Year: 2014
10 Days in Istanbul
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” Following my junior year of college, I went on a 10-day study abroad trip to Istanbul, Turkey, mostly because an episode of No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain made me obsessed with the ancient city in high school. It was my first…
Read MoreBonds of Friendship
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” Mariam is a former employee and close friend of FMS. My two closest friends from childhood are Marjie, a Conservative/Orthodox Jew, and Sehreen, an Ismaili Muslim. As an Orthodox Christian, I have always been thankful to have their perspectives along my…
Read MoreThe Best Shoes I Ever Had
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” Anusia Dickow is a good friend to FMS. In college I volunteered in an emergency women’s shelter in North Saint Louis. One night, there was only one woman at the shelter, Deborah. This twenty-year-old, Caucasian, college student did not know how to…
Read MoreMerry Christmas!
Jesus is happy to come with us, as truth is happy to be spoken, as life to be lived, as light to be lit, as love is to be loved, as joy to be given, as peace to be spread. -St. Francis of Assisi Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus when he crossed the great…
Read MoreSeeds of Change
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World” through Mary’s thoughts and experiences. Working in Carmen Pampa at the University, I get the privilege of working alongside the students in the campus gardens. As we weed next to each other I get to hear about their lives, where they come from, and what…
Read MoreReality Strikes
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” As part of his ministry, Jeff works alongside the work delegates in the different prisons to coordinate material purchases and machinery upkeep for the inmates’ workshops. Through his relationships with the artisans and leather workers, he also works as one of their…
Read MoreGrowth Through Faith
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” Michael is the former communications associate at FMS. We Irish-Catholics are known for many things, but ecumenism isn’t one of those things. In my own heart, I’ve felt a need to resist feelings of clannishness and pride that keep me from…
Read MoreA Shared World at Home
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” I can still remember how nervous I was my first night hosting at Claremont Homeless Advocacy Program (CHAP); I laugh when I think about it now. I started volunteering at CHAP in preparation for formation with FMS in Washington, DC. CHAP…
Read MoreAn FMS Night Before Christmas
Trying to find a simple and fun way to celebrate the holidays with your community, Secular fraternity, or office? This year, the Franciscan Mission Service staff played the following game at our annual Christmas party and it was a big hit. We sat in a circle and each person had in front of him or…
Read MoreGod’s Surprises
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” I know now that the squeals were not the finish line. I recently brought flowers to a woman in a nursing home that I visit regularly, and they were received with squeals of delight. I’d met Gladys* the week before at…
Read MoreBrother Santa
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” Fr. Tom Washburn, OFM, is the newly elected board president of FMS. My first real experience of ministry took place the very first year that I entered into religious life as a Franciscan. It was 1991, and finally entering religious life was…
Read MoreWhy You Should Talk to Strangers
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” With my nose stinging of chlorine and my legs treading wildly, I tried to focus on the teary-eyed woman bobbing before me. I had seen her at the pool before. Her face had always reminded me of my mom’s, even though…
Read MoreTime Well Spent
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World” through Nate’s thoughts and experiences. Last week a faculty member from the Unidad Académica Campesina-Carmen Pampa came into my office and asked if I could go through the filing cabinets to clean out old papers and documents left behind from previous…
Read MoreA Special Connection
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” Fr. Michael Della Penna, OFM, is the Director at Valley of the Angels school in Guatemala. I am sharing one of the most touching letters I have ever received here at Valley and perhaps in my 15 years as a priest.…
Read MoreBuilding Bridges
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” Fr. John Ullrich, OFM, is a close friend of FMS. As a Franciscan friar who’s been professed for more than forty years, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to reach out and serve people in serious need, be it physically, economically, socially…
Read MoreA Journey of Love
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” Akisha Townsend Eaton is a friend of FMS and Candidate for the Secular Franciscan Order. Shortly after getting married this past summer, my husband Jack and I set off for what would be a European honeymoon adventure of a lifetime. Despite…
Read MoreA Humble Mission
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” Fr. Joe Nangle, OFM, is a former FMS executive director and board member. The originating vision of Franciscan Mission Service remains compelling today, thirty years after it was articulated by FMS founder, Anselm Moons, OFM. Called by Franciscan leadership in North…
Read MoreWe are One
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” The way I have come to see human beings as the same is not in one event, but in a series of small gestures. It is in the way people interact with me as if I understand everything: whether at my…
Read MoreLearning in the House of Mary
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” January 12, 2010: the day the whole world turned its eyes towards Haiti. The day I began a lifelong journey. The day I started to fall in love. I was 18 years old and in my freshman year of college. I…
Read MoreHow Did I Get Here?
