Europe – Page 59 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

Third Formation Unit – Lay and missionary spirituality

21 December, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

On November 17-18 we gathered once again at the Comboni Missionaries’ house in Viseu for our formation meeting, moderated by the CLM Carlos Barrios, on the theme of “lay and missionary spirituality.”

What is spirituality? Spirituality or spiritualities within a larger spirituality? What does it mean to be a lay person in the Church today? What is the place and what are the concrete ways of spiritual life of the lay vocation? What are the aspects that distinguish being and living as Comboni Lay Missionaries, in the light of the CLM directory and the recently approved Statutes?

Through the moments of formation directed by Carlos, group sharing, personal reflection and prayer, we tried to answer these questions and – above all – to understand what is for each one of us the concrete meaning of all that we listen to and reflect upon in this meeting, and, from here, to find concrete resolutions to move towards an ever deeper and more intimate relationship with Christ and a greater communion with others.

Above all, we gathered from this meeting that we were all made, created, and dreamed of for the same reason: to understand the presence of God, to embrace it and to shape our lives in such a way that this presence will be always deeper and lived. Each one on our own path; and the concreteness of each one’s life. Gaining in our intimacy with Christ we give better witness and move towards holiness.

The Sunday was different: in groups, we shared and reflected on concrete proposals in the context of the preparation work for the General Assembly of the CLM to be held in Rome on December 11-16. It was a great opportunity for each one of us to share ideas, to learn more about the Movement of the CLM giving each one the power to contribute individual thoughts and reflections, in any way, on the development of this Movement.

CLM, Portugal

VI International Assembly of the Comboni Lay Missionaries in Rome

19 December, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

The VI International Assembly of the Comboni Lay Missionaries (CLM), held every six years, is underway in the General House of the Comboni Missionaries in Rome (11-17 December). The participants are 51. In addition to the representatives of the CLM and the Comboni Missionaries who follow them in their respective countries, coming from 20 African, European and American nations, Sr. Ida Colombo, of the General Council of the Comboni Missionaries Sisters, and Maria Pia Dal Zovo, of the central council of the Secular Comboni Missionaries, also participate.

The Assembly began with the words of welcome from Alberto de la Portilla, coordinator of the Central Committee of the CLM, and of Fr. Pietro Ciuciulla, on behalf of the Comboni General Council.

The morning of the first day, 11 December, was dedicated to prayer, reflection and sharing, under the guidance of Gonzalo Violero García and Maria Carmen Polanco Delgado, CLM from Spain. In the afternoon, the participants gathered by continents.

Yesterday, 12 December, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, each continent presented a report of the activities carried out over the last six years and the main challenges for the future; the Central Committee’s report and the 2012-2018 economic report followed.

In the afternoon, reflection began on the first theme of the Assembly, which concerns the organization of the CLM (composition, structure, international community and economy).

Today and in the coming days, the CLM will discuss three other major themes: formation and spirituality, the mission of the laity, the fundamental documents of the CLM. There will be time to speak in a special way of the international communities, to share the life experiences of the CLM in the different continental contexts and to inform about the current relationship of the CLM with the Comboni Family.

In moments of prayer and Eucharistic celebrations, the assembly prays for all the CLM members, in particular for those who find themselves working in difficult contexts, such as, for example, in the Central African Republic.

May the light of the Holy Spirit enlighten the participants in this Assembly and the CLM in general, so that they may give continuity to the work and charism that St. Daniel Comboni started!

A Part of me is called Peru

26 November, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

I often think of the meaning of the lives that crisscross my journey. I often think of the conditions where we meet and how simplicity brings us closer.

I could list a countless number of situations I have already experienced here. Some were mastered, while others will keep on ripening until I will understand them.

Many lives are already part of me, and many are the smiles that belong to me, the hugs I do not avoid and renew my strength. With the intention of just dropping in, I spend hours to no end conversing on the doorsteps. For me, mission is timeless.

The doors of our house are open, doors that open to receive the greatest joys of passersby and welcome the sufferings of those who seek refuge from us. They ask of you the only thing you have to give, yourself.

When night falls, that is when I like revisit my day and, even though often I fall into tears, they are tears of contemplation of the marvels God is working in me and, through me, it’s impossible to ignore it, and not thank God for it all. Many a times I see, countless times, the little miracles and signs that have reached me through these people who are now part of me.

Mission is hard, and you would lie if you said otherwise. Mission is arid, here, where the landscape is covered with the roofs of what is left of homes close to be disintegrated by the strong wind.

In August, part of a year’s work falls apart, when nature blows so strongly that it is impossible to resist. Without fear, they roll up their sleeves, without giving up, and even though what they have is little, nothing is stronger than the will to move onward.

