{"id":15929,"date":"2025-10-28T22:13:47","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T20:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cvx-clc.net\/?p=15929"},"modified":"2025-11-04T21:56:49","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T19:56:49","slug":"cvx-in-cuba-a-gift-we-wish-to-share","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cvx-clc.net\/en\/cvx-in-cuba-a-gift-we-wish-to-share\/","title":{"rendered":"CVX in Cuba: A Gift We Wish to Share"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cA few years ago, the Marian Congregations were called by God to a change of identity \u2014 to a new way of being. Like Abram, they responded with generosity, leaving behind all their securities, accepting even the death implied by letting go of their own name\u2026 and as with Abraham, the Lord gave them a new name: \u2018Christian Life Communities,<\/a>\u2019 which implies in itself the meaning of the Mission to which they are called\u2026\u201d \u2014 Pedro Arrupe, S.J., Holy Week, 1981 <\/span><\/p>\n

These words of Father Pedro Arrupe, S.J., recalled by Magdalena Palencia during her address at the 2018 World Assembly of the Christian Life Community (CLC) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, express perfectly our origins. It was 1994. Father Prudencio Pi\u00f1a, S.J., who had been living for some years in the Dominican Republic but was then serving at the Parish of Our Lady of Montserrat in Cienfuegos, Cuba, told us about this worldwide event \u2014 the transition from Marian Congregations to Christian Life Communities. He encouraged and accompanied us in the formation of the first local communities, most of which were made up of members of the former Marian Congregations, while others came from parish groups or nearby communities. They received this new way of living, being, and serving in the Church with great enthusiasm and openness. We also gratefully remember, in our beginnings, the work of Father Jorge Centelles, S.J., who served as our assistant.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Marian Congregations have a long history of continuous service in our parish, having been established there in October 1887. It is worth noting that, although at one point \u2014 due to the Church\u2013State conflict \u2014 the government decided to dissolve lay movements, that decision never reached our parish. The Marian Congregation remained active there until its transformation into the CLC.
Having shared life with those who, through their faith, bravely endured the difficult years of Church\u2013State confrontation, listening to their testimonies of perseverance and their trust in the God of history \u2014 while assuming the personal, family, and professional consequences this entailed \u2014 forms part of our story of grateful Grace, which continues to inspire our journey. <\/span><\/p>\n

Our growth and integration into the World CLC were strongly supported by CLC in Mexico, to whom we extend our deep gratitude. Thanks to this sister community that sponsored us, we were accepted as full members of the World Community at the 15th General Assembly held in F\u00e1tima, Portugal, in 2008.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to the collaboration of our brothers and sisters, we actively participated in the various editions of the MAGIS regional program, from the first through the fifth edition (we were only absent from MAGIS VI). Since 1994, we have also taken part in numerous regional gatherings. In 2019, we had the great joy of hosting in Cienfuegos the Meeting of the National Executive Councils of Latin America (CENAL), which we experienced as a true \u201cencounter among brothers and sisters.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Today, there is only one active local community, and we also have several members in our praying community \u2014those who, because of their circumstances, can no longer participate actively but sustain our community life through prayer. We gather with them for Eucharistic celebrations and commemorative occasions.
Our mission field is diverse: supporting parish services, participating in neighborhood and rural communities, health ministry, outreach to vulnerable people, formation and education, and engagement in digital networks, among others. <\/span><\/p>\n

As part of the pilgrim people of Cuba, our community life today is marked by challenges similar to those faced by our nation: migration, aging, fatigue, and the struggle for daily survival. As CLC members, we recognize ourselves as pilgrims of hope, motivated to share this gift that the CLC<\/g> is for us. In our fragility, we feel an even greater need for loving interdependence, which involves all of us, in everything. We wish to listen attentively to what the Spirit \u2014 caring for us and our community <\/span>is saying, and to act, as Saint Ignatius tells us, \u201cdoing everything as if it depended only on us, while praying and trusting in God, knowing that everything depends on Him.\u201d<\/span><\/i>His Grace will come \u2014 a sign that our story of Grace has borne fruit. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t