On May 23, 2023, the Community of the CLM in Guatemala, shared with Sister Lidia, a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul; who with a masterful talk exposes us her experiences lived in Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation. Her experiences in a marginal area of the Garbage Dump of Zone 3 in Guatemala City and her words so full of the Love of God makes us reflect that as CLM we are immersed in this journey and that we are part of this society so disadvantaged and that day by day there are more and few who are called to this service.
She invites us: “not to see anyone as a stranger, but as a true child of God; to see trafficking in persons where, as CLM, I can contribute from my context, to change our vocabulary, since it is not the same “A woman prostitute” to “A woman in prostitution”, to think that “They are families in transit” and that we must welcome them for what they are, always thinking that they bring many burdens and that for organized crime, it is easier to sell a person than a weapon and that the money from the weapon is over, but the person can be sold several times“.
This meeting marks the commitment that we as CLM Guatemala have and we can be a grain of sand in the change that we want to see the world from our realities.
I begin these humble lines first of all thanking God for having fixed his gaze on this servant.
The previous January, the Assembly of the CLM of the Province of Central America was held, where Brother Jesús Pérez, Advisor for Costa Rica of the CLM, talked with the Parish Priest of San Luis Petén, Father Aubert Gamende, about the possibility of receiving some members of our group for the Major Week in the Parish, and it was there where all this dream and illusion began.
For different circumstances, I left for Guatemala on March 29, with a suitcase full of fear, illusion, hope, but above all with the desire to be able to offer a little of all the love that God has had for me, the same love with which I was received in Casa Comboni.
I had the opportunity to share with the CLM of Guatemala, accompanying them in their project Chispuditos, knowing some Departments of the country, eating the delicious gastronomy (beef soup, plantain rellenitos, atoles, etc, etc, etc and etc ha ha ha ha), living the spectacular experience of their culture and great Faith, Palm Sunday in Antigua with the emblematic Processions, Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
On Holy Monday I start my trip to San Luis Petén, it is worth mentioning that the Parish is administered by the MCCJ, is made up of more than 140 villages (populations), some of them speak Spanish, others only speak the Q’eqchi dialect and others are mixed, all this territory comprises approx. 3000 square km and is served by 4 priests, that after 8 hours of travel, Father Fabrice receives me to take me to Casa Parroquial where as in Casa Comboni, I was received as another member of the house.
After resting for a while, Billy came to pick me up; to take me to know the Parish Clinic, where primary care services are provided to the parish population, not only of the Center, but also through the Health Campaigns they go to more distant populations, where the group of the CLM of Petén sometimes participate, we also visited the Nursing Home with many needs and that the Brothers of CLM Petén carry out a work of accompaniment and assistance, and have several projects to do in this house of permanent residence.
On Holy Wednesday, I was able to meet and share with the CLM of Petén, who were born on the same day and date as us here in Costa Rica, we shared, hesitated, talked about the realities of our group, they are a very dynamic group, and eager to do things well, as I mentioned to them I congratulate them and they know that humbly in what we can help there we will be there …..
On behalf of the Fathers, I was assigned and given the opportunity to collaborate in one of the villages, La Tortuga, who for this purpose came for me Alma, a woman dedicated in soul, life and heart to the service of her community, she is the Coordinator of the Village, together with her we organized the different celebrations for the days to come, Starting on Holy Thursday with the celebration of the Washing of the feet and the prayer in the Garden, on Friday morning all the Spanish-speaking villages were summoned to the Parish Center to live as a community the Way of the Cross and the Adoration of the Cross, we gathered almost 1500 people to the same prayer and feeling. Then in La Tortuga we had our celebration for those people who were unable to go to the parish in the morning because of their duties.
On Saturday morning we visited with community servants several families, some because they are just arriving to live in La Tortuga, others already had their time, and we took the opportunity to invite them to come at night to the Great Feast of the Easter Vigil, to the joy of most of them accepted the invitation, we also visited some sick people including Don Diego, I ask you to raise a prayer for him, he has cancer in his bones and suffers a lot of pain, Don Juan, we took communion to them, to see the joy they expressed to receive Jesus the Eucharist in their home and become one with Him, personally it was one of the many things that helped me to make the decision that I will tell you below.
In the night with great hope we celebrated the Great Easter Vigil, where children, acolytes, readers, choir and all of us as a community lived the great joy of the resurrection, the same joy that personally overwhelms me to this day.
