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A Comboni missionary describes how his life has become more meaningful when he was assigned as parish priest at the outskirts of a town in Peru, at the foot of an active volcano. He recountes how the Comboni charism has touched the lives of people and how collaboration in facing challenges to spread the Gospel has made it a grace-filled adventure.
Doing mission work cannot be defined by mere words. In a small city of Nyala, in Sudan, a Comboni missionary discovered what evangelization is all about. He learned about it from the strangest source, a source shunned by many. Yet, his eyes were suddenly opened, and he came to realize that God’s messenger can come in various unexpected and unheralded forms.
Recently, I was given a unique opportunity to taste some of the bitter hardships endured by fellow human beings fleeing drug-gang violence, oppressive poverty and economic injustice south of the U.S. border.
This is the dramatic story by the surviving Sister on the assault to the nursing home for the elderly and the disabled. Four sisters were killed along with their employees because of their fidelity to their mission.
While “salvation” and “paradise” are both held sacred and exclusively for believers by Muslims and Christians over the years, the unmistakable reality for all people of goodwill is that the invitation is universal. The janna of the Koran, the paradise of the Bible, the kingdom of Allah – God, is for every human being.
Violence committed against each other, unfortunately, emphasizes the stark differences among believers of different religions. In this scenario, it is impossible to think that followers of different faiths can even co-exist. But it is also not surprising that acts of mercy and love, the characteristics of one and the same God, can bind people of different religions together.
Sri Lanka has become home and a new frontier of mission for three Comboni Sisters: Sr. Quy Dinh, Sr. Nelly Kangogo and Sr. Libanos Ayele. In the spirit of Comboni, they live their passion for the poorest, joyfully sharing their lives with tea plantation workers, helping in the formation of the young, opening doors of hope for them, and serving as bridges of dialogue and encounter between different religions.
While coming from two very different backgrounds, two Marys have made a very positive impact on Indian people. While their approaches are very different, their goal is the same – to let people know of God’s love for them.
Organic farming has been gaining ground the world over, not just as a means to curb the harmful effects of chemical pesticides but, surprisingly, as a means to increase food production and reduce the effects of climate change.
For some, it takes a great personal tragedy that leaves them totally beaten black and blue, to recognize that God is there, ready to carry us. For others, living a life in worldliness and sin, even to the point of death, leads them to a catharsis, a liberating realization that God and goodness have been residing in them all along. Ultimately, however, the decision to go with God or to continue living as if one were already dead rests in each one of us. God, however, has lit that tiny spark of goodness in us – we need only to fuel it by sharing that goodness with others.
