Home / Stories / National Volunteer Month Profile: Fr. Martin in San Antonio

National Volunteer Month Profile: Fr. Martin in San Antonio

blog_martin

Today we spotlight one of our board members, Fr. Martin Day, OFM Conventual who lives in San Antonio with the Province of Our Lady of Consolation

Fr. Martin became a part of FMS several years ago after connecting with some of our missioners-in-training during a class on Catholiciscm in a Global Context at Washington Theological Union. He was invited to preside weekday Mass at our office, Casa San Salvador, and has helped work with our missioners during formation and re-entry.

In addition to serving on the FMS board, Fr. Martin’s volunteer activities include coaching kid’s recreational soccer and singing in the church choir. He has been on mission trips to the Honduras and may make a return trip this year.

Here’s what Fr. Martin has to say about serving:

“The biggest fulfillment I get out of volunteering is the sense that it’s all good: Whatever I have to offer is accepted, without a lot of requirements or standards for success. That takes the pressure off and makes it easier to stay focused on the work that is being done.

But really, I don’t think of it as volunteering so much as responding to an invitation to participate in the proclamation of the Gospel. Being a religious, the line between ‘what I do for work’ and ‘what I do in my spare time’ is not so cut-and-dried as it might be for some people. It’s more all of a piece.

Being a part of FMS is just another means by which I live out my Franciscan vocation. It has introduced me to a wide array of people who are also fired by the Franciscan charism and attempting to live it out in a variety of circumstances.

It’s enriching to see how that is done in the lives of others who have to contend with a lot of different obstacles than I do.

My relationship with FMS strengthens my conviction that we members of the Franciscan movement have a vital role to play in bringing health and wholeness and happiness into today’s world.”

Honor Fr. Martin’s commitment to proclaiming the Gospel through service by making a donation to FMS today

We prepare and support lay Catholics for two-year international, one-year domestic and 1-2 week short-term mission service opportunities in solidarity with impoverished and marginalized communities across the globe.

The blog is maintained by the communications staff.