On Sunday morning we were summoned again to the Parish Center to live the feast of the Resurrection, we started with a beautiful procession through different roads of the community and arrived at a space in front of the church where more than 150 children made their first communion, a way to end our Holy Week full of great joy.
Truly, from the moment I was received by Brother Humberto at the airport until my return to Costa Rica, I was welcomed as one more, the words are too short to thank everyone and all the people who showed me their affection and empathy, for letting me see their culture and although we are from different countries, customs and culture, we have the same love that unites us and is greater than any ethnic difference.
Hearing …Here comes the missionary… echoes in my head with much humility, but constantly….
For some time now I have been praying to God to show me the way, I say to Him like Samuel “Speak, your servant listens…”, this trip was very useful to reaffirm the desire of my heart, to serve Him, as and where it is His will, so I entrust myself to your prayers, this coming June 16, the day we celebrate the Sacred Heart of Jesus, by the grace of God I will be assuming my commitment as a Comboni Lay Missionary, with the hope of being able to put myself at the service of the Comboni family.
Thank you Guatemala, thank you San Luis, THANK YOU LA TORTUGA, CLM Guatemala, CLM San Luis Petén, MCCJ, I do not name them because I am afraid that I am leaving someone out, but I carry them all in my heart….
St. Daniel Comboni had an IMMENSE LOVE FOR THE SOULS OF THE POOREST AND ABANDONED and this can only be lived from a MISSION EXPERIENCE.
For the CLM of Guatemala, having accompanied Maximina and Mercedes in their process of Community Experience, is today a school of learning full of LOVE AND MISSIONARY HOPE; why, many may ask, because each member of the community has participation; Everyone in prayer, in the economy, in the personal accompaniment, in the formation in so many activities that a missionary experience needs and no one said no, we are all in the same boat where GOD the FATHER guides us under the intercession of SAN DANIEL COMBONI, Our Mother the Virgin Mary and SANTO DOMINGO DE GUZMAN Patron of the Community of Xenacoj who opened the doors of his house and his heart, so that they could carry out this experience during 6 months.
In these 6 months there were doors so wide that they were easily passed, but also so narrow that they required for them and the community to be full of prayer, wisdom, understanding, tolerance, tiredness and full of FAITH to be able to pass them.
Thank you Merceditas and Maxi for your availability and abandoning yourselves to the poorest and neediest whom we are sure you carry in your heart and were for them your first school of FRATERNAL LOVE and COMMUNITY UNION.
It is with great joy that we write again, with a heavy heart for leaving Brazil, a beautiful community and generous people, but with enthusiasm and hope for returning to Guatemala.
Through reunions with family, friends and friends of our communities and parish we feel welcomed and loved, through long distance calls and messages with our dear friends “mineiros”, we began our process of reinsertion; despite being our country of origin we have been resettling, recognizing places and people, being amazed by the changes in the children and young people and they also by ours.
Today we return with a heart full of many learnings, of moments lived full of love and mercy of God, but especially with a personal purification that we know still continues. We come with much strength and energy to work for the Kingdom of God, to tell everyone what we have seen and heard, all that God has taught us.
In that joy our CLM community of Guatemala organized a mass and a welcome meeting for us, they “threw the house out the window” as the good Guatemalan would say. It was a very comforting welcome and the most important thing to recognize is that we have a community that has been supporting us at all times, with its difficulties and challenges, but it is a certainty that this work of God is nothing more than a work done in community with the hands and knees of many.
Today, as we begin our life again as a family, with a different way of seeing things and realities, with a heart that asks for justice and peace. We entrust ourselves to your prayers, we also unite ourselves in prayer to all those who are about to leave or who are on mission, so that all together in this unity, we may meet the true face of Christ and have the same feelings.
May St. Daniel Comboni continue to intercede for the needs of all missionaries and continue to be so active at the Lord’s side that more religious and lay vocations may be rediscovered and directed.
Long live the mission, long live the family, long live St. Daniel Comboni!
We leave you a video of gratitude for the missionary presence in Brazil of this CLM family from Guatemala.
During these three years they have shared their life, together with their four children, with all the families of the neighborhood in Nova Contagem and the region of Minas Gerais.
CLM Brazil
Este sitio web utiliza cookies para mejorar su experiencia. Si continúa navegando consideramos que acepta el uso de cookies, pero puede optar por lo contrario si lo desea.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. If you continue to browse we consider you accept the use of cookies, but you can opt-out if you wish. Acepto Puede obtener más información - You may have more information here
Politica y privacidad de Cookies - Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
