Throughout our lives we have lived many Lenten seasons. We have heard, year after year, the invitation to prepare ourselves for the celebration of the Paschal Mystery. Now, once again, the call to conversion comes into our lives.

Most probably, we remember what we experienced in Lent 2020, when the initial presence of Covid 19 began to make its mark. Surprise, uncertainty and conjecture were mixed with the illusion that this inconvenience would pass and we would soon return to "normality". But weeks and months went by: The number of positive cases were counted in hundreds of thousands and millions, and the deaths were increasing day by day... In short, this is what we have experienced.

We already know that we do not dominate the cosmos. Even if we imagined it, we have not conquered nature. Our apparent greatness has been made to look foolish by a microscopic virus. Our fragility is significant and our vulnerability still accompanies us. The presence of the virus forced us to accept many things that we did not know or did not like, but we have had to live with them. What happened inside us? Has the 2020 experience made me change? In what way?

At the beginning, there were many reflections, songs by Spanish artists (Resistiré), videos, conferences, and applause for heroes... And, time went by. Communication technologies led us to new worlds and new ways of interacting; we got used to virtual realities and to celebrations with microphones and cameras; the liturgy was transformed; and face-to face meetings became scarce.

Now, as the vaccines begin to generate new hope, we are facing this Lent. Once again we are called to change, to "metanoia". And, it is good to ask ourselves again: What am I willing to do?

The invitation is once again concrete: before us are our brothers and sisters who suffer and are needy; there is God who calls and challenges; and each one of us is faced with our own reality. This is how the Lenten journey begins: the Church presents us with almsgiving, prayer and fasting as external signs of transcendent relationships.

Relationship with others requires authentic renewal. I must become a neighbour to those who suffer and live merciful compassion in the face of so much suffering. I must draw closer to the Father to listen to him, to know his desire and his plan for me and to know that I am his child. My personal life is called to be more in line with righteousness and truth.

Each one of us, as a team member, must feel a special call so that Lent 2021 will leave a deep mark on us.

"You cannot believe with impunity," I read as a teenager, and today that expression comes to mind.

Because, truly, our world needs the demanding commitment of those of us who know ourselves to be believers in Jesus Christ. Let us live this challenging time in depth.

God bless you all.

TEAMS OF OUR LADY in Africa in the Transatlantic Region

In Africa there are Teams in Ghana, Malawi, Zambia and South Africa!

Here is a taste of what Teams life is like in these countries.

SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa is a beautiful country with a diverse population. According to statistics from the last census, there is a total population of 58,8 million people. 79% of population is Christian and there are about 4 million Catholics.

The Movement has been rooted in South Africa for around thirty years. Currently in the Teams of Our Lady Movement in South Africa there are two sectors: one which is based in Durban and one in Johannesburg. Johannesburg currently has five teams with each team consisting of about five couples and Durban has four Teams.

Teams has yielded some fruits in that YTOL (Youth Teams of Our Lady) movement was officially launched in August last year in Johannesburg and has been growing well with currently about forty-five members who are mostly sons and daughters of current Teams couples. This movement is split into three groups and each group has a spiritual leader (priest) and one Teams couple. The meetings are held monthly and are structured with a theme in the same manner as the married couple’s meetings.

The youth movement group plan, organize and run their own meetings. The YTOL movement also showcases the “Rainbow Nation” as members are from different race groups. The hopes are that they will help transform the movement in the future to become truly representative of a diverse population.

Living in South Africa has its challenges as it has one of the most unequal societies and has a high level of poverty: crime is a major concern for all in South Africa. Many who live in the suburbs are surrounded by high walls, electric fences, alarms etc.

There is a native South African word “Ubuntu” meaning qualities that include human virtues and compassion and refers to communities coming together to help one another. Movements like Teams of Our Lady lend support to couples and their families.

