Feasting the Franciscan Way: Dinner with the Board of Directors

Three things make a Franciscan celebration complete: a Mass, a meal, and renewed relationships. On the evening of Saturday, November 2, Casa San Salvador hosted the Franciscan Mission Service Board Committee by sharing those exact things.

After a day of meetings, the Board Committee and guests visited Casa San Salvador at the invitation of its community members and Franciscan Mission Service as a way demonstrate appreciation of the Board’s service. Fr. Joe celebrated Mass for All Souls Day as the missioners prepared a meal for the 40 people in attendance. The evening concluded with shared conversations between board members, guests, missioners in training, domestic lay volunteers, and the Franciscan Mission Service staff.

The evening began with Mass in the Casa San Salvador dining room. The dining room required considerable reorganization and supplementation to accommodate the almost forty people in attendance as Fr. Joseph Nangle, OFM, celebrated the Feast of All Souls.

Delivering the Gospel and subsequent homily in a relaxed and colloquial manner, Fr. Joe emphasized how Jesus established a relationship with Zacchaeus not by establishing authority, but physically visiting Zacchaeus in his own home. Fr. Joe’s message was particularly salient for the current missioners in formation, but was also a reminder to the Franciscan family in attendance at Casa San Salvador of the explicit Gospel directive that motivates Franciscan Mission Service.

After Mass, Casa San Salvador served wine along with hors d’oeuvres in the form of roasted pork sliders, fruit, crudites, and various cheeses. Missioners in formation, Nate and Mary Mortenson, Valerie Ellis, and Hady Mendez prepared all food served during the evening. While socializing with guests, Missioners in formation, domestic volunteers, and Franciscan Mission Service staff members, Board members positively recounted their earlier meeting. Board member Bob Batson stated that, “there was just a good spirit in the room. Everyone is excited for the new missioners.” The evening at Casa San Salvador allowed for board members to personally meet those new missioners in training as well as the domestic lay volunteers. It also provided the opportunity for mutual sharing of board members’ experiences, faiths, and participation in Franciscan Mission Service.

Board Member Megeen White Testa described Saturday’s board meeting as a “union of individuals,” as she also shared that she particularly had looked forward to enjoying the Board’s “diversity, but also the members’ shared Franciscanism.” Lasagna was served for dinner along with freshly baked foccacia bread and three different salads. Pumpkin pie and various cheesecakes were served for dessert.