Europe – Page 83 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

Meskel

13 October, 2016 by Alberto de la Portilla

The Feast of the Holy Cross (called ‘Meskel’) is one of the biggest celebrations in Ethiopia. It is especially celebrated in the Gurage region where we had the opportunity to spend a few days and see the celebrations for ourselves. Our friend Desalegn invited us, so we could observe life in his village. We slept in a traditional hut that we shared with Desalegn’s relatives.

During the Meskel celebrations, whole families come to the villages to spend this special time together. Slaughtering a bull is one of the most important traditions and everyone is involved. After prayers were said, the men of Desalegn’s village slaughtered the animal by cutting its throat. Then everyone helped cut up the meat and prepared it to be eaten raw during the feast. Raw meat is a very popular delicacy in Ethiopians, especially when fresh.

That same day, the women prepared a traditional speciality called Kitfo – raw meat cut into very small pieces and served with butter and very hot spice. Nobody asked us if we would like some – we were all given a portion so we couldn’t refuse. Magda, my namesake, coped quite well, but it was a big challenge for me to eat raw meat. I ate just a little.

According to tradition, Saint Helen, who wanted to find the Holy Cross to save it from desecration, discovered it by following the smoke of a fire. In memory of this event, people all over Ethiopia light bonfires on Meskel Eve. In the Gurage region, the people from the whole village meet together in a large open space and then light the bonfire together.

After speeches by one or more leaders, people wish each a Happy New year. It is indeed the beginning of New Year according to the local calendar. Next they start to dance a traditional Gurage dance in a circle. After some time they go home and each family lights a bonfire in front of their house. Many people move from one bonfire to another.

We noticed that when a number of people gathered at one particular bonfire, many of the neighbours joined them. Then they all together wandered from place to place dancing and singing the same traditional song. This lasted late into the night.

The next day we went to a church for Mass. Afterwards, another large bonfire was lit. There was dancing and singing. First religious songs were sung and then the same traditional Gurage song as on Meskel Eve.

Many people visit their relatives and friends on Meskel Day. We too went with Desalegn to visit his relatives. Everywhere we were welcomed with food and drink, starting with coffee and various snacks and finishing with Kitfo.

Summing up, I can say we personally witnessed the Gurage traditions associated with the Feast of the Holy Cross. It is special family time for this tribe. Just as in Poland we spend Christmas with our close relatives and friends, with special meals together, eating Christmas fare, the Gurage people spend most of the time sitting, talking and eating together. Of course there are also differences. For instance, the Gurage people do not use tables for meals and don’t spend hours watching TV.

During our brief visit, we had a privileged view of a Gurage family. They allowed us to come into their life, feel the atmosphere of the place, observe the way they greet each other, have their meals, drink coffee and talk to each other. We saw up close how they work, rest, celebrate and live their daily life. It was a really interesting and enriching experience. We sincerely thank Desalegn and his relatives and the Gurage people for this great honour.

Magda Fiec, CLM Awassa (Ethiopia)

FEAST OF SAINT DANIEL COMBONI 10th OCTOBER

10 October, 2016 by Alberto de la Portilla

We will all die; what a little thing it is for us to offer our lives to Jesus, when he died for us. (S 5822)

Dear Confreres,
We greet you all with affection wherever you are, offering your missionary work, because we want to be in communion with you on this occasion, when we are celebrating the feast of our Founder.

Some days ago, the General Council travelled to Limone sul Garda, on the occasion of the closing of the General Chapter of the Comboni Sisters and to close even in this way our canonical visit to the communities of the Italian Province.

Limone, indeed, besides being a beautiful and attractive tourist place, speaks particularly to all of us, followers of the footsteps of St. Daniel Comboni. To visit the church in which St. Daniel received the sacraments, beginning with that of Baptism, to enter the small house whose walls heard his infant cries, to walk through the lemon grove once trudged up and down by that boy, to climb along the steep path that connects Limone with other villages and, from above, to contemplate the blue lake of Garda, allows our imagination to better understand his letters and everything else that little by little expanded his heart and prepared him for the challenges of the African mission.

Followers of an inheritance

Limone has been the cradle and crucible of a dream. It was interesting to hear how some people, residents of Limone, express themselves on their missionary and bishop fellow countryman. He seems alive and present in their lives, a source of pride and blessing for all of them.

