Europe – Page 64 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

“I am a Gem, I am the Church” – 6th CLM Formation Unit

5 April, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

On February 17 and 18 we held the formation unit “I Am a Gem, I am the Church” in Viseu. On Saturday we had as presenter Divine Word Fr. José Augusto Duarte Leitão, who in the course of the day spoke to us of some principles of the Church’s doctrine: the centrality of the human person, the common good, the principle of subsidiarity and the principle of solidarity.

We spent time reflecting and sharing on moments of the life of Jesus where these principles were present and noticeable. We came to understand that these principles are almost always interconnected and how they teach us how to act and relate in the world, in the light of Christ and of the Church.

It gives me trust and hope to understand that many of the things that are meaningful to me and that I intend to hold dear on a daily basis are considered structural in the social and charitable doctrine of the Church.

I understood that what I believe in and the way I see my life and my relationships with my neighbor and with the world around me are what the Church defends and promotes.

We then had a time of prayer, a little different, with praying by steps that turned out very well. I hold the words “You are precious to my eyed,” and I do not want to forget this Love that God has for me, of the worth of my person in his eyes. Is there a greater joy than this, to know that I am loved by God? He is the only one who saves me, who knows me and he is the One who for love calls me by name and makes me run to meet him in the others, in those who cross my path. He is the one who calls me to serve, to love, to give. He call me to be Love, as he is with me. I know that often I am far from this total love, I am fragile… But I know that I am a gem in this Church in the world, I have a place in it and day by day I try to make it a better place.

In the evening we saw the movie Germinal, a French production that deals with the struggle for the rights of the workers in a mine. It was intense, both as a topic and as the imagery. It was hard! But it was also moving and made me think of the many inequalities and of how at times we have to put up with things that may not seem good at first sight, but in the end we do not lose our personal integrity, but we are simply fighting for a greater good.

On Sunday, we had with us Bro. José Manuel who came to talk to us of the need to unite our mind and our heart in order to reach the essence of the love of God that Jesus came to give us. And only uniting mind and heart we can look at the world and find this transforming Love.

Bro. José Manuel told us about the conditions he is facing since living in Portugal, such as the situation of the Barrio de la Torre with a gypsy community homeless and without stability, in Beja. In a special way he spoke to us of the sufferings of people in our country and to whom he cannot be indifferent. He repeated that it is important to go to the roots of a problem, to listen to people, to understand the causes of the suffering and act accordingly, always in the light of what Jesus would do. Always in the light of Love.

It was beautiful how the witness of Bro. José Manuel came to bring to life what Fr. Augusto had taught us on Saturday. It was good to see this unity between “theory” and “practice.” How the teaching of the Church are present in our daily life and especially must be made present in the world in which we live. I feel that I must be a living gem of this Church and that I cannot remain indifferent to the sufferings of the world. We must act, we must struggle, and we must do our part!

And finally, I hold dear an idea that the brother left to us, “go where God’s agenda sends you”… And this is the agenda, the one where God’s love reigns, that governs our life and our mission in the world. May I allow myself to be led where God’s agenda leads me.

Ana Isabel Sousa

News from our CLM Cristina Sousa in the RCA

4 April, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

Hi dear friends!

I hope you are doing well. I arrived in the CAR two months ago and still I have not put away my luggage but my heart is totally taken by Mongoumba.

Emotions here reach an intensity that is beyond us.

At the very moment when I think “I’m leaving” I feel that my life is growing roots here!

It is not easy to manage the unknown, it is not easy to accept what is different, it is not easy to control impotence, the difficulties… But it is in difficulties that we stop being blind, deaf, mute…

The process of adaptation is going “yeke, yeke” which is Sango for “a little bit at the time.” I have turned this expression into an “order” for my head.

On any one day my heart beats in different ways, it cries in the morning, it laughs in the afternoon and at night at times it does both.

I have already started my Sango classes. Simone says that Mr. Dominique, the professor, has already begun to speak Portuguese quite well. In spite of all this, I will let you into a secret I have: I am totally in love with five little Pygmies – Paul, Dimanche, Albert, Pauline and François. By coming to school they also have breakfast and lunch. They are my oxygen capsule where I feed my body and my soul. We play, we pray and we converse (truly, we converse). But you will say, how do we communicate? I have lots of fun when I am the object of their study. They investigate me in detail: hands, veins, the mark of an elastic band on my arm, they have regular sessions around my head and my hair is the topics of much discussion. On this las day Pauline discover a hole in my belly – my belly button. It was a great topic of conversation! (Ha, ha)

How not to fall in love with them?

I end by wishing all of you a Happy Easter.

May Lent be a time of deep reflection and conversion, but above all of “humanitarian” action and that this action may be the fruit of our prayers.

Kisses from all of us in the CAR.

May Jesus protect and enlighten us all, in particular the CAR children who are the true diamonds of Africa.

Cristina Sousa

CLM in the Republic of Central Africa

Mission on the way

2 April, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

This road with the youth already has half a year and the truth is that every day we feel that it goes further. From the first days, their lives crossed with ours and from that moment, we decided that somehow we had to walk together.

The group was born and, although without a name, it has grown with the testimony of everyone’s life.

Now they take the helm. We plant a little of the seed that we bring inside and together we will see how it will bear fruit.

