pino requested our presence,

We took part in the activities of the small community sharing the Word at the House of Prayer “Oratorio,” and we attended the Way of the Cross in both communities.

These are people who have been directly affected by the gangs and by juvenile delinquency. Many have relatives or friends who disappeared or were killed. These communities need a person to person mission, where they can be helped to rise beyond their many problems by giving them skills to work with, social assistance and a deep evangelization with continuing support.

Perhaps the mission was not great, but it was rich in missionary activity. We, the CLM of the PCA in Guatemala will continue to hold these missionary experiences ad gentes in order to nurture our CLM charism.

CLM Guatemala

Missionary Exhibit and Meeting in Guatemala

9 April, 20176 April, 2017 by Alberto de la Portilla

“Saints and able, making common cause with the poor and the needy” (St. Daniel Comboni)

We, the CLM of the PCA in Guatemala want to let you know that on the Saturday, April 1, organized a mission exhibit and a meeting at Casa Comboni, Guatemala. We joined with the missionaries of the parish of St. Catherine of Alexandria, with whom, since February 2016, we are cooperating in their missionary formation.

The parish is St. Catherine of Alexandria is in Santa Catarina Pinula, a municipality of the department of Guatemala City, located about 10 miles from the capital.

In some areas, this population is subjected to extreme poverty and crime because of the gangs, It is one of the “red Zones” of the city.

The objective of our activity was to invite the Comboni Missionaries living in Guatemala city so that their two communities, the CLM and the “missionaries of Catherine (as we call them with affection)would share with words and through visual aids, some of the experiences of 2016 and the missionary projects we have in store for 2017.

We enjoyed the presence of the Comboni Missionaries Fr. Pasquale Miniero, Fr. Carlos Rodríguez, Fr. Antonio Maria Bruyel, Fr. Vicente Clemente and, of course, our moderator Bro. Humberto Rua. The one who thought up this event was also present: Fr. Walter Santizo, a Guatemalan diocesan priest and the pastor of St. Catherine of Alexandria.

At the end we shared a delicious lunch.

The basic idea by which the CLM of the PCA in Guatemala started this year is” “Saints and able united in a common cause to help the poorest and most needed.” This is how St. Daniel Comboni wants his missionaries to be.

We trust in Providence and entrust ourselves to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, just as St. Daniel Comboni taught us to do. God always walks ahead of us, shedding light on the path leading to the most needy.

CLM Guatemala

Missionary Animation in El Salvador

14 February, 201713 February, 2017 by Alberto de la Portilla

The CLM community of Central American Province, would like to be present in Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica, because in these three countries there is a Comboni presence.
We are currently present only in Guatemala. In 2016 American meeting in Mexico, Guatemalans committed to work in order to extend our presence in El Salvador and Costa Rica, and become a Central American Province. Last December 2016, we made our first experience of missionary animation in El Salvador.
On December 10 and 11 and invited by the MCCJ, Father Máximo Huamán, Brother Humberto Rua, Mireya Soto, Miriam Herrador and Lily Portillo traveled from Guatemala to El Salvador, (almost 7 hours by bus). He had gathered a group of people interested in knowing this part of the Comboni Family. There were very positive reactions, several people were interested. And during this year 2017, they will begin their Comboni formation, with the support of Fr. Máximo and ours.
We are definitely sure that God wants the charism and missionary identity of St. Daniel Comboni reach more people. We, by His grace, are His simple instruments.

Blessed be God!

MCCJ Assembly of January 2017 province of Central America

20 January, 2017 by Alberto de la Portilla

During the week of January 9-11 the CLM of the Central American Province were invited to take part in the provincial assembly of January 2017 which took place in the municipality of San Lucas, Department of Sacatepéquez, near Guatemala City.

According to the capitular documents of the MCCJ, the 18^th General Chapter at the #44.14 encourages new forms of communications so that the MCCJ, SCM, CMS and CLM, still respecting the integrity of their identity, may work together according to the charism of Comboni and his passion for mission.

And so it was that a delegation of three CLM (Carol de Rosales, Alejandro Camey and Lily Portillo) attended the entire assembly in order to plan with our moderator, Bro. Humberto Rua, the various activities that will take place during the next six years.

We, who attended the Continental Meeting in Mexico last September, are the only ones who could help planning the proposed activities from a purely lay point of view.

It was a very positive experience, because we filled ourselves with the spirit of the Comboni charism and felt part of the family. There were moments of formation, planning and sharing.

We are grateful to God for this opportunity and may we all, by the intercession of St. Daniel Comboni, proclaim Jesus to those who are the farthest and most disadvantaged.

Caption: 24 priests, 2 brothers, 3 lay people and 5 postulants attended the assembly.

Concluding the CLM continental meeting of America

5 October, 201624 September, 2016 by Alberto de la Portilla

Our morning mass was presided by Father Arlindo in a very unique way, it was a reinvigorating start. The morning activities are followed with a short review of how the Central Committee and the Continental committee function according to the countries and their respective representatives. Alberto de la Portilla, guides us with an explanation of the process and functions. Everyone becomes involve in dialogue and it results in a very beneficial and fruitful discussion.

The next part of the morning is, everyone including the coordinators and or representatives of each country come together to debate on issues that were previously discussed in the previous continental meeting to conclude with a new continental proposal. The other members who assisted each country were also present in the debate.

The next part was, the new members of the Continental committee were elected by a consensus, and the two newly elected members were Marta from Mexico and Mireya from Guatemala.

The next task at hand was to approve the Motions previously worked on, in Guatemala. These motions are for the approval of the Continental final document of commitments. We move cautiously revising each motion of the past days’ work in group dialogue. We worked on this both in the early and later part of the day. After we concluded with the work at hand we took the official group picture, and finalized the day with group prayer.

In the night we concluded with a celebration to our IV CLM Continental Meeting of America.

Fr Valentin and Yessenia