Portugal – Page 18 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

Formation Week in Granada, Spain

1 July, 2017 by Alberto de la Portilla

Last week I visited the Lisanga community in Granada. This time the formation was in Spanish, which paradoxically was a drag because most of the material I had was either in English or in Portuguese, but it turned out well in view of having the material available in various languages.

This is always a special time for me: To leave the office, away from e-mails and video-conferences and have the opportunity to share personally with our CLM. In this case it was with David and Aitana, Spanish CLM, and especially with Paula and Neuza, Portuguese CLM who are in Spain preparing to go to Peru.

David and Aitana are teachers and they were in their last week of classes so they were very busy with exams, evaluations and activities typical of this time. Just the same, they took time to share in some important moments of formation and of the week. They volunteered to welcome and make community with Paula and Neuza during the months thy will be here to study Spanish and to prepare to leave for Peru.

I spent most of my time with Paula and Neuza. We would get up early in the morning to say Lauds and start the day. The first few days we studied Spanish in the morning, but for the rest we took advantage of the first part of the morning to do some sports. We have to keep in shape, as mission requires it of them. Above all, they must be ready to do a lot of walking with the people.

After that, we had plenty of time to talk about mission, about community, to share our Comboni charism, to speak of Church and of the different styles of mission, to get to know more deeply our CLM at the international level and lots of other things.

It is always exciting to share these moments prior to the departure: The worries, the challenges to be faced and above all the trust in the One who calls us by name to serve far away from home.

During this time in Spain many people have shared with them their experiences of mission, have visited them or they themselves were able to visit many Spanish CLM and religious who have served in mission, in Peru and in other places. This way mission becomes community. They are not going on a personal quest, but they are sent as missionaries by our CLM community, which is always present, commits to their formation and follows them as well with prayers. Some commented that we all go to Peru with them.

The week ended with a meeting to evaluate the CLM of the Southern Zone of Spain. I think they felt most welcome by all and by the religious Comboni family of Granada with whom they are sharing lots of time during this month. And for the Southern Zone it was an electrifying moment, because any time mission knocks at our door, it mobilizes us, it animates us, it sets us moving and feeling alive. And so it was here in Spain as well with the preparation of our companions from Portugal.

Thank you.

We pray that all may go well in their mission and we will always be ready to accompany them on this journey of service to our brothers and sisters in Peru.

Greetings

Alberto de la Portilla

Sharing life and knowledge

28 June, 2017 by Alberto de la Portilla

What is there in common between an over 70 Russian woman with a university education and an uneducated woman of about 50 from Guinea-Bissau? Perhaps the fact that both live in Portugal, in a low class neighborhood of the great city of Lisbon and that they both want to learn Portuguese.

And so it is that in the Quinta de Mós, in a space given by City Council for the use of the parish of Camarate, based on the concrete need of these two people, a literacy program for adults came into being. Based on the method of Paulo Freire, suited to this specific reality, we start classes in the afternoon. The learning levels and the individual needs vary greatly. But with this method, that fosters learning starting from the concrete reality, and allows the person to look critically at herself, interaction is possible and, even more, it creates solidarity between the people involved.

A little bit at a time, people are joining the group and we open a new class in the morning, because some of the women work in the afternoon. The flow is constant. There are desertions due to work, health, domestic problems.

The two classes are made up of women. A group ends and three continue. The two original women are still there and another girl, much younger who only has a second grade education.

Classes involve more than alphabet and words. They consist in conversations, in sharing of difficulties, of support, help in filling out documents, finding apartments for rental, translating conversations, clearing doubts from day to day, improving pronunciation… One has to leave her home, but another has a house to rent; One wants to learn sewing, and another knows how and is willing to teach; One finds food and shares it with another who draws no salary… And so we move on, sharing life and knowledge, promoting learning and the appreciation of the person, the sharing and the solidarity! “Saving Africa with Africa!”

CLM Flávio Schmidt

Mission Promotion – San Mamede Infesta

26 June, 2017 by Alberto de la Portilla

Last weekend, June 11, we held a program of mission promotion in the parish church of St. Mamede Infesta, in the town of Matosinhos. It was a sunny day and at around 10:00 a.m. we started. I must confess that I was a little worried because 70% of the parishioners were seniors. Would the words of Carlos and Sandra resonate in their hearts? But the Lord reaches everyone and truly, between the two celebrations where we were present and at the missionary rosary that we were allowed to hold, the results were very positive.

Fr. Dario celebrated the Mass at 7:00 p.m. and he gave a different tone to the usual celebration.

To identify myself as part of the Comboni family in front of my parish community made me very happy. It gives you the feeling that you are on the right path, in the way that the Lord showed to me.

Thank you, Comboni Family, for having received me in your bosom with so much kindness and fraternal love.

Maria José Martins

“Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for the catch” – Missioning of The CLM Liliana Ferreira and Flávio Schmidt

4 September, 201716 June, 2017 by Alberto de la Portilla

“Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for the catch” (Lk 5:4)

On Sunday, June 4, we celebrated with joy the missioning of our CLM Liliana Ferreira and Flávio Schmidt in the parish of Lamas, Miranda do Corvo to which Liliana herself belongs. United in faith and in the love of Christ they are leaving for the mission of Piquiá, Maranhão, in Brazil, having accepted the Lord’s invitation to leave, give of themselves and to be a thousand lives for mission.

And we go with them. We follow them in prayer, in thought and in the wish (belief) that God will give them light in their vocation of and for love, and in their path of dedication to share their brothers journey.

We are grateful for these two lives who generate so much life around themselves and for the gift of life they will multiply in the lands assigned to them by God.

United in Mission

Carolina Fiúza

Comboni Family Day in Portugal

14 June, 2017 by Alberto de la Portilla

On June 10, the day of the Angel of Portugal, we gathered with various members of the different branches of the Comboni Family – Secular Comboni Missionaries, Comboni Sisters and Comboni Missionaries – to celebrate with great joy and for the first time the COMBONI FAMILY DAY. The event took place at Óis de Ribeira (Fermentelos – Águeda) and gathered about 50 missionaries.

Following the hugs of those who meet in a spirit of family, the program began with the Eucharist held in one of the rooms of the Comboni house of Fermentelos. I must confess that the environment reminds me of a true cenacle of Jesus, thanks to the simplicity that distinguishes the entire place!

Lunch followed, and a get together at the Pateira de Óis de Ribeira, where we could take advantage of the pleasant sunny day, conversing, sharing life experiences, singing and enjoying nature. It was interesting to note the similarity of the beauty of Pateira, where there is a large lake, with Lake Garda where St. Daniel Comboni grew up.

This was a day of sharing in order to celebrate the fertility of the Comboni charism 150 years from the founding of the Comboni Missionaries. And “how beautiful are the feet of those who announce peace,” and to be able to be so close to each person who makes up this great Family and fall in love with it, thanks to the great heart of each one who was there on that day.

With love,

Carolina Fiúza