MALAZA

The region of Malaza is made up of Malawi and Zambia. Piotr and Dzidzia, former Transatlantic responsible couple, travelled a total of 2,000km to visit the Teams in Malawi and Zambia. Teams have existed in Malawi since 2005, starting off in the region of Zomba. In 2004 Peter Chandler (RIP) and his wife Anna from Southern UK, piloted the first Team in Malawi (Zomba 1) by post as a result of an article they wrote about Teams in The Tablet. Piloting was done remotely with materials being translated into the local language of Chichewa. They remained in touch with members of Teams in Malawi over the years and links were also forged with Irish Team. 16 years later in Malawi there are now Teams in Mzuzu, Ntcheu, Dedza and Mangochi districts as well as in Zomba …Currently 60 Teams with 352 couples!!!

Malawi is a landlocked country in south-eastern Africa, geographically it has an enormous lake -Lake Malawi. Zambia is on its western border. It has the fourth highest percentage of people living in extreme poverty in the world with more than two-thirds of the population in that situation, almost all of whom rely on small-scale farming for their livelihoods.

Malawi is a majority Christian country (87%) with a minority 11.6% Islamic population. 19% of Malawians are Catholic which is the largest Christian group. Malawi is divided up into Central, Northern and Southern regions and each of these into districts. Teams are mainly in the Southern part of the country bordering Zambia and Mozambique. People in Malawi live in large extended families and meetings are often held after Mass outside in family groups. They make a big commitment to Teams as they often travel long distances to retreats and meetings. The Guide to teams and the Charter have been translated into the main language Chichewa as a way of helping those who do not speak English to better understand the Teams method and to be able to participate more fully. The society is still very traditionally segregated, even amongst the younger couples, with traditional, fixed roles for men and women.

Father Gerard Bwemba, a Team chaplain, commented that he has seen the fruits of Teams, with more couples coming to church to have their marriages blessed. He said that lay people have a part to play in the church and need to share responsibility for supporting families with problems. His parish is very active with 124 children for First Communion and 64 Baptisms. Team couples are very focussed on family, vocation and mission.

ZAMBIA

Zambia, in southern Africa, is a landlocked country of rugged terrain and diverse wildlife, with many parks and safari areas. On its border with Zimbabwe is the famed Victoria Falls. Piotr and Dzidzia met the Zambian Teams in Kalichero with Father Banyangandora who has worked with the Teams since January 2019. The teams meet in each other’s homes and once a month at the parish. Some teams live 50 kilometres away from the parish. The parish is also supported by Father James and brother Lucas.

The Parish set up is: Parish > outstations> Christian communities>sections>families. Several smaller sections meet as one team. There are 13 outstations and Teams are spreading to these in a similar way as they did in Malawi creating the Pre-sector of Zambia. The meetings are run following the pattern of meetings received from Malawi. Father always attends the parish meeting and the smaller team meetings have a catechist fulfilling the role of chaplain.

GHANA

Ghana is a country along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean, in the subregion of West Africa. Teams in Ghana were started in 2016 through a link between Prinknash Abbey in England and Kristobuase in Ghana. Kristobuase Monastery came to be built through support from the Benedictine community in England. Mary and Robert Jones from Prinknash introduced Teams to Ghana in 2016 and have visited on at least 3 occasions.

Teams have grown well and currently there are 4 Teams in Tuobodom and 5 Teams in Piloting in Tanobuase with 63 couples in total. Robert and Mary are liaison couple to the Teams in Tuobodom and are supporting the Spiritual Counsellor with piloting in Tanobuase. Communication is mainly through Whatsapp as the internet can be poor. Teams are being “advertised” and arousing interest their shirts have the logo on the front saying “Teams Ghana” and the Teams icon on their backs.

THE SOUTH AMERICAN SUPER-REGION

Who we are

In the years up to 2018, the South American Super Region “Hispano-America” included almost all the countries of Latin America, except Brazil and those not yet reached by the Movement, and was organised into three provinces, North, Central and South.

The accelerated growth in the number of teams and sectors, the great distances, the economic and political crisis in some regions, etc., made it very difficult to animate and encourage them on site, and also complicated life for many team members who found it difficult to attend training events.

