Peru. The Time to the Asheninka
What is the importance of time to the Asheninka, an Amazonian people of western Peru? Let’s find out. In the Amazonian world, time is marked by elements that can be stars, plants, animals, and others. The day is marked by the sun. The sun is what largely determines the conception of time and consequently the […]
Mission Diary. Comboni missionaries among the Karimojong in northern Uganda
For over a hundred years, the Comboni Missionaries have been working in north-eastern Uganda. “Being a missionary here means living side by side with the people, knowing their language and culture, and, if necessary, giving one’s life for them”. This is what Father Longinos López Fernández, from Spain, and Father Germano Joaquim dos Santos Serra, […]
Mission Diary. “At the Service of the Bedouin Communities”
Sister Lourdes García, a Mexican Comboni missionary, works in the Bedouin communities of Jahalin, in the Judean desert. This is her testimony. Assalamu Alaikum (‘Peace be upon you’) is the greeting with which we are greeted every time we visit the Bedouin communities in Palestine. Although the word ‘peace’ is part of the daily encounter, […]
Bible & Mission. At the service of a “Labourer” God
The harvest is ripe wheat. It is necessary and urgent to harvest it in time so that it may become bread. You cannot harvest it ahead of time or behind time. In the first case, it is unripe and useless; afterward, it rots, and you must throw it away. Like the harvest, every person is […]
Oral Literature. Kalulu and the Great Spirit of the Forest
Vusi was an honest man and a hard worker. He had cleared a large piece of moorland and turned it into a beautiful fertile field. He had married Duduzile and a beautiful child was born, to whom they gave the name Thembelihle. For some years they lived happily. They wished to have a son, […]
Peru. The Rite of the Ashaninka Ancestral Medicine
To a large extent, the ancestral medicine of the Ashaninka, an indigenous Amazonian ethnic group that lives in western Peru, revolves around the Ayahuasca ceremony, the name that is currently used to name an ancestral practice of the original peoples of the Amazon. It is a ritual practice performed by the shiripiare healers or shamans […]
Mission diary. Father Jose Juan. Animator of animators
The formation of catechists in the diocese of Lira in northern Uganda involves Father José Juan Valero full time who explains the path to becoming animators of Christian communities. I have been in Uganda for 18 years and have always worked in the diocese of Lira, in the north of the country. During my […]
World Youth Days. Changes the Lives of Young People
World Youth Days have changed the lives of many young people. Some experiences. “My name is Barbara, but here in Poland, they call me Basha. I am 21 years old, and I live in Krakow. The WYD pilgrimage to Panama in 2019 changed my life forever. My life before I went to Panama was […]
Bible & Mission. The sources of Mission
The vocation of the children of God, which is proper for all the baptized, is fulfilled in our mission towards the brethren. We all are apostles: it is the very love of the Son that pushes us towards all the brethren (2 Cor 5: 14). He, who is boundless in His solidarity with us, in […]
Oral Literature. The Boy and the Violin
Once upon a time, there was a man who had an only son. When the man died the son was left all alone in the world. There was not very much property—just a cat and a dog, a small piece of land, and a few orange trees. The boy gave the dog away to a […]