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” When my best friend Meghan asked if I wanted to go on a mission trip to Jamaica with her the summer after our freshman year of college I was a little skeptical. As much as I don’t like to admit it,…
Read MoreThe Shared [Captive] World
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” Teresa is a Secular Franciscan with a long-standing relationship with the FMS family. “To proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners…” (Is 61:1) About 12 years ago, I received an invitation from Andrew, one of the first prisoners from when I…
Read MoreKind Gestures
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” The director of Manos Con Libertad, one of my ministry sites, is from the UK. This past winter, she decided to head home for a few months. She said it was to rest, but I think she actually spent a lot…
Read MoreOne Big Home
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” Today Br. Brian Stacy, a Capuchin Franciscan, shares about the world of Franciscan friars. He also volunteers as a spiritual director for FMS members. Capuchin College is a post-novitiate formation house for the Capuchin Franciscans in Washington, D.C., and it’s what I’ve…
Read MoreOne Ear at a Time
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” New missioner Brandon talks about an experience that lead him to Franciscan Mission Service and his mission call. I walked up a very steep hill along an ever-narrowing pathway towards what would be my home for the next eight weeks in…
Read MoreSharing the Mission
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” On December 3rd, we celebrate the feast day of Saint Francis Xavier, the namesake of my house in college. For those of you who don’t know, Saint Francis Xavier was from the Basque region of Spain, and was one of the first…
Read More#GivingTuesday – Meeting the Needs of the World
As we celebrate our shared world this holiday season, we reflect on the needs of our Church and world today: Franciscan Mission Service meets these needs with a Franciscan spirit. Our ministries transform lives around the globe. Today, on this #GivingTuesday, we hope that you’ll show your support of these ministries by 1) making a…
Read MoreThe Power of One
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” New missioner Maeve talks about an experience that lead her to Franciscan Mission Service and her mission call. On the surface, Wendy and I don’t appear to have much in common. When we met she was fourteen and I was nineteen. She…
Read MoreThe Shared World: 2014 Holiday Blog Series
This season, we celebrate with great joy the story of Jesus’ birth. In this humble and loving act, we see the ultimate example of a missioner. He came to share in our humanity. He came to build a personal relationship with each of us. Just as Jesus crossed the great boundary of heaven and earth to…
Read MoreLessons in Sainthood
I chose St. Cecilia as my confirmation saint when I was only thirteen years old. I can’t remember what drew me to her, but I know I didn’t recognize the significance of her martyrdom at my young age. Church Tradition tells us that St. Cecilia was a noblewoman whose parents arranged her marriage to a…
Read MoreWelcome, Nate!
