Poland – Page 16 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

I’m sending you…

7 February, 2014 by Alberto de la Portilla

Among the many celebrations and important events that have recently experienced the Comboni Family, was also the official sending of father Maciej Zielinski, who finally is going in mission. He was responsible for the Comboni Lay Missionaries in Poland. Last Sunday Bishop Jan Piotrowski officially sent him and gave him his pastoral blessing for the time of missionary work. Father Maciej from January 1 officially belongs to the Province of Kenya, where he will spend the next few years, working and helping those who need it most.

The celebration of sending took place in his parish- in Tarnów, where family, friends, Comboni Missionaries and Comboni Lay Missionaries attained.

“If someone knows Christ cannot keep it for him or her, but must proclaim Him” – emphasized Bishop Piotrowski. Therefore, Maciek decided that he wants to share his experience of God with those who have not met Him yet, those who have not reached the Gospel yet.

Father Maciej was responsible for the animation of vocations and work with youth for the past few years in Poland. Looking at the number of young people involved in help for the missions, you can freely say that this stay was very fruitful. And although Father Maciej understood young people and you can see that was finding in this work, he still missed Africa, to work on the Black Continent. Now, finally, it fills. And although we are a little sad, we are happy with him.

Each of us owes much to Maciek. As Comboni Lay Missionaries Movement we want to thank you for the time and commitment to our Movement in Poland. For father Maciek kindled enthusiasm and love for the mission. We thank you for every smile, good word, because you were for us like a “father”. We could always come, talk and get a help and solution.

“If a missionary feels alone in the mission, it means that we are not a community, we are not the Church”- said during the homily Bishop Piotrowski. Prayer is very important in missionary work, because it makes you feel the unity of the whole Church and gives the feeling that we are a true community of believers. This call to pray for Fr Maciek, but also for the whole missionary work of the Church, let us will collapse deep in our hearts, and this request will not remain unanswered.

Polish CLM group

Training for Mission

5 February, 2014 by Alberto de la Portilla

A week is not long so we have to take it with passion. Definitely my week in Poland gave a lot of success. This time I wanted to share with everyone about the training time with the international community that is about to leave for Uganda.

We spend three intensive days (morning, afternoon and evening) for training. It was not easy to perform this training in English as it is not the mother tongue of any of us and it needs to be perfected a bit before leaving for mission (they will do so in London from March). However there is no big obstacle when there is will, so we set off. Soon we get the dictionaries of Spanish, Polish and English to succeed in the right word and the mutual aid came immediate. At the end we made it possible (although the head asked for rest at the end of the day for the effort but it was worthy).

I think it was a nice, interesting and necessary week. As the great family that we are, we feel all responsible for this community preparing to break new ground and I think it was important to take time to accompany them. This training time was a time to dialogue and share what it means to be CLM, our vocational call and the dreams that we have as missionaries. To all these ideals that are important to talk before leaving as a community, we added them a good time of deepening and more “professional” learning of our stay and service in the Mission.

To fix the pillars of this community we worked all morning and part of the afternoon of the second day in them, providing all our expectations and confronting specific experiences, doubts and dreams of other CLM.

Then we talked about the importance of inculturation, the knowledge of others and of ourselves to not move European models and to give the time and space to the other, lest we fall into the trap of transferring our solutions to others but to help each person, each people, may have its own voice and find their own solutions.

The last day we talked a little about the importance of approaching and knowing reality in depth, listen and silence a lot to understand well and have enough time to share our lives, knowing first the new environment and its people (what makes up their identity).

And finally ended up talking about our beloved Comboni and what it meant for each of us, the challenges posed to us for being Comboni Missionaries, the style, methodology, passion and commitment of which we are inheritors and debt fidelity. All this things as CLM and as Comboni Family. We want this to be our reference, also there in Gulu (Uganda) where we aim to work from the community, from the Comboni family and from the reality and needs of the people, open to learn every day and contribute the best of ourselves.

Personally it was a very rich time, which also allowed me to better understand this community and strengthen bonds.

I hope they always feel sheltered by all of us. They are sent throughout the movement and as such we will be supporting them.

I sent you to preach the Gospel

3 February, 2014 by Alberto de la Portilla

“God has chosen you to go and bring fruit and that your fruit will abide. Go therefore and preach the Gospel to everyone. This is the cross, your guide to the apostolic roads. This is your help in any danger. This is your consolation in your life and in death.”

