Month: July 2013
Paz y Bien: The Importance of Community
In concluding this Paz y Bien blog series, I have taken time to consider what element is the most essential to these nonviolence workshops that we have been engaging here in Cochabamba. What makes these experiences sacred? What about these workshops lays the foundation for personal and social transformation? My experience has led me to…
Read More
Franciscan Friday: Praying for World Youth Day
Every two to three years since 1984, millions of teens and young adults from around the globe gather together for a week of celebrating their faith with the pope. This year’s World Youth Day festivities started on Tuesday and run until Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, under the motto, “Go and make disciples of…
Read MoreThrowback Thursday: The Face of God
In honor of World Youth Day taking place in Rio de Janeiro, here is a reflection written by lay missioner Joe Hambuchen while he was serving with his wife Julie in Brazil from 1996 to 1999. Bible study here is a time for reflection on the coming Sunday’s gospel reading. Although at times the discussion…
Read More
Paz y Bien: “Pieces of the Truth” activity
Lay missioner Annemarie Barrett continues her non-violence series by sharing an activity inspired by Mohandas Gandhi that she has done with groups in Bolivia. “Gandhi’s nonviolence maintains that no one possesses the entire truth. Rather, each of us possesses a piece of the truth and the un-truth. In a conflict, nonviolent action seeks to reveal…
Read More
Mission Monday: The Value of Relationships
First-year lay missioner Jeff Sved sends an update from his time in Bolivia: At the recent Asamblea Nacional del Movimiento Franciscano “Justicia y Paz” Bolivia, I was blessed with the opportunity to enjoy la fraternidad (fraternity) within the Franciscan family throughout Bolivia. Jeff (center) dancing at the Asemblea Nacional del Movmiento Francisco Forty representatives came…
Read More
Francsican Friday: Meet Our Newest Staff Member
Natalie Helfrick This week we welcomed the newest member of the Franciscan Mission Service team: Natalie Helfrick, program coordinator! With her passion and experience with the ministry of presence, we are confident in Natalie’s ability to journey with our long-term overseas missioners from discernment through formation, service abroad, and re-entry. She will also be a…
Read More
Paz y Bien: Living as Minority
The third part of the Paz y Bien nonviolence series by lay missioner Annemarie Barrett: “Poverty is a way of being by which the individual lets thing be what they are; one refuses to dominate them, subjugate them, and make them the objects of the will to power. One refuses to be over them…
Read MoreMission Monday: Share A Lifetime of Experience
Long-term overseas mission isn’t just for young people. After decades of work and life experience, those of you in your 40s, 50s and 60s have something to share with the global community. You have skills. You have compassion. You have love. Our program prepares you for service abroad, supports you while you’re in the field,…
Read More
Franciscan Friday: Revisiting Ramadan
To celebrate interfaith friendship and St. Francis’ history with Islam, last summer we featured a special series on Ramadan. As our Muslim brothers and sisters once again celebrate this holy time, we encourage you to learn more about it through these posts. As a Franciscan priest and scholar of Arab and Islamic Studies, guest blogger…
Read More
Paz y Bien Part 2: A Posture of Nonviolence and Balance
The second part of the Paz y Bien nonviolence series by lay missioner Annemarie Barrett: “With one hand we say to one who is angry, or to an oppressor, or to an unjust system, ‘Stop what you are doing. I refuse to honor the role you are choosing to play. I refuse to obey you.…
Read More
Paz y Bien Part 1: Engaging the Nonviolent Journey in Cochabama
Today we kick-off a special series written by lay missioner Annemarie Barrett. “You can feel it. You can feel the energy!” She told me, beaming, the two of us surrounded by a room full of women sharing hugs and laughter and walls covered in poster board and notes. We had just finished another nonviolence…
Read MoreFranciscan Friday: Part 2 of “Francis and the Foolishness of God” Podcast
This week we continue to our latest podcast series that focuses on the book, “St. Francis and the Foolishness of God,” by Marie Dennis, Cynthia Moe-Lobeda, Stuart Taylor and Fr. Joe Jangle, OFM. In this multi-part series, recorded during our fall 2012 formation class, Fr. Joe takes listeners through the thought process behind the book…
Read More
Maybe We Need To Be A Little More Like Thomas
“The Incredulity of Thomas” by Matthias Stom, public domain St. Thomas the Apostle gets a bad rap for doubting Jesus’ resurrection by saying, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” But before we…
Read More