This time, the focus was on designing the Comboni family’s joint stand at the Church Mile of the Catholic Day in Würzburg. Together with Father Günther, Father Michael, and Brother Hans, we gathered ideas on the theme “Have courage – stand up!” in a constructive brainstorming session and were able to assign the first tasks. Nine missionaries will represent the Comboni Family in Nuremberg.
We also discussed feedback on our peace exhibition in Mellatz, arrangements for Brigitte Kreiter’s participation in the provincial assembly, and plans for the planned visit to the Comboni Missionaries’ community in Graz. We were very moved by Hans Eigner’s report on the situation in the diocese of Bentiu in South Sudan, where he will be involved in development work starting this fall.
We held a small barbecue to thank him for his involvement in our group over the past years and to “bid farewell” to him and Father Günther as they embark on their next missionary assignments.
Throughout this Easter season, we have been discovering the presence of the Risen Jesus in our lives. As missionary disciples, we want to follow in his footsteps, to be bearers of the Good News, confident that he always accompanies us in our task of evangelization.
We are going through difficult times in the world. The new political leaders in many countries are taking their rhetoric to extremes for their own benefit. They seem to be striving to accuse others, to divide positions, to create two sides seeking the benefit of one at the expense of the other, and if there is a change, they seek revenge.
Violence, and in extreme cases war, seems to be the only solution proposed to solve our differences. We must prepare for war because we are doomed to find our ultimate solution in it.
We refuse to give up: Another world is possible!
We in the CLM also have our great concerns about how to support our companions who left everything to give their lives to the mission; in particular, the difficulties we encounter in getting new people (young and not so young) to join this missionary service. Finding new people to complete our communities in mission and continue to share our lives with the peoples whom the Lord has called us to serve…
But when we find ourselves surrounded by many difficulties, God appears and reminds us of his covenant with us. As a Church, we live a long Lent asking to be converted and to overcome our weaknesses. And thank God we encounter him in the celebration of the Easter Triduum. During those days, we accompany Jesus at the Last Supper where he teaches us the importance of service. We were with Him on the night of Gethsemane to understand the harshness of those moments, which sometimes remind us of some of our own, and we are grateful for Jesus’ determination to confirm his YES to the Father.
From there, we accompany Jesus in the hardest moments, the consequence of his life. There are many who could not bear his words and deeds; they had to put an end to him. We see Jesus taking up the Cross, the cross that is repeated in so many women, so many men, boys, and girls in our world who continue to suffer injustice, so many harsh realities from which the Lord does not flee, but rather takes a step forward. We understand that God has decided to go all the way with us, that he does not abandon us at any moment.
And with joy and gladness we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Death, evil, does not have the last word. God raises Jesus from the dead and tells us that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Now we walk a little like the disciples of Emmaus, not quite believing it, not quite recognizing it…
But we see how light prevails over darkness, we see that this is the way forward. Once again we fall at the feet of the Risen Jesus, we ask for forgiveness and we give THANKS.
And suddenly all our difficulties begin to change color. It is not us, it is Him. Each one of us has to do our part, but what we need to do is understand God’s plan and give the answer that Jesus gave with his life.
The answer we can give as human beings is fragile and fears immediately arise, but when we understand in whose hands we are, everything changes.
We know that we are fragile and the enthusiasm of Easter tends to be stifled by day-to-day concerns, but Easter helps us to see life with perspective. And the community helps us to remain faithful.
Individually and as CLM, we recognize once again that the mission is God’s. How naive to think that it depends on our strength. We are only here to serve it. He takes care of it, we just have to trust. Trust with HOPE. With a hope that is nothing more than expectation based on what we have experienced and are celebrating these days. Our Hope is founded on the Resurrection of Jesus. No matter how uphill the road may sometimes be, we know that He accompanies us and is with us.
And we trust fully in the last words of Matthew’s Gospel:
Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And know that I am with you always, until the end of the age.
The General Councils of the Comboni Family – Combonian missionaries, Combonian sisters, Combonian seculars, and Alberto de la Portilla, coordinator of the Central Committee of the Combonian Lay Missionaries – met for their annual meeting from the morning of Saturday, 31st May to noon on Sunday, 1st June, at the General Curia of the Combonian missionaries in Rome.
Moved by the desire to revive hope in the exceptional circumstance of the Jubilee, the traditional annual meeting of the General Councils of the Comboni Family (GCCF) took place on Saturday 31st May and Sunday 1st June at the General Curia of the Comboni missionaries. Present were the members of the General Councils of the Comboni Missionaries (MCCJ), Comboni Missionary Sisters (CMS) and Comboni Secular Missionaries (CSM); the Comboni Lay Missionaries (CLM) were represented by Alberto de la Portilla, the coordinator of the Central Committee. Father Austine Radol Odhiambo, a new member of the General Council of the MCCJ, who was at his first meeting of the CGFC, was welcomed.
