Togo-Ghana-Benin – Page 6 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

The relevance of the social teaching for our society

14 July, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

On July 11^th, we held our formative meeting at Abor. Pierre Ngayo, a comboni Scholastic doing a pastoral experience at IMFH shared with us on the topic: The Comboni charism and the Social Teaching of the Church.

At the beginning of the meeting, Rev. Fr Joseph Rabbiosi welcomed everybody and wished to the group to grow and be engaged.

The Scholastic started by mentioning the credibility of the Soc. Teach. of the Church that is the theological, which is to respond to the appeal of Jesus in Mat 25 about the final judgment and the second is social, the proximity of the Church to the daily life of the society. He later continued by presenting the Topic into three parts.

The first part is the Relation between the Soc. Teach. and the Word of God. In Lk 4, 16-21 and Is 61, 1-2 the Scriptures speak about bringing good news to the poor, to free prisoners, to bind up broken hearts, give sight to the blind and to proclaim God’s year of mercy… The Soc. Teach. finds here a biblical foundation.

The second aspect he developed was the relevance of the Soc. Teach. for the Church in Africa. What is the role of Christians in our society? Issues of corruption, Human right, poverty, rural and urban migration, Human dignity are met all over our continent. Why is it that most of our countries which are populated by Christian in majority are experiencing such things, very high rate of corruption? Two synods were held to reflect upon the challenges that the Church is facing in our continent. The first one was held in 1994 during a period whereby there was a socio political instability all over Africa. The conclusion was published the post Synodal Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa. The second synod held in 2009 and its conclusion was published in Africae munus. The hope of the Church is that we Christians, mostly lay faithful should make our society a better place to live in: “You are the salt of the earth, the light of the world.”

The third aspect is JPIC and the Comboni charism. Comboni came in Africa where slavery was going on, a reality that made him so sensitive and close to Africans. The aspects then of Justice, Human Dignity were so needed and Comboni engaged himself totally for it. The Scholastic suggested that the aspect of JPIC could be well developed by lay comboni missionaries in the province of Togo Ghana Benin. He then added some guidelines for us which are first to be fond with the Soc. Teach. of the Church by reading the Magisterium, especially those encyclicals and Apostolic Exhortations that treat the topic e.g. Populorum progressio, Rerum novarum, …Africae munus,… The second one is to take time to study the Word of God. The third one is to be sensitive towards the needy and vulnerable and the fourth is to develop fund raising activities. In the conclusion, he left with us three questions for our meditation:

How can our encounter with the word of God help us to change our society?
Why do we think that the Social Teaching of the Church is relevant for our situation as African Christians?
What is our experience in the domain of JPIC and what are the challenges to develop it in our Province?

After this presentation, we were clarified about the kind of services we can render to In My Father’s House Institution by the Administrator of the Institution. We agreed to meet on the 8^th August and proceeded with the concluding prayer followed by the community food.

Justin Nougnui, coordinator.

CLM aspirants in Ghana reflect upon the faith of Comboni

21 June, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

As agreed at our last meeting in Abor, this 13^th June, we met at Dadome, an outstation of Mafi-Kumase. This time, the theme of reflection is “the Faith of Comboni”.

Comboni is said to be of multifaiths. He has faith in God, in his vocation, in the Church, in his Institution. But at the top of all is his faith in God in which the rest come out. He has a doubt at the beginning about leaving his parents. But when confirmed by his spiritual director about the truthfulness and clarity of his vocation, he went straight forward. In his zeal to evangelize Africa, he went to the Pope Pius the IXth and even rectified a wrong conception on Africans. His faith in the Church pushed him to say: “Whatever displeases the Church displeases me.” He went forth declaring:” I have sold my will…I am totally obedient to the Church.” Though he was so engaged in the mission in Africa, he was ready to leave it if the Church ordered it. Comboni received his strength in prayer. He said: “Without prayer, we die.” His time of prayer was also spent for mortification. Comboni has a pragmatic understanding of faith because he thought that “faith is an antidote against slavery.”

After this discussion, we went on to think about few issues. The first is about our presence in the Board of Trustees of In My Father’s House, a Combonian Institution witnessing the Good News to the poor and vulnerable. The second one is the creation of a Vocational Center in the same Institution. We postponed any decision making on these two issues for our coming meeting on the 11^th July at Abor.

Justin Nougnui, coordinator.

Aspirants CLM in Ghana meditating on faith

1 June, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

This 9^th May 2015, at our Centre, we reflected upon Faith through the help of our Chaplain. In fact, this meditation is the continuation of the topic we have started at our last meeting. The Rev. Fr shared with us some authors view and experience about Faith.