Given these difficulties, Constanza and Fabio López, the couple responsible for the SR at the time, presented the project for the reorganisation of the Super-Region to the ERI. After deep and thorough discernment, the ERI decided to reorganize the Hispano-America Super Region into three super regions: SR Hispano-America North, SR Colombia and SR Hispano-America South.

In July 2018, at the ERI College in Fatima, we assumed responsibility for the SRHA and with it the commitment to implement the new project. For a year we animated the SRHA and simultaneously coordinated the connections between the new super regional couples and the outgoing provincial couples, until July 2019, at the ERI College of Valencia, where the official multiplication and birth of the three new super regions took place, with Sofia and Gustavo Hernandez from Mexico, SRHA-North, Mabel and Juan Guillermo Ramirez from Pereira, SR Colombia and we continued the service in SRHA-South.

The Hispano-America-South Super Region has 279 teams and 1479 couples, corresponding to the regions of North Ecuador, South Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay and Argentina; two sectors from Chile and two teams from Uruguay.

Among its greatest riches, we find a great disposition to service, the desire to be formed spiritually and in the orientations of the Movement and the diversity of existing idiosyncrasies.

With regard to the difficulties, we can mention the great geographical distances, mainly in Argentina, Peru and Chile, the economic and political crises that some countries are living, the high level of laicism in Uruguay and the crisis of the clergy in Chile, which have prevented the expansion of the Movement, luckily without a decline in enthusiasm to continue in this task.

We had the opportunity to hold the First SRHAS College in October 2019 in Guayaquil, where we personally met all the regional couples, liaison couples and their councillors. We drew up the work plan for 2020, based on the most relevant needs encountered, which are training and expansion, without neglecting the other aspects of the Movement.

The pandemic

Since March 2020, the Hispan-America South Super-Region has been affected, like the rest of the world, by the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic. During the first two months or so of the quarantine, activity came to an almost complete halt, except for the Eucharistic celebrations, the prayer of the Rosary and the profound experience of Lent, with the collaboration of the Priests Counsellors, all by virtual meetings.

We were a little anxious about how to accompany the team members, to give them hope, to encourage them not to lose faith, to support them in their conjugal spirituality and team life. With the grace of the Holy Spirit, we found in the regional couples, liaison couples and all the members, the enthusiasm, the stimulus, the immense commitment and support to continue this mission.

From then on, we met virtually with all the regional and liaison couples and encouraged them to use the various meeting platforms to continue with the activities planned for 2020, starting by encouraging the monthly team meetings and the care for the counsellors, especially the parish priests.

Everybody reacted positively and started to meet with their support teams and sector couples to motivate them and organize the implementation of events. There was a noticeable improvement in communication with the team members and the counsellors and an exceptional participation in the activities they proposed, especially by those couples and counsellors who are geographically distant and who normally have difficulties to travel and participate in the activities in their regions. The team members from Chile and Uruguay took the opportunity to participate in various activities in other regions, which were announced in the WhatsApp group of the SR and then transmitted to all the regions and liaison couples.

The monthly meetings of the base teams have almost fully resumed. Some team members and counsellors, who don’t have a computer or lack computer expertise, began to participate via their mobile phones or personally met with team mates sharing their computer. They also had virtual social meetings that permitted them to relax from quarantine confinement.

All the scheduled meetings were held, including formation and counsellor meetings, dissemination meetings, piloting meetings, EDIP-C meetings and spiritual retreats, that we call reflection or prayer meetings.

In October we organized the SRHAS College "Virtual Meeting of the SRHS College". During the first two weekends of December we held the "SRHS Formators Meeting", supported by the team of formators of the Super Region Colombia, with the participation of 100 couples from all countries, a number that would not be possible in person for logistical and economic reasons.

We are deeply grateful to our Father God, because He was guiding us according to His plans in the animation and accompaniment of our super-region; and to the Holy Spirit, who enlightened all of us who had to familiarize ourselves with the handling of the virtual platforms, technology that became the ideal tool to keep us in close communication and easily connected.