The feast we are celebrating can also be an invitation for us to ask: what is the place that our Founder occupies in our life? We are the followers of a gift received from God and that reached us through St. Daniel. How can we bear witness in the places we work to that same passion he felt for the missionary cause? It is a gift that can be enriched or depleted. It will be enriched if we offer the best of us, working generously and tirelessly to reach the ideal of the Kingdom, as Comboni did. It will be depleted if we are satisfied with what we have achieved and do not share the gifts that each one of us has, but we keep them hidden for fear of losing face or because it is more comfortable to remain where we are, without trying to go further.

To experience communion despite our differences

Limone is located on the slope of a mountain. St. Daniel was able to go beyond, looking for new horizons; he had the courage to go further than the known environment, venturing into a faraway continent, visualised in his mind only from the description given by passing missionaries and enriched by his youthful imagination, enlightened by faith in the Son of God. Comboni was able to discover another kind of beauty in peoples different from his own. He allowed himself to be captivated by the life and fate of so many men and women who considered his brothers and sisters. We too are invited to discover the beauty of the people, those who live with us and those we encounter in our work, in spite of our differences, certain that we cannot love what we do not know.

Our Institute today is more than ever international, namely Catholic, because that’s how St. Daniel desired us to be from the beginning. How do we experience the challenge of internationality? Comboni invited all he met to work in the mission. Are we able to convey the same missionary zeal which abided in the heart of our Founder, about which the last General Chapter tells us? We want to have a relationship of communion with God and share this with those among whom we live. We want to read life and history in the light of faith, assuming a new style of life and communion grounded in evangelical choices (AC 2015, 29).

Implementing the Chapter guidelines

When we discover the gift that freely reached us, we cannot but live in an attitude of gratitude to God and are compelled to get busy. When we are also able to be grateful, we live in the joy that comes from discovering that we are bearers of good news, as the last General Chapter proposed to us, on the footsteps of the Evangelii Gaudium.

In almost all our meetings of the various sectors it has become a praxis to approach the reality in which we are to become familiar with so that our work may bear fruit, because it is inspired by and is contextualized in that particular place. We live in difficult and challenging times for everyone, but we have the promise that we are not alone. Let us not become discouraged when we take into account that not only the Risen Lord walks with us, as he did with the disciples of Emmaus (Luke 24), but also when we are aware that Comboni is present by his missionary witness, allowing us to begin this life journey: I shall stay at my post until death (S 5329) despite all the obstacles of the world (S 5584).

On this feast, we ask ourselves how to ensure the specific Comboni style in our activities. The Chapter reminds us: We feel the need to recover the sense of belonging, the joy and beauty of being true ‘cenacles of apostles’, Communities characterized by profoundly human relationships. We are called to value, above all among ourselves, interculturality, hospitality and the ‘conviviality of differences’. The world has great need of such witness (AC 2015, 33).

May the small town of Limone sul Garda, where St. Daniel was born, and the city of Khartoum, where he died, remind all of us that God can do wonders when we let him act in us, as our Founder did. Happy feast to all!
Cordially,
THE MCCJ GENERAL COUNCIL

What title?

15 September, 2016 by Alberto de la Portilla

What title should I use? “one week has already passed” or “it’s only been a week” (since I came here)?

I arrived in London on September 3rd. It was almost midnight when I entered in “my new house.” Sometimes (yes, sometimes), this is not just my house, it’s more than that: it’s my home – I can feel it. [“It’s only been a week” and I’m fine here, in this community.]

Normally, we are seven persons at home – me; four priests (Father Angelo, Father Rogelio, Father Louis and Father Patrick); and two others (Paul and Amir, who joined us few days ago). But this number often changes: sometimes priests from other communities, or family / friends come to pass the night or some days with us, in our community. [“It’s only been a week” and I’ve met so many people!].

This community allows me to learn, grow and mature. We start the day together in the Chapel – for Morning Prayers and Mass. In the evening, before dinner, that’s where we return for the Evening Prayers. Slowly, I’m feeling abler to pray without peek constantly to the books (all in English!). [Sometimes I think that “it’s only passed a week and I can say a prayer without read (well, occasionally, I look to the book…); other times, if I feel some frustration for the language, I think: “one week has already passed and I still need a guide.”] Yet, the priests are very patient and encourage me to not lose the will to learn. Sometimes, they even invite me to do the Readings.

Usually I leave home 10 or 15 minutes before 9am to go to school, for the English lessons, where I spend the rest of the morning. In the same class as I am, there are other people of many ages and nationalities (Turkish, Brazilian, Argentine, Mexican, Peruvian, Japanese and Chinese).

The (moments of) meals are made in community, with the Fathers. It’s another moment of sharing. More than share food, we share life with each other. It’s also an added time for affection and learning, a privileged space where relationship flows. [“it’s only been a week ” but our relations are growing gradually and every day we know more and more of each one].