Join Franciscan Mission Service in extending a warm welcome to the newest member of our Nonprofit Leadership Program, Staff Writer Nate Marsh! Nate finds his way to Franciscan Mission Service through a desire to make an impact on the world around him. “I wanted to do something bigger than myself,” he said. “Most people go…
Read MoreLessons from a Shirt Store
I have spent many years teaching English as a Second Language in foreign countries. In my travels, I was witness to poverty rare to the US and felt a higher power calling me to do whatever I can to support the marginalized in this world. This is how I have found myself as a lay…
Read MoreStaying thankful – and healthy – on mission
This post is about my health. Now before you get all squeamish, even though this is regarding the stomach and all sordid details, I promise to leave out the gross ones. It starts with amoebas. Yes, they are little creatures living in your stomach, but I assure you that this is not the gross part.…
Read MoreAll Soul’s Day in Bolivia
Editor’s Note: Nate shares his thoughts and photos. Last weekend was All Souls’ Day. It was a beautiful holiday, and Mary and I got to see quite a bit of local culture. During this weekend people here make bread called TantaWawas. It can be translated to tons of babies. Wawa is a Quechua word for baby. They…
Read MoreThe (Not So) Joy of Cooking
I can’t cook. In theory, I am capable of cooking. I can physically put the soup in the pot, but I find it’s always a chore. There is no passion or joy in it for me. I am blessed to have grown up in a family where both of my parents are not only good…
Read MoreAn Invitation to Change
Last weekend I was able to witness the past, present and future of the Catholic Church. On Saturday I attended the USCMA conference in Arlington, Virginia, where I was surrounded by hundreds of years of mission experience from all over the world. It was a humbling situation to have the opportunity to listen and share with…
Read MoreCarving Pumpkins
To get in the Halloween spirit, the Casa San Salvador intentional community of young adults carved pumpkins. “Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. God lifts you up, takes you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. God opens you up, touches you deep inside and scoops out all the yucky stuff–…
Read MoreBolivian Election
October 12 was the national presidential election in Bolivia. What is interesting about this date? It was a Sunday. In true Bolivian tradition, there was a party feeling in the streets, as people walked dogs or biked with their families, as all transportation was suspended. When I went with my host family to watch them vote,…
Read MoreThe Big Reveal
They’ve been waiting. And praying…and waiting and praying some more. With much anticipation, the five members of Mission Class 30 learned this week which countries they will each be traveling to in January to being at least two years of service and solidarity. Brandon Newland and Patrick Montine are on their way to Jamaica to…
Read MoreWalking Together on the Journey— US Catholic Mission Association Annual Mission Conference
Three years ago I was on my way to Miami, Florida for the annual Mission Conference hosted by the United States Catholic Mission Association (USCMA). At the time, I had no idea what I would be getting myself in to. I was a college sophomore, had only been an intern with USCMA for two months, and…
Read MorePrison Ministry – It’s No Joke
My family and friends laugh at me when I say,“ Talk to you later. I gotta go to jail,” “It sounds funny,” they tell me. But for me it’s the most natural thing in the world. It’s what I do. I started prison ministry roughly six months ago. When I first started going to jail,…
Read MoreOvercoming Discomfort and Making Friends
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5) In the weeks leading up to Christmas last year, my siblings and I received a group text message from our mother explaining the details of a caroling outing at a local convalescent home. When the time came, our family of seven trudged into…
Read MoreOwning My Ignorance
I was taught at a young age to try to find rooms in which I was the dumbest person there. It was not an invitation to be lazy or to not take education seriously. Quite the opposite: I was told that if I surrounded myself with people smarter than I, then it was an opportunity…
Read MoreInspired by John Paul II
My birthday was a couple of weeks ago. I turned the ripe old age of 23 or 69, depending on who you ask (friends say that some of my interests – including my love of naps – make me an old man.) I had a great birthday – my parents came to visit as part…
Read MoreLearning About Homelessness
The first few weeks of my training at FMS have been very eventful. In the short time I’ve been here, I’ve met countless individuals that have opened up and shared stories that are both meaningful and full of great experiences. I have been a part of a community that is set on helping each other…
Read MoreDiscomfort, Anger, Tears, Foolishness and the Feast of Saint Francis
One hundred feet. It couldn’t have been more than 100 feet. One hundred feet, from the Capitol building in Raleigh, North Carolina to the tour bus parked down the street. These 100 feet were the most significant parts of my Feast of St. Francis. Hand in hand and side by side we marched to the…
Read MoreLiving on Less
I lived on just $400 last month! Yes, this is a proud moment in the life of Hady Mendez. The $400 I spent includes some money from savings in addition to money from the stipend I am paid each month. I’m really proud of this accomplishment because living simply has taught me to be more…
Read MoreWelcome, Melissa!
Join Franciscan Mission Service in extending a warm welcome to the newest member of our Nonprofit Leadership Program, Development Associate Melissa Montrowl! Melissa graduated in 2013 from Franciscan University of Steubenville (FUS), where she double majored in Theology and Catechetics. Asked how the Franciscan character of the school colored her education, she laughs and says…
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