Nevertheless, we have recommended to our regional and liaison couples that they take advantage of this virtual connection means just for the duration of the confinement measures, and then return to the face-to-face meetings, because nothing can replace the warmth of the meeting and the embrace.

Our expectations

Hope for the end of the pandemic and a return to face-to-face meetings.

To continue for the 2020 objectives.

That the ERI and SRHAS College can be held in person.

The change of four regional couples at the end of the year.

"Let's search together"

Spiritual counsellor: Father Sami Hallak S.J.

The Responsible Team is composed of 7 couples and a spiritual counsellor.

The Teams of Our Lady was founded in Syria in 1972. The movement is currently located in the main cities of the country: Latakia, Damascus, Aleppo and Homs. There are six sectors, three of which are in the city of Aleppo. In 2011 (at the beginning of the war in Syria), there were 57 teams with about 270 couples. We are currently 44 teams (215 couples, 19 widows, and 30 priest spiritual counsellors). The number has decreased as a result of emigration due to the war.

In 2020, following the confinement, the meetings stopped for a while. It was there that the couples discovered how vital these meetings were for their spiritual lives, individually and as a couple. Many contacted each other through the means of social communication to pray the rosary together. Others exchanged prayers, meditations and testimonies through our website.

As soon as the measures of confinement were eased, 90% of the couples resumed the rhythm of meetings with the necessary sanitizing measures. These included a single monthly meeting of spiritual mutual aid, meeting in large places if the house of the host couple was small, etc. The sectors have even organised meetings or masses following the wishes of the majority of the members.

Unfortunately, we were unable to organise spiritual retreats because the risk was great. Each sector made an effort to organise a high point instead of retreats.

Confinement, coupled with a war-ravaged society in a country without social insurance, has affected many households financially. The Syrian Responsible Couple found a little way to help the teams. It was a little push that carried the title: The widow's drachma. This gesture was highly appreciated, and the couples showed great solidarity.

The virtual meeting of the "Far but Near" College on Zoom gave us a great idea. On Zoom, and in circumventing the international embargo against Syria, we did a training session for the responsible couples for the sectors in Syria. Four sessions, during four evenings, in four days. It was great. The embargo made us clever: We were entitled to the free 45 minutes offered by Zoom. Then, we resumed our meeting ten minutes later with a new reservation on Zoom. Each couple in charge had a battery to have internet if the electricity was cut off, and it was cut off several times, and the team continued the meeting with the battery torch. The spiritual counsellor, Fr. Sami Hallak s.j. also participated from Lebanon.

The theme of our Zoom meeting was Fr. Caffarel's phrase: "Let's search together". Father Sami asked those in charge of the sectors to be creative in these exceptional times. We have set the essential in our activities. An effort must be made to maintain the essential, and the contingent is left to circumstances.

This year, training and information sessions have resumed in all the towns, new teams are being prepared, occasional meetings are being organised, and the monthly meetings have resumed. This year, we have three teams in piloting. They are accompanied by a couple for one year.

The knowledge of the movement and its spirit and methods are progressively explained as well as the different stages of its pedagogical methodology and the theme of study during this year (Gathered in the name of Christ).

We believe that this epidemic will end one day. We will resume our pace, strengthened by the power of the Cross of Jesus Christ. Our Mother, the Virgin Mary, sees our efforts and our anxieties for the Kingdom of God. She will present us before the heavenly court and will say, joyful and radiant: "These came out of the great trial". They remained faithful to the Lamb (Rev. 7, 14-15). This is why they deserve a special grace to comfort them.

LEARNING TO FIGHT THE PANDEMIC TOOTH AND NAIL

This pandemic is hitting society hard as a whole and many individuals and families in particular. This has unfortunately been our case. On 4th November 2020, we buried Fernando, Rocío's father. He died a victim of COVID at the age of 98, in his home and in the care of his children. The death of a father is always sad, very sad, but in this case it was especially painful. Of the seven siblings, only three were able to attend the funeral in person because one of the four had been in hospital for three weeks with a serious intestinal disease and the other three, including Rocio, were confined to their homes because they had tested positive for COVID and had become infected while caring for their father. This situation made us reflect and see that at that moment of Calvary, Rocio, besides the suffering of the Cross of losing a father, also had another pain. Like the crown of thorns the Lord wore for all of us, Rocio felt the pain of not being able to go to her father's funeral because she too was confined by this terrible virus.

