Daniel Comboni
Comboni Missionaries
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MCCJ Assembly of January 2017 of the Central American Province
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
On January 9-12 of this year at the Retreat House of the Incarnate Word in San Lucas Sacatepéquez, Guatemala, we held our Provincial Assembly to formulate the 2016-2020 six-year plan. In the course of 2016, a pertinent commission that used two mini-assemblies of sectors and a series of reflections on the chapter documents was able to discern the priorities of the province and formulate its objective for the six years. Tus the first activity of the assembly was the solemn presentation of this Objective which each one received in the form of a personalized laminated paper.
It is worth mentioning that, for the first time, the Comboni Lay Missionaries and all the postulants in formation were invited to the assembly. We would have liked to include the Comboni Sisters, but the fact that they were having their assembly at the same time prevented it.
Since it was a planning assembly, the methodology and its development were new. An entire day was given to formation, helped by experts for the Archdiocese of Guatemala City who guided us through a theological, pastoral and practical reflection in understanding the meaning of Mission today in our Central American context. Initial meetings of the sectors of missionary service and of the new secretariats were held in order to adjust their objectives to the Objective of the province.
During this first part of the Assembly, our confreres who are over 70 followed a reflection tailored for them, helped also by a psychologist, that helped them to adapt to the context of the Objective and of the commitments of the province. Each meeting place was symbolized by a volcano (there are hundreds of them in Central America) as a source of energy and as a symbol of our desire to transform our presence in Central America according to the urgings of the last General Chapter. The actual planning consisted in formalizing our commitments in line with the new objectives.
The last part was a challenge presented by the provincial superior over the reorganization of the province and requalification of the commitments we have. In this dynamic of movement and energy we lived these days in deep communion and serenity, in spite of the inclement cold weather that nature offered us. Due to the fatigue of our work of reflection, in the evenings we took shelter in the warmth of the arts, in the embrace of a Guatemalan marimba concert and of a quartet of chamber music. Now we need to follow up on the orientations of the Assembly to ensure that the planning will not remain on paper, but may produce abundant fruit in our missionary service in Central America.
