Oral Literature: Wanjiru – Sacrificed By Her Family
The sun beat down mercilessly and there was no sign of any rain. This happened one year, and it happened again a second year, and even a third year, so … Continua a leggere
Gospel reflection for the XVI Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
In the Church we need to learn to gaze at the people as Jesus did: catching on to the suffering, the loneliness, the confusion or the isolation that many suffer. Compassion doesn’t spring from paying attention to norms or remembering our duties. It awakens in us when we look attentively at those who suffer.
Oral Literature: Where Stories Come From, A Traditional Zulu Story – South Africa
Once, a very long time ago, so long ago that it must have been close to the time when the First Man and the First Woman walked upon the earth, there lived a woman named Manzandaba and her husband Zenzele.
Africa: Traditional Healers
In Central and East Africa, the term most commonly used for a traditional healer is ng’anga. No one can doubt the fundamental role that this occupation still has in the field of health and health services in African societies.
Gospel reflection for the XV Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
When he sent them, Jesus doesn’t leave his disciples abandoned to their own power. He gives them his «power», which isn’t a power to control, govern or dominate others, but his power to «cast out evil spirits», free people from what enslaves, oppresses and dehumanizes them.
Kenya: Turkana – Akuj, The Supreme Being
The Turkana are a monotheistic people. They believe in one God, known as Akuj, the creator of the universe. “All things belong to Akuj”, they say. They call upon him in times of great need, through prayers and chants and through animal sacrifices.
A glass of water for the Kafir
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.
Ecuador: To Live And Share My Faith With Others
Comboni Father Seraphin Kakwata, Congolese, shares his experience being amongst afro-descendent communities in S. Lorenzo parish, in the province of Esmeraldas, Ecuador.
Pope taps first lay person as head of a Vatican department
ROME – Pope Francis has named a layman to head the Vatican’s troubled communications office, the first layman to head a dicastery of the Roman Curia.
Gospel reflection for the XIV Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Jesus isn’t a Temple priest, busy about taking care of and promoting religion. Nor does anyone confuse him with a Teacher of the Law, dedicated to defend the Torah of Moses. The Galilean villagers see in his healing actions and in his words of fire the actions of a prophet moved by God’s Spirit.
Kenya: A Horizon-Less Frying Pan
Comboni Missionary Father Mitiku Habbthe from Ethiopia is working with the Turkana in the remote north-western part of Kenya, a semi-desert area, shares his experience.
Peru: It Is Impossible To Remain Silent
On both sides of the border between Ecuador and Peru, there are oil and gas operations. The consequences are disastrous for the environment and for the indigenous peoples who live there. Two Augustinian missionaries living in Iquitos (Peru) talked about the challenges for the church and for the indigenous people.
One family with non-Christians
Violence committed against each other, unfortunately, emphasizes the stark differences among believers of different religions. 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.
Vocation Story: Why Not Me?
Fascinated by a priest and his style of life, I decided to be like him. Then, I met the Comboni Missionaries. Immediately I understood that that would be my life. Father Anane Joseph Nhyirana tells us his story.
Kenya: Pökot Marriage
The Pökot people live in West Pökot County and Baringo County in Kenya and in the Pökot District of the eastern Karamoja region in Uganda. They are estimated to be around 700,000. Like many other people they are going through a profound transformation.
Gospel reflection for the XIII Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
The scene is surprising. Mark the Evangelist presents an unknown woman as a model of faith for the Christian communities. From her they can learn how to seek Jesus with faith, how to reach a healing contact with him, and how to find in him the energy to begin a new life, full of peace and health.
South Sudan: Reconciliation Paths
In a country ravaged by war, forgiveness is the contribution Christians can offer to a society divided along ethnic lines and rivalries. A missionary in South Sudan shares a couple of stories on how his teaching brought about pardon, mutual acceptance and peace.
African Myths: A Door To The Mysteries Of Creation
In Africa, there are thousands of myths to explain what reason cannot explain. In a lot of them, God made man from clay, as in the Bible. In some, life and death are brought to men by animals. Myth always has something mysterious, hidden like the seed within a fruit, and somehow offers the explanation, the interpretation.
Colombia: “We Are The Guardians Of Our Land”
In the centre of the Colombian Amazonia, we find the Vicariate of Puerto Leguízamo-Solano, created in 2013. A Christian community that wants to take care of the environment and its people. We discuss the peace accord, the cocoa growers and the indigenous people with the Bishop of the Vicariate.