According to Thomas Merton:” Ultimately, faith is the only key to the universe. The final meaning of human existence and the answer to the questions on which all our happiness depends cannot be found in any other way.” For another author, faith is related to love and the two find their meaning in God. “For faith, says St Ignatius of Antioch, is the beginning and the end is love and God is the two of them brought into unity. After these come whatever else make up a Christian gentleman.” Faith says Father is not against reason. He supported that view quoting Armiger Barclay and Blaise Pascal. The early one said:” People only think a thing’s worth believing if it’s hard to believe.” The latter one declared that: ”Faith declares what the senses do not see but not the contrary of what they see. It is above them not contrary to them.” Father insisted on faith as a gift from God. We are capable of nothing, said Soren Kiekegaard, it is God that gives us everything. He is the one who gives us faith. Faith determines what we are and we are what is our faith says a Hindu proverb.

After this time of reflection and meditation, we were introduced to some lay people from Spain. They belong to an Association called Youcanyolé. They are Christian motivated by their faith which witness the Good News to the poor through their work. Indeed, they did marvelous works here at In My Father’s House especially at Lume where IMFH is having a clinic. Our encounter with them is to arouse our collaboration. They can constitute a link between us and the CLM group in Spain. We can also gain some of them to join our International Movement. After the short encounter with them, we moved forward. We got the feedback of our two friends that had some accidents. We also now have a Bank Account for our group. We decided of having the coming meeting on the 13^th June at Dadome, an out station of Mafi-Kumase where our chaplain resides. After this, we have our community meal.

Justin Nougnui, coordinator.

CLM formation in Ghana

29 April, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

Since the Provincial Counsel has assigned Fr Godwin Kornu to journey with us, we have also started focusing on the formation process. In the line of this, we have our monthly formation at Bakpa-Avedo, an out-station of Mafi-Kumase, the quasi-parish where resides our chaplain. The theme should have been Comboni’s Faith, but father decided to talk first of all about FAITH. Father started by defining Faith in four ways:

Faith in something or in somebody.
Strong religious belief.
Faith in reference to a particular religion.
Faith used in conjunction with adjectives good or bad. To keep or to break faith.

The (b) is the one closer to our situation said the Rev. Fr. He said that faith is a gift from God and He is the initiator. To have faith in God is to surrender to Him. The faithfulness of God arouses faith. The one who believes will wait actively and Hope should give us joy. Our joy should not be circumstantial but should have its root in God. Faith does not go in contradiction with the reason but faith is higher than reason. Faith is, said father, compared to a seed which everybody has to develop. Prayer is the way by which faith can grow. But while praying, we should have in mind that our prayer can’t change God’s plan for us but prepare us to receive what God has for us.

After this presentation, we discussed some few issues. We concluded for all members to create a Small Christian Community (S.C.C.) at our various places as a way of our commitment. Through it, we can carry out some of our activities as far as Evangelization, Mission Animation, Vocation promotion and JPIC are concerned. We also decided to show our closeness, “common cause” to two of our members having some accidents. The 9^th May was at the end agreed on for our coming meeting at Abor, our CLM Center. After this, we had the agape.

Justin Nougnui, coordinator.

First recollection of the aspirants CLM in Ghana:

14 April, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

As decided at the preceding meeting, we had our recollection on this 21^st at Mafi-Kumase where our chaplain resides. The theme of the recollection was RECONCILIATION. The schedule of the day was as followed: first talk, a breakfast, confession and personal prayer, lunch, personal meditation, second talk and mass.

The development of the topic took three main parts: the definition of reconciliation, fertile grounds for reconciliation and the obstacles to reconciliation. Reconciliation is a gift from God. He is the initiator who searches for the lost ones for the restoration of harmony. Reconciliation is needed to better our relationship with God, each other and with ourselves. Father said that sins separate us from God. Among the fertile grounds, our Chaplain mentioned the admittance of responsibility, making up of the relationship, the need for the offender and the offended to see the necessity to better their relation, patience and tolerance, humility. The offended has to give to the offender the benefit of doubt. Those are some of the attitudes that lead to reconciliation. For the obstacles, he mentioned the stubbornness of the offender, the pride of both, shame, the sense of righteousness, intolerance, anger, guessing people’s hidden motives and the fact to retaliate. Sometimes, the culture also does not create a conducive environment for reconciliation. It is a fact where e.g. it is believed in some cultures that the elderly person cannot be wrong. For a younger one who is truly right to accept this part of the culture up to reconcile with his offender is a great challenge.

Before the mass, we decided on the coming meeting on the 11^th April. We also elected Vivian Mackenzie to be our treasurer. Just after the mass, we departed from the place.

Justin Nougnui, coordinator.