Advent
Day 1: Invited
Editor’s Note: To begin our Advent series “The Day of Joy Drew Near,” Associate Director Rose Hardwick shares an experience from her pilgrimage to Assisi and shows how God invited her to go deeper into a beloved Christmas tradition. “How would you like to go on a pilgrimage to Assisi as your professional development for…
Read MoreDay 12: Joyful Voice
Editor’s note: On this twelfth and final day of our Advent and Christmas blog series “His Light Would Not Go Out,” FMS board member Teresa Redder, OFS, reflects on the courageous persistence needed to be a joyful voice for justice in our world. Over the long Thanksgiving weekend, my husband Jeff and I enjoyed some…
Read MoreDay 11: Peace
Editor’s note: On this eleventh day of our Advent and Christmas blog series “His Light Would Not Go Out,” DC Service Corps volunteer Erin Frances Reinhart shares the glimpses of God’s peace that she has seen through her time with FMS and her service with Little Friends for Peace. In the poem “First Coming” by…
Read MoreDay 10: Tangles
Editor’s note: On this tenth day of our Advent and Christmas blog series “His Light Would Not Go Out,” Executive Director Liz Hughes offers a reflection on the tangles of her spiritual life and our world, inspired by the Madeleine L’Engle poem rooting this year’s Advent blog. Tangle. A challenge, but one that even in…
Read MoreDay 9: Born
Editor’s note: Merry Christmas! On this ninth day of our Advent and Christmas blog series “His Light Would Not Go Out,” DC Service Corps volunteer Sam Goodyear uses the birth of Christ to reflect on the miracle of birth itself. The season is winter, and many Christians around the world have spent weeks prior in…
Read MoreDay 8: Mystery
Editor’s note: On this eighth day of our Advent blog series “His Light Would Not Go Out,” DC Service Corps alum Bekah Galucki finds a glimpse into the mystery of the Incarnation, when God became human, by rereading her prayer journal. The Trinity. Holiness. Faith. People. All of these (and many, many more) came to…
Read MoreDay 7: Grime
Editor’s note: On this seventh day of our Advent blog series “His Light Would Not Go Out,” current missioner Domonique Thompson reflects on her ministry at a soup kitchen or comedor in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Instead of a transactional experience, she notices that those who come to be served find ways to serve themselves. Men, women…
Read MoreDay 6: Heal (or Not to Heal)
Editor’s note: On this sixth day of our Advent blog series “His Light Would Not Go Out,” returned missioner Rhonda Eckerman shares the profound healing she experienced once she left her burdens at the altar with Christ. I came to FMS in August 2020 heartbroken as I had recently lost my mother and my family…
Read MoreDay 5: Tarnished
Editor’s note: On this fifth day of our Advent blog series “His Light Would Not Go Out,” current missioner Julia Pinto explores how accepting our flaws, or what makes us tarnished, can lead to a more honest relationship with God. Tarnished? I don’t want to be tarnished! Rather than lackluster, I desire to be beautiful…
Read MoreDay 4: Ready
Editor’s note: In the fourth post of our Advent blog series “His Light Would Not Go Out,” DC Service Corps alum Emily Dold shares a surprising moment of inspiration that challenged her faith. Dear Reader, Sometimes answers come when you least expect them. I am going to invite you into a personal, hopefully also funny-to-you,…
Read MoreDay 3: Unsteady
Editor’s note: On this third day of our Advent blog series “His Light Would Not Go Out,” current missioner Victor Artaiz offers practices that steady him even amidst the challenges of life on mission. During my nine months here on mission in Bolivia, there are many days when I ask myself if my efforts are…
Read MoreDay 2: Wait
Editor’s note: On this second day of our Advent blog series “His Light Would Not Go Out,” DC Service Corps alum and former House Manager Amanda MacMillan shares how a newfound interest in baking is challenging her to be a more patient person who “waits with purpose.” I do not like to wait. I am…
Read MoreDay 1: His Light Would Not Go Out
Editor’s Note: We begin our Advent 2022 blog series, “His Light would not go out,” with a reflection written by our Associate Director, Rose Hardwick. Using an image from her mission experience in the Dominican Republic, she reflects on discernment as a process where God lights our way, step by step. Careening down the dark…
Read MoreDay 28: Incarnation
Editor’s Note: Merry Christmas! On this final day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” we invite you to reflect on the poem “Made Flesh” written by Luci Shaw as we celebrate the incarnation of God becoming flesh and dwelling among us. Made Flesh By Luci Shaw After the bright beam of hot annunciation fused…
Read MoreDay 27: Wait
Editor’s Note: On this twenty-seventh day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” Overseas Lay Missioner Rhonda Eckerman, who is serving on the US-Mexico border, reflects on finding joy, hope, and grace in seasons of waiting. As I sit in my car in line with many other cars at the entrance into the United States,…
Read MoreDay 26: Quiet
Editor’s Note: On this twenty-sixth day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” FMS’ Program Director Emily Norton shares a poem she wrote about the holy waiting, quiet, and sacred preparation of a personal Advent season she is experiencing in her life right now. How stunned I am As I realize God’s invitation for me…
Read MoreDay 25: Respond
Editor’s Note: On this twenty-fifth day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” we invite you to ponder the responses of Mary, Elizabeth, and John the Baptist in Luke 1:39-55 to the miracle of Mary carrying the son of God in her womb. “In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill…
Read MoreDay 24: Remembrance
Editor’s Note: On this twenty-fourth day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” DC Service Corps volunteer Grace Kueber shares memories of specific times of growth in her relationship with God. In honor of remembering you, I may not remember all of the moments of the day I came home from Korea, into the arms…
Read MoreDay 23: Wonder
Editor’s Note: On this twenty-third day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” DC Service Corps volunteer Lauren Barry discusses her experience with wonder and contemplation. I’ve always been curious about