Mission at the foot of the volcano
A Comboni missionary, assigned at the outskirts of a town in Peru, at the foot of an active volcano, 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.
Gospel reflection for the Birth of John the Baptist (B)
Today, as we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist, we are remembering someone who was called by God to deliver a message and a man who took this mission very seriously.
The Gospel along the River
Comboni missionaries have been present among the Ashaninka and Nomatsiguengas indigenous peoples in Central Selva, Peru. Fr. Randy Recalde, a Filipino missionary, says that the presence of powerful drug traffickers and terrorists in the area are the main challenges to missionary work.
Gospel reflection for the XI Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Sooner or later, we Christians will feel the need to return to what’s essential. We will discover that only the power of Jesus can regenerate faith in the de-Christianized society of our day. Then we will learn to sow the Gospel with humility as the start of a renewed faith
Chad – At the heart of the people
A tiny group of Christians in a predominantly Moslem environment, determined to forge ties of friendship and dialogue in a society that still bears the wounds of thirty years of civil war. A Comboni Missionary community tells its story.
Climate change and drought in Africa
When I was growing up in South Africa, we would sometimes be shown pictures of emaciated children in Ethiopia or Bangladesh… In those days, the problem was far away, and the worry was someone else’s. Nowadays we are much more aware of the reality of global climate change, and we know that nobody is unaffected.
Gospel reflection for the 10th. Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
X Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B Mark 3:20-35 The cost of being a disciple of Jesus today In the gospels there are many different images and titles used … Continua a leggere
OGF6/2018 A Heart for Mission
May, in the celebration of the feast of the Sacred Heart, the Good Shepherd who gives his life for his sheep, make us like him and guide us in our mission to build up his Kingdom.
DR. Congo: A Time Bomb!
“We appeal to the Congolese people to pay particular attention to the implementation of important milestones in the electoral calendar, including the convening of the electorate on the 23rd June 2018 and the beginning of the reception and preparation of candidacies on the 24th June 2018, and to ensure respect for the peaceful nature of public events”.
Gospel reflection for the Feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus (B)
‘Believe what you see, see what you believe and become what you are, the Body of Christ. When we say ‘amen’ we are saying, Yes, I believe this is the Body and Blood of Jesus and I will become the Body of Christ for others’.
Towards a Europe of Hope
The crisis in Europe is a favourite subject in media commentaries, and it is true there is no shortage of difficulties. These are manifested in a widespread defiance that features in public opinions expressed about the European construction.
Reflection for Trinity Sunday (B)
Today is not the day to try and explain how three goes into one! The Feast of the Trinity is not a matter of facts, figures and numbers. The Trinity is a sacred mystery that we are called and invited to experience in our heart.
The Pope Opens His Eyes to Abuse
The abuse of minors by pedophile priests has been among the most painful sagas of our time, the horror compounded by the knowledge that hierarchs could have stopped the predators… Now, at long last, Pope Francis seems to have glimpsed the depth of the global crisis.
Reflection: Social Justice – Africa taken for a ride
Despite the disastrous experiences of neoliberal polices, especially in Latin American and African countries, the international institutions are still imposing these policies on the developing countries. Few lessons have been learned from the past.
Reflection for Pentecost Sunday (B)
As we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, the season of Easter reaches its final climax. This Sunday we celebrate and experience the powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the whole church and on all those who call themselves disciples and followers of the risen Lord.
Mapped: The world’s most (and least) religious countries
Five countries tie for the title of most: Ethiopia, Malawi, Niger, Sri Lanka and Yemen, with 99 %
The least religious countries: China, Japan, Estonia, Sweden, Norway…
China surpasses them all, with only 7%
Le nuove regole vaticane per i monasteri di clausura femminili
Emanata la nuova Istruzione Cor Orans. Tra le novità: se le suore sono meno di 5 perdono il diritto ad eleggere la superiore (e possono essere chiusi). Oggi le monache di clausura sono 38mila.
Our Lady in China
0ne of the characteristics of Chinese Catholics is their deep and affectionate devotion to the Virgin Mary, expressed in the Marian shrines spread throughout the country. Some of them are particularly significant, such as the Sheshan sanctuary in Shanghai…
Reflection for the 7th Sunday of Easter – Ascension of Jesus (B)
As we mark and celebrate the Ascension of the Lord, the saying, ‘all good things come to an end’ never sounded more suitable or appropriate.