In my spare time I have the opportunity to visit London (like the Natural History Museum, Science Museum, Southbank Museum, London Eye, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Portobello Road (market), Royal Parks (Hyde Park, Diana – Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain, Serpentine Lake, Kensington Gardens, Albert Memorial, …). [“it’s only been a week ” but I could see so much!]

I also take some time to read, to know/ talk with someone or to help with something at home.
Here I can learn with anything, no matter what. But I’m observing that it’s important to be available, predisposed, to let it happen – make some (or many) mistakes without fear and then, accept all the corrections with humbly. Read, watch television, hear all we can, study, … it’s also important to learn [English], but I’m recognising that I can learn more every time that I make a mistake and someone corrects me. I’m learning that the correction has, in some way, a relational dimension – because needs a generous opening, spontaneousness and empathy – and it also help to grow and construct life between who corrects and who let be corrected.

Yesterday, on Sunday, something wonderful happened! According to the Ethiopian calendar, the September 11th is the first day of the year – it’s called «Enkutatash» (“gift of jewels” – I’m not sure of the translation or the meaning…). Father Frasa, who’s with us only for few days, invited me to celebrate the New Year with the Ethiopian Community. It was delicious, a paradise experience, at least! The Eucharist, with the Ethiopian Ritual took about 3 hours (the Mass was celebrated in ge’ez, Amharic, so, I had serious difficulties to understand «anything» of what they’re saying or praying or singing…).

In the end, the Father introduced me to the Community and they welcomed me with pleasure and huge hospitality, inviting me to a traditional meal with them. I shared the dish with 4 other children and a mom: I understood that it’s a sign of friendship, hospitality, loyalty (“those who eat the same dish will not be betrayed”, they told me). I taste injera and gursha (when someone rolls a piece of injera, soak in wot and feeds us directly to the mouth – feed someone is a sign of friendship (“I like you, so, I food you”); receive someone’s food is a sign of hospitality and acceptance (it’s like a hug between friends) [“it’s only been a week ” and I already have been blessed with a little from “Ethiopia”!] it was the promise of a reunion on Sunday. On next Sunday, I’ll return there. it’s curious to repair that one of my first contacts, where I tried an experience of intimacy, and where I felt like «as baptism» to the Ethiopian culture and people, in deed, happened at Mass and with the sharing of meal. What a blessing!

I’m ending. But not before noting that was not “only in Ethiopia” that the new year started. In some way, it’s how I feel also: starting something unique, ushering a new cycle and making the first steps on the Mission that God trusts me.

What title should I use? Love – the Community; the sharing; the service; the correction; … – Love is the title (and all the rest).

[Note: “one week has already passed,” and I (was/ have been) blessed with so many miracles, with so many meetings, so many experiences… and I’m confident that more things are coming because, in fact, ” it’s only been a week ” – ” I’ve come that they may have life, and have it abundantly. “(John 10:10)

Marisa Almeida, CLM in London

11.09 – Happy New Year 2009!

14 September, 2016 by Alberto de la Portilla

For several days in the street everywhere you could see people with chickens! Walking, riding on motorcycles, in bajajs, mini-busses … Everywhere! And also topic about the price of chicken he was one of the most common ones (because the price is not small, 250 birr, which is about 10 euro!). All these things are the sign of the approaching New Year, which we celebrate today! Ethiopia uses the Julian calendar, according to which today began year 2009. For me, it is still quite strange, once the celebration of the New Year in mid-September, secondly that it is year 2009, and thirdly that the year has 13 months … 🙂 However, here it is the most natural thing and great joy! All the people are very grateful to God that he brought them through another year and they ask to bless them for the new one. Celebrating this day is completely different from ours in Europe; there are no big New Year’s Eve parties. However, in the New Year’s Day, in the morning the girls walk on the streets and visit homes singing a special song – blessing for the New Year. Then give flowers – September in Ethiopia is the time when bloom very typical for this time yellow flowers, beautiful! However, nowadays the most commonly they give a flower drawn on paper. They also expect a small gift. It is also a family holiday – all people prepare doro wat (a special dish from the chicken, mentioned above), and together with the loved ones gather for a lunch. This is very joyful time 🙂

So, Happy New Year!

And let’s pray that God will bless the Ethiopians and give them peace.

Magda Plekan, CLM in Awassa (Ethiopia)

The Comboni Sisters in the footsteps of Comboni

12 September, 2016 by Alberto de la Portilla

We share this video about the Comboni sisters. To learn more about their work and be closer during this month that they celebrate its XX General Chapter.