compassion
Day 19: Accompaniment
Editor’s Note: Missioner Hannah Hagarty, serving in Kingston, Jamaica, reflects on the the various meanings of “accompaniment” and how her own understanding of the word has grown during her time in mission. Accompaniment is the reason I was drawn to FMS. When choosing which organization to serve abroad with, I came across FMS and read…
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Love Blooms Through Patience
Editor’s Note: Current Missioner in Bolivia, Maggie Van Roekel recalls a moment where beauty shone through the side of relationship that requires patience. The three of us walked back to the house in silence. There had been an argument on the soccer field. Unkind words and raised voices had been thrown. Heads down, we quietly…
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Love Blooms in Unexpected Places
Editor’s Note: Associate Director, Meghan Meros reflects on how love bloomed in an a very unexpected situation through the kindness of a stranger. Search my phone contacts and you will find an eclectic group of people. Occasionally, I tell myself that it’s time to purge my contacts (why do I still need the number of…
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Embracing Humility
Editor’s Note: Maggie Van Roekel, current missioner in Bolivia, reflects on a moment that invited her to embrace humility and cast aside shame. “¿Quién necesita carpicola?” What I thought I had asked was, “Who needs toothpaste?” I stood in the kitchen with several kids who were about to brush their teeth before going to class.…
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Come to the Table: Patience
Editor’s note: Missioner Maggie Van Roekel continues a three-part blog series on how kitchens and cooking have become important to her on mission. In part two, Maggie shares a time she learned patience in the UAC campus kitchen in Carmen Pampa, Bolivia. Another kitchen that has made an impact on my experience on mission was the…
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Hail Mary, Full of Grace
Editor’s note: In this post, missioner Cindy Mizes shares her admiration and devotion to Mary, the Mother of God. This blog is part of a devotional reflection that Cindy is giving to St. Joseph’s Teacher’s College today in honor of the Feast of the Annunciation. Through her prayers and intercession, Mary can help strengthen and…
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A Deeper Definition of Dignity
Editor’s note: Missioner Catherine Hope Sullivan explores perspectives on sexuality through the lens of her experiences in San Sebastian Prison in Cochabamba, Bolivia. First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes the baby in the baby carriage. Are you all singing along? I know I am. I have known that song for as long as…
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Self-Compassion Through Struggles
Editor’s note: Missioner Aubrey Kimble shares a prayer and reflection on self-compassion which have brought her peace and healing in times of struggles. Lately, I’ve been struggling a lot. This isn’t something I usually talk about, and it’s hard to share here. But I want to be honest and authentic, and if I am to…
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Were You There: What Can I Give?
Editor’s Note: DC Service Corps member Madonna Enwe shares how a particular encounter with a client at the Refugee Service Center at Catholic Charities moved her to compassion, generosity, and a humble recognition of her own limitations. As I work at the Refugee Service Center at Catholic Charities, one of my most difficult moments is…
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Compassionate Equality
Editor’s Note: Missioner Tom Little reflects on the difficult struggle that often arises between compassion and fairness. Overall, teaching English in my first semester at UAC-Carmen Pampa in Bolivia was a positive experience. That is, except for one incident involving a student, which really tore me up. The university has pretty strict rules in place…
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Letting Go of Indifference
Editor’s Note: Animal protection attorney Akisha Townsend Eaton, OFS, reflects on Pope Francis’ proposed Lenten practice of giving up indifference and how she has witnessed this practice being lived out by two of her friends. I sometimes find it challenging to know what I’m being called to do during Lent. That’s why I was very excited…
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Letting Go and Healing My Brokenness
Editor’s Note: Missioner Janice Smullen reflects on the gifts of Lent and the opportunity that it offers for healing of our broken human nature. Is it possible to love Lent? To love 40 days of fast, reflection, soul searching and acts of mercy? We spend a lot of time during Lent reading and contemplating Christ’s recognition of suffering…
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Comfort and Joy: Prayer and Thanks
Editor’s Note: As part of our “Comfort and Joy” Advent/Christmas blog series, Br. Thomas Piolata, an O. F. M. Capuchin, shares how he sees the face of Christ in the people that he serves. Every Sunday morning, I have the great privilege of serving food to those experiencing homelessness with the Missionaries of Charity and some of my Capuchin colleagues. We…
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Cultivating Compassion
Editor’s Note: Lay missioner Brandon Newland shares how he acted as a bridge-builder between two ministries where he serves in Savanna-La-Mar, Jamaica Even though there was no Bible study over the summer, I still wanted to stay involved with the students as well as keep them connected to the church. I invited the children to…
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Millennial Lenten Reflections: Godly Compassion
Editor’s Note: The following is part of Millennial Lenten Reflections, a blog series in collaboration with Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. Short reflections on the day’s readings, written by young adults from FMS and other organizations, will be posted everyday throughout Lent. In today’s gospel, we are challenged to stop judging one another. Instead, we…
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Les Misérables and the Ministry of Presence
Domestic Volunteer Anna didn’t expect to feel the spirit of St. Francis in a movie theater. And yet she couldn’t help but hear a familiar Franciscan message in the context of this pop-culture film. Les Misérables, the movie that everyone seems to be talking about struck an unexpected chord when I finally viewed it a…
Read MorePrayers for Christmas: Compassion
Happy Feast of Blessed Mary Frances Shervier, member of the Secular Franciscan Third Order and founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor! Frances dedicated herself and her congregation to the healing of all persons, especially the poor and the suffering. “I believed that I saw the Lord himself in the poor and the sick,…
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Prayers for Christmas: Mothers and Fathers
From flickr user Samuraijohnny “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.” Luke 1:43-44. The gospel for today features two mothers: Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, and…
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Prayers for Christmas: Volunteering and Human Rights
FMS Executive Director Kim Smolik offers a reflection as today’s prayer for Christmas: To say I am blessed in the work I do would be an understatement. I think a job like mine is a rare gift — it takes me around the world, to places one does not usually think of visiting, into the…
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