However, the Lord is always merciful and relieves us in our suffering. Thanks to the tenacity and strength of our daughter Rocio, who did not give up. She transmitted the funeral of her grandfather to her mother and her three uncles who could not be present due to the illness, by means of a video conference, making sure that the whole family was present at her father's funeral.

Our daughter Rocio was very clear that she was not going to remain with her arms folded during her mother's situation of powerlessness and suffering, because she could not attend her father's funeral. That is why at that dramatic moment, with our eyes full of tears, we thanked God for our daughter Rocio, who taught us that COVID cannot break us and that we have to fight against it tooth and nail.

Our daughter Rocio's reaction will serve to teach all of us in Teams what our attitude should be in the face of the difficulties of this pandemic. The limitation of people who can meet under the same roof affects not only team meetings but also the common acts of the movement: welcome, training days etc. But just as we say this, we also have to say that we are very proud of each and every one of the team members, who like our daughter Rocio, are fighting against these difficulties tooth and nail, giving the best of themselves, using their imagination and above all giving LOVE, much much LOVE. We have learned to adapt formats, virtual meetings have proliferated, or we have met in open spaces or in parish halls. Thank you to all the members of the Super Region of Spain for being so generous and welcoming to the TOL family by offering their churches and parishes!

We too, as Responsible Couple for the Super Region, in communion with our Super Region College, have learned to live with this strange and difficult situation: changing the objectives set a priori, placing the care of the Movement as the first priority, fighting tooth and nail for each of the team members, especially the older ones, who are more alone and need more care.

In these times we have to learn to love each other more. As Pope Francis asks us in his new encyclical FratelliTutti, we have to spread hope from heart to heart, trusting in God's love. We are convinced that this is a time of opportunity, in which we are going to learn a lot, and for this reason we have launched activities that have never been done before at a Super Regional level. Some of these are:

● community prayer on the first Saturday of the month, which we broadcast through the YouTube channel of the Super Region,

● the Super Regional Mixed Teams Meeting that met virtually simultaneously on 28 November to work on the Pope’s Fratelli Tutti encyclical. More than 400 couples from the nine Regions that make up the Super Region of Spain participated. This made it possible to form 60 mixed teams with couples from all over Spain.

It was a unique and very enriching experience and many couples have asked us to repeat the experience. So, we already have a second edition of this Mixed Teams Meeting underway for the spring of 2021, to which we also want to invite couples from other Spanish speaking countries, so that they can experience the universality of our Movement.

We are united in prayer and convinced that Our Lady of the Home, through the intercession of Father Caffarel, is helping and enlightening us from Heaven, by sending us the strength of the Holy Spirit to continue to fight tooth and nail in these difficult times. So be it!

Dear friends:

Knowing the love we have for each other in the Teams of Our Lady and with the welcome we always try to give to everyone who approaches us, we present ourselves as the new couple responsible for Communication in the ERI. Knowing that we are loved by all and above all by God, helps us to welcome this call with hope, even though our weakness also poses uncertainties. But this is how we are as people, strong and fragile, confident and afraid, full of contradictions; and this is also our reality.

We are Alberto Pérez and Mercedes Gómez-Ferrer. We got married almost 30 years ago and we live in Valencia. We have three sons; the two eldest already work and live away from home, and the youngest is the only one still living with us. We also work here, Alberto as a high school music teacher and Mercedes as an Art History teacher at the University. We share many things that we like to do together: culture, travel, sports, and excursions which we enjoy extraordinarily. We thank our children for the understanding and support they have always given us in everything we do.