The participants experienced intense hours of prayer, reflection and dialogue, helped by Brother Alberto Degan, who presented a reflection entitled ‘Spes non Confundit – The Spirit, source of our Hope’.
The meeting began with a prolonged sharing both on the journey made by the various realities over the past year (highlighting the main steps taken) and on possible developments in the near future.
They then discussed the situation in Sudan, which worries the whole Comboni Family, especially the Comboni missionaries and Comboni sisters, who in recent years have seen their presence reduced to a small group of confrères and sisters. If the desire to return to Sudan is clear and strong in everyone, it is equally clear that we cannot simply ‘return’ to do what was done in the past, because the Sudan of today is no longer the Sudan we knew. The dialogue will continue on the basis of more precise information, which we hope to obtain shortly.
They then spoke about the Comboni Forum on Integral Ecology, which will take place in Belém (Brazil) in November, to coincide with the 30th Conference of Parties (Cop30), offering precise information and indications to facilitate participation in the event.
The dialogue then better defined how to proceed in the drafting of a common instrument (a dossier, or an insert, to be presented in the Comboni magazines and websites, or made known through other dissemination tools of the Comboni Family) that can highlight the fact that the Comboni charism is lived as a common charismatic origin, but with different styles of presence and different methodological emphasis, and with a fruitful collaboration in different geographical and cultural contexts.
Lastly, Interculturality was identified as a topic of great relevance and common interest, which will be the underlying theme of the next meeting of the GCCFs, which will take place on 30th and 31st May 2026 at the Comboni sisters’ General House in Rome.
The meeting concluded with the celebration of the Eucharist of the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, presided over by Father David Domingues, Vicar General of the MCCJ.
Brother Daniele Giusti, MCCJ
———– ———–
Comboni Missionaries (MCCJ): Father Codianni Luigi Fernando, general superior; Fr. David Costa Domingues, general vicar; Bro. Lamana Cónsola Alberto; Fr. Radol Austine Odhiambo; Fr. Sindjalim Essognimam Elias.
Comboni Missionary Sisters (CMS): Madre Anne Marie Quigg, general superior; Sr. María de los Angeles Funes Rodríguez, general vicar; Sr. Alicia Vacas Moro; Sr. Veronicah Wangũi Mbũrũ; Sr. Eleonora Reboldi.
Comboni Secular Missionaries (CSM): Dal Zovo Maria Pia, general responsible; Zenere Teresa; Villamar Ultreras Gina; Paula Clara Macedo Ferreira Carvalho; Ghelfi Paola.
Comboni Lay Missionaries (CLM): Alberto de la Portilla, coordinator of the Central Committee.
In the second meaning of the word RESUCITAR (to resurrect), the RAE dictionary tells us that colloquially it means “to restore, renew, give new life to something.”
This summer I had a missionary experience in Mozambique with five other companions. During this experience, I met Mrs. M., a widow with a deep faith who had spent her long life working as a teacher. She had a very warm personality and cared deeply about all her neighbors. A few years ago, in her desire to help others, she gathered a group of people, members of the Songo parish, to start the Caritas group from scratch.
Thanks to her efforts and those of her collaborators, Caritas Songo was launched with the fundamental objective of restoring dignity to all those in need in the village.
Every day, she would go out on foot with her group to visit, accompany, distribute, listen… always with a smile on her face and a transparent gaze that showed the merciful Jesus she carried to everyone.
I could talk about many of the experiences I shared with Mrs. M., but the one that impressed me the most was the day we went with the group to respond to an emergency call. An elderly man had been left on the street because he had been kicked out of the house where he lived. He took refuge in an abandoned, dirty, dilapidated room with no door. The neighbors alerted her to the situation, and Mrs. M., without hesitation, came to his aid, taking money out of her own pocket to cover the old man’s basic needs, mainly food and water. She asked the community to mobilize to find a solution to the problem of the missing door, and they quickly managed to bring one that solved the old man’s lack of privacy and security. And just as the Good Samaritan did, she left more money with one of the man’s neighbors so that she could buy more food and whatever else he needed.
Her generosity, selflessness, and humanity, in the style of the Gospel, made us think about our own attitudes and behaviors in the society in which we live. Would we have acted in the same way? Probably not.
Two months ago, I received the news of her death. The same Jesus who was present in her charitable work called her to reward her and thank her for being Good News.
Mrs. M. was determined to restore, renew, and give new life, that is, to RESURRECT, all those who came to her for help. Nor did she forget to go to those who could not or did not want to come to the parish. Those were her chosen ones, the same ones whom Jesus approached because he knew that they would not take the first step.
Now she enjoys the RESURRECTION that she gave to so many people in Songo.
We pray that, following the example of Jesus, the Good Shepherd whose heart is pierced, we may create relationships of mercy and welcome in our daily realities. Lord, hear us.
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