Paula and Neuza. CLM Arequipa

A Solidarity play – a source of life

20 March, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

I share with you my morning scenery. It is the scenery of my city, Beautiful Leiria, which is now the background for my morning exercise where I also find God and converse with him. (…) We dialogue over what happened on March 4 in “my” parish of St. Euphemia – A solidarity Play presented by the Promotion Theater of St. Euphemia (TASE): A Comedy based on the Legend of Leiria.

I am very grateful to our Father. This Play trusted in Him. Many were the times when I felt inadequate. Many times my memory was going back to my Lenten resolution that I took up in a shemá prayer (these are prayers that take place in Leiria, where prominence is given to song and meditation prayer, following the methods of Taizé). To trust. Trust because “all I can in him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13). Trust because “God never asks anything that he has not already given you.”

While I run, I relive the moments when I lost courage because things were not going as well as I expected. But may I want what God wants, and above all, that this event may bring the fruits necessary to the Lord’s work, to the mission in Arequipa (the Ayllu Project) and nothing more.

It is difficult to please everyone. I want to believe that all I did was for the Work of the Lord. After all, Jesus did not always please everyone. And how difficult it is to receive criticism (constructive or not) and accept it in silence. “I could have done a or b. Or perhaps I could have done c. Or perhaps d.” I ask for forgiveness for the less positive reactions I had towards those who, even though it was not clear to me, simply wanted to help. !And I owe them many thanks!

To take on this event in the name of the Comboni Lay Missionaries was life giving. Life was generated, not only in myself, but also through all human relationships, among the people who want to give of themselves. And through this believer’s vision I see a world where everyone (EVERYONE) is capable of love, we all have a MISSIONARY SOUL and, even though it may often be hidden, this need to love and to be loved. And this is the love that must be the engine of life!

During the weeks before the play we went around to invite people. Many said “I can’t,” some said “{ I won’t go, but I will buy a ticket,” others yet “ I don’t know if I will go,” I’ll go,” “After all, I can’t go.”

It was a mixture of highs and lows that were forming an audience. In reality, I was doubting whether the audience would have even been enough for the TASE. After all to act on a stage is much more fun and is done with more interest if the attendance is large and receptive. All things considered, I was praying that at least 50 people would fill the seats of the auditorium.

Trust Carolina. I kept on repeating it to myself.

If you could only understand the emotion of my heart when, on that Sunday afternoon that I had been waiting anxiously for so long, about 130 people showed up to see the play.

I cannot stop thanking those who were present and even those who were there in different way through prayer, spiritually, with their thoughts.

I am grateful also to TASE members who gratis and generously were making available their acting talents, making the audience roar with laughter, including myself laughing to tears.

I thank also the sponsors, some mentioned in the flyers and others who chose to remain anonymous. And above all, I thank God for the fruits of this Solidarity Play that, way beyond the financial aspect, are life-giving fruits in the relationships that were established, in the dialogue generated by doing it, in the thoughts that arose in the head of each cooperator when they decided to contribute.

Many thanks to all

Thanks from the bottom of my heart. And here many more “a thousand lives for mission” were born.

I am sure that, In all that we did, there was the hand of God and of our friend, San Daniel Comboni.

Carolina Fiúza, CLM

The last days of the conference in Arusha

19 March, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

Sunday was day when we could pray more together and to learn more about other Christian denominations. We were assigned to different churches in Arusha – myself went to Mennonites. We were very warmly welcome by the local pastors and also the Mennonite bishop. We joined the prayer which was full of joyful songs and dances, prepared by the parish choirs (there were three of them – children’s, youths’ and adults’). There was also reading Bible & preaching and then we heard some more about the Mennonites’ activities in Arusha. And after that we shared the delicious lunch, which gave us occasion to more informal chats and getting to know each other. Very blessed time and beautiful experience of community! The last part of the program was planting the tree.

The last two days of conference continued to be intensive. Full of prayers, sharing and inputs. On one of the days was focused on embracing the cross. We heard very touching speech of Orthodox Patriarch of Syria – sharing his experience of war, showing photos from his recent travel Damascus and the Eucharist they celebrated in the ruins of church and also about the support they provide for the people who are still there – mostly Muslims, but it doesn’t matter, they are suffering brothers, so as Christian is our duty to be on their side and help. There were also other testimonies from different part of the world, where people experience suffering and what “embracing the cross” means in their context. The prayers were also focused on this, some made in the orthodox way of praying.

At the end of the conference the committee was preparing final message, based on what we were talking for last few days and also on what we shared in small groups. And then all the people had chance to comment on it to make this document really something that most of us could say – yes, that’s the essence of what we bring from Arusha and what we want to share with others. This document can be find here – https://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/commissions/mission-and-evangelism/the-arusha-call-to-discipleship

Those few days in Arusha were really wonderful for me, I’m thanking God for this chance to be there, to pray with all these people, to share with them, to hear so many interesting things, to experience this spirit of unity and openness. I met many wonderful people from all over the world, from all the Christian denominations. And it was amazing that everyone was equal – it didn’t matter if you are just a student or you have a phD or are a professor, didn’t matter if you are just a member of the church or you are the bishop – in front of God we all are His beloved children. And we could really feel it there in Arusha.

Madzia Plekan CLM