We can say that we have been part of Teams almost all our lives, as we consider the first team to be that of Mercedes' parents, Alvaro and Mercedes. It is an important part of our history, because living what they lived and recognizing the need not to be alone, we decided to join the Teams as soon as we got married. Since then, and for many years, we have been part of Valencia 101. It is a team we love, that supports us, and to which we owe so much. Together we have been charting a path, which passes through very different stages. It is a true path of faith and growth in love. We believe that having persevered in fidelity to the movement from our base team, has allowed us to go on living this path of conversion. This is Teams in the deepest sense of the term. It has allowed us to "revise the focus of our life" and "readjust the perspective".

Little by little, various invitations for serving the movement emerged, to which we have said “yes”. First, as a responsible couple for a sector, also taking on other tasks such as piloting or giving training sessions. Later as responsible couple for the Levante Region of SR Spain, and most recently as coordinators of the Satellite Team for young couples. We have also had the great fortune of looking beyond our team and getting to know the Movement from other perspectives. We participated in the International Gathering of Fatima in 1994, also in Brasilia 2012, and in the most recent one in Fatima 2018. We also participated in the Regional Gatherings in Rome 2009 and 2015, and in so many International Colleges that have been for us an open door to the world. We cannot forget such emotional moments as the sit-downs in the esplanade of Fatima or our participation in the choir. All of this has helped us to get to know many people, to constantly review the pedagogy of Teams, to try to get to the heart of what they propose to us. It has allowed us to share days with many spiritual counsellors who have accompanied us with extraordinary affection, and with people from many places who have taught us a lot about how Teams are experienced on a daily basis.

Really, if we can say anything, it is that we love Teams and we believe that they are a grace from God. This call to service is for us a call to live, in truth and depth, the charism that Father Caffarel intuited in his day and which remains fully valid. We choose again, as we did when we were responsible for our Region and Super-Region, the words of Father Caffarel to the team leaders in the letter of April-May 1957:

"You are in charge of your team members. You feel, and you want to be responsible for their human and Christian development, all you have to do is work. Give to them. Give yourselves.

Even if you are the least capable, you have infinite things to offer, because what they need, in the first place, is not your goods but yourselves. And this is the most difficult thing to do. To give yourself, to always be available for others is difficult and tiring. To be available, without a doubt, to give material service, but above all, a much higher service, which consists of offering an attentive, understanding and motivating heart that conveys confidence, that knows how to tell the truth, that dares to demand. »

P. Henri Caffarel 1957

This is a call that motivates us and makes us come out of ourselves. It encourages us despite the difficulty, it encourages us and drives us. It is a call that makes us recognize our reality and our infinite need for others and for God. It is a proposal to pray together and it is an open opportunity for conversion of heart. We can only respond with love, to all the love received and lived.

This call to a greater love, which is service, in our case has translated into accepting the responsibility for communication in the ERI. It is something that has come about in a very unexpected way, having to replace Joao and Dora, whom we thank for their dedication during this time. We would also like to thank Edgardo and Clarita for the trust and warm welcome that they and the whole ERI have given us. It is a responsibility assumed and shared as a couple, with the help of the Holy Spirit, a support team and the International Leading Team, of which we already feel a part. Some people who have already worked with us also accompany us in this service. Our thanks to Miguel and Isa, Ricardo and Carmen, and Hildo and Sandra. With them we have started a journey to revise some aspects of communication that we can continue and apply at an international level. It has multiple faces like a kaleidoscope. Perhaps the most visible today due to the circumstances we are living in, are those referring to new technologies: presence on the net, websites, social networks, YouTube channels, connection platforms... We are living it and in an increasingly evident way we recognise its usefulness in these times in which presence has become a treasure. But we cannot forget many other faces of communication. How are our texts, how do we say things to each other, how do we bear witness, how do we make ourselves visible to the world, what style do we have of expressing ourselves, of making ourselves understood, of transmitting the hope that the life of the Teams offers us? All these aspects and many more will be addressed with the help of everyone in order to continue to make Teams a place where we can live our Christian marriage in the 21st century.

Making our own the words of the song, "may your Spirit embrace our whole being, make us docile to your voice, transform our whole life", grateful in advance for your welcome and asking for your prayer, we send you a big hug