Year: 2011

Enjoying the homemade pizza dinner over at the Immaculate Heart of Mary community, located across the street from Franciscan Mission Service. In just a matter of two months, the 27th class of lay missioners will be beginning courses at Casa San Salvador, with new mission candidates who will be continuing to discern where Christ is…

Let them eat cake: FMS staff enjoyed a weekend at the beach as part of their annual staff retreat. L to R: Matt Lorch, Br. Paul O’Keeffe, OFM; Susie Zagar, Rhegan Hyypio, Rachel Roa. A gentle breeze brushed past my face as I stared out into the crashing waves and ocean in Beach Haven New…

Our domestic volunteer program tends to attract eager service-focused individuals who are enthusiastic and excited to further the work of lay missioners worldwide. While FMS domestic volunteers do not go overseas to serve, they are deeply invested in the work and ministries of our lay missioners. During their year serving FMS, they engage in the…

House manager Daena Padilla and FMS webmaster Jill Staudt weed our vegetable garden. While FMS missioner, Nora Pffeifer has been busily working on building environmental awareness in Bolivia through composting, our staff at our local headquarters have also been using compost to plant a garden in back of Casa San Salvador. So you might be…

A photograph taken by one of our missioners, Nora in Bolivia The environment is God’s gift to everyone and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations and towards humanity as a whole.” ~Caritas in Veritate, No. 48 It was a blessing this week to be able to…

As a part of her the Domestic Volunteer (DV) formation at FMS, Susie Zagar provides a personal reflection on a talk given by one of the guest speakers, Mr. Harold Nelson, an advocate for civil rights and social justice. Program Director Rhegan Hyypio (right) arranged for her fellow community member Harold Nelson to speak to…

A “family photo” of FMS staff, board of directors (FMS returned missioners among them), and house managers. If one could draw a family tree of FMS, you would see an amazing web of connections of hardworking and dedicated people living around the world, standing up for global peace and justice. Over the last two months,…

En route to Zambia: Sandra and Bryce are greeted by a familiar face. In an airport, everyone is on some kind of a journey, whether it is a business trip, a vacation, a visit to see a loved one, etc. Everyone boards the plane with one particular destination in mind. Sandra and Bryce Bradford are…

Our five missioners in Bolivia are overjoyed to be able to share a meal with Fr. Joe Nangle, OFM. One year ago, five individuals made a decision to leave the comforts of home, family, and friends to serve a ministry of presence with the people of Bolivia. Over the year they’ve dealt with the many…

“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means at which we arrive at that goal.” ~Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. encouraged others to “stand in solidarity with the poor, the marginalized, and those suffering the devastation of racism” (Snyder 1). His work inspires our efforts at Franciscan…

2009 FMS and Maryknoll Lay Missioners list qualities of St. Francis during Fr. Mike Johnson, OFM’s “Day of Reflection” formation course. In an earlier post from this year, Fr. George Corrigan, OFM provided an essay on Franciscan theology and the concept of “crossing over in mission.” He wrote: “Francis’ vision of mission included the very…

FMS staff was overjoyed to be able to participate in Sr. Ilia Delio’s Profession of Perpetual Commitment ceremony and mass. At Franciscan Mission Service, we are blessed to have as neighbors Sr. Ilia Delio, OSF and the Franciscan Sisters of Washington, D.C. Sr. Ilia, an author and expert on St. Francis, has been an asset…