I am not lying, mission is hard. At time it becomes cruel, it hurts. You see the suffering in the eyes of these brothers of mine and the helplessness in the face of what they have to bear with.

Many are the times when I simply listen, give a hand, my shoulder. Many are the times when we smile together, as we share this love of God so concrete and free. Many are the hugs, the hands shaken. Many are the moments of silence and mutual commitment, in the simplicity of sitting on the ground and be one with them.

Yes, mission is hard. It is in this hardship that I met the deepest meaning of my presence on Peruvian land. It was in this arid land that I placed my dreams and my hopes. In this little corner of the world that I pray daily for the integrity and the rights of people similar to me, created by God. It is a constant state of being fragile and be integrated in the simplicity and humility of those who have nothing. Without expecting anything in return.

Mission is hard, but this is the mission I always dreamed of, this constant discovery of who
I am and of what I am doing here. It is to know that I am nothing and often see how miracles just happen, naturally. It is trust that makes us flesh of the same flesh.

A little at the time everything falls into place, a little at the time everything happens simply, not in human but in heavenly times.

With love and gratitude

CLM, Neuza Francisco in Peru

Message of the MCCJ Intercapitular Assembly to the CLM

2 November, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

Message of the Intercapitular Assembly
of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus
to the Comboni Lay Missionaries

“Let us join hands together. Let the vow, the objective and the commitment of all who love Jesus Christ be one: to win unhappy Africa for him”
(Writings 2182)

Dear brothers and sisters Comboni Lay Missionaries,

We greet you with the peace of Christ.

At the end of the Intercapitular Assembly, we wish to send you this message of greeting, first of all to thank you for the journey we have done together during these last years spurred by the same love and the same passion of St. Daniel Comboni, and also to wish you a good preparation for and execution of the activities of your upcoming General Assembly to be held here in Rome on December 11-18, 2018.

During the Intercapitular Assembly, that had as its objective to evaluate the work done from our last General Chapter of 2015 up to now, we reflected upon and evaluated the #35 of the Chapter Acts that states how we, the MCCJ, “acknowledge the journey travelled by the Comboni Lay Missionaries (CLM) and we intend to continue accompanying their processes of formation, structuring and self-reliance which help to consolidate their identity as a Lay Family, that is Missionary and Comboni, at the service of the Mission.” We affirm once more our commitment to walk with you and with all the other members of the Comboni Family, respecting our particular characters and autonomy, in order to achieve our common missionary ideal.

We are aware of your desire to move ahead in growing in unity among yourselves, looking at Jesus Christ and at Comboni, in order to be a cohesive movement, both at the local and at the international level. This unity will be the best way to prepare yourselves for the missionary service among the poorest and most abandoned in your own countries and beyond your borders.

We renew our wishes of all good things for the preparation and execution of your 6^th General Assembly and we assure you of our closeness, friendship and prayers.

The Intercapitular Assembly of the MCCJ

Rome, September 29, 2018

The beauty of the Imperfect Mission

29 October, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

“The greatness of the mission does not belong to us, but rather to the One who sends us,” Fr. Ivo.

A year in mission. How much time fits in this lapse? How many lives have been held in our own? How many arms were linked with our arms? How many lives have we given? And how many have we received?

We stopped planning our lives to allow life to direct us, to allow God to touch us and the people to meet us. We allowed ourselves to be met just as we are, with our wounds, scars and imperfections.

This is who we are, and this is how we embraced our mission, together and imperfect. We walked in the certainty that “we are all wounded and through these wounds light comes in.” We never wanted to be perfect. Instead we allowed God to touch our imperfections and through them lead us to our brothers, who are now our friends and neighbors. Today they are our family.

The beauty of an imperfect mission is in us, resides within us. Beauty is not in the moment you realize that you and your life are the mission, but rather in the ability to walk on your own little by little without fear letting your wounds, scars and frailties be part of what makes you who you are, an essential part.

Then mission become a solitary journey, with yourself, a journey of two, because you know that you were chosen for a greater love, a journey of three, you, God, your neighbor, in the certainty that the other exists to walk with you.

It allows you to be, to know yourself a little better to let yourself be discovered a little at the time, and join to your neighbor always ready to proceed together. And together, hand in hand with God, we reach the other and the other deliver you in an imperfect, complete fashion.

It is this journey of three that we meet our neighbors, our brothers. They become our home and journey together. They are the people who, in imperfect ways, complete us, make us grow. It is in being imperfect that we keep on meeting others, moving on and growing with each person we meet. This way, mission is not only teaching or learning, but rather growing together, knowing that the union of our imperfections results in the perfection of the whole.

This is the logic of God who made us in such a way that we need others in order to love, be, live and be happy.

Paula y Neuza. CLM Peru