The missionary crosses, which three CLM from Poland received- Ewa Maziarz, Joanna Owanek and Monika Krasoń- will accompany them in missionary work in Uganda, where they were sent. They answered “yes” to Christ’s call. For the love to Him, they will service among the poorest and the most abandoned, who are waiting for them in Uganda. Their sending to Africa to preach the Gospel of Christ is a very important event not only for Comboni Missionaries but also for the whole community of the Church. Not everyone can go on the mission, but others can go there on behalf of us. And Ewa, Asia and Monika will serve our brothers and sisters on behalf of us in Uganda, sharing with them the Christ’s faith, hope and love.

The sending of our Comboni Lay Missionaries was very solemn. The whole community of the Church in the parishes of missionaries- Zarzecze and Łaziska Górne- prayed for CLM. We prayed for strength and perseverance for them. The pastors of the Church of the Archdiocese of Katowice and the Diocese of Sandomierz blessed them and gave the missionary crosses. Monika was sent by Archbishop Viktor Skworc and Ewa and Joanna were sent by Bishop Christopher Nitkiewicz. Misionaries underlined that they are aware of the hardships of the mission in Uganda, but the believe that their work will be fruitful. But, the “fruit will be abundant” if we will pray for them and for their work. And our CLM asked us for the prayer.

Let request of our missionaries will be an encouragement for us to pray for the missions, because each of us is called to be a missionary.

CLM Polish group

New CLM international community in Krakow

31 January, 2014 by Alberto de la Portilla

This is what it means to be a missionary, be able to accept the changes with joy and hope wherever they take us and with the brothers and sister you find. And it’s much easier when I discover with enthusiasm, that also in Krakow I feel at home and like a family member. The community has welcomed me with love, and the meeting of my new companions for adventure has made only increase my desire to get to Africa. An international community, three Polish and one Spanish lady, speaking English and with the intention and desire to learn quickly the Acholi.

We are Monika, Ewa, Asia and Carmen, and despite the cold Polish winter there is a very warm feeling in our hearts and all willingness to walk this path together as a community. We don´t know if it is the desire that we all have but we have connected really good and the atmosphere we breathes is wonderful.

We continue with the training process trying to assimilate and internalize things as necessary as knowing who we are (Comboni Lay Missionaries), our history and what it means to integrate and enter in a different and unfamiliar culture, that we want to approach with the utmost respect.

I think we’re a team that is going to complement quite well, where there is much freshness and the joy of living the Gospel and the Mission, as Pope Francisco is reminding us and that we will try not to forget at any time in our experience in Gulu (Uganda).

It could not have been more positive beginning of this year with my family, the Comboni family, with the Polish laity and the Comboni Fathers in the community of Krakow. Together they manage to transmit the idea, that we all dream, of unity and enthusiasm for a common goal: to follow Jesus next to the last.

Carmen Aranda Arnao. CLM

Visit to Poland

28 January, 2014 by Alberto de la Portilla

Hello everyone. As many of you know last week I was visiting the polish CLM group. It has been a very interesting week. First I would like to highlight the weekend with the group of young CLM candidates. In Poland we have a large pool of boys and especially girls interested in missionary life who come to this group in order to meet this vocation and with desire to serve the mission. It is a large and dynamic group, with great interest and availability.

On Saturday we were working in groups and in plenary on what means to be a Comboni Lay Missionary and what it means to participate in the group. It was a nice moment to share expectations, hopes, doubts and questions about this lay missionary life.

At night we share the missionary witness of Monikę Krasoń (Polish) and Carmen Aranda (Spanish). Two of the CLM who are now preparing themselves to go to Uganda as an international community, and also some of my experience in Mozambique. It was short but nice.

We also had time to participate in Sunday’s official sending of Joanna Owanek and Ewa Maziarz (the other two Polish CLM to form part of this international community) from their parish. This Mass was presided by the Bishop Monsignor Nitkiewicz, accompanied by the parish priest, some diocesan priest and 6 Comboni Missionaries of the two communities in Poland led by P. Gianni Gaiga (representative of the general vicar in Poland).

It was nice to see how the whole community, with his bishop in front was responsible for these lay that are sent to mission, both spiritually as well as with economic commitment to enable them to travel, have a medical and social insurance as well as some money to support themselves. I think we have much to learn from the Polish Church in this regard. From Krakow (about 3 hours) we also went 7 cars with the young people of the meeting, so they were heavily covered throughout the Comboni family (We will continue this support in their time of formation and destiny in Uganda).

The weekend also gave time to particularly speak with some young people, to share vocational concerns and specific questions about the missionary work. Hopefully, many of them will find their way and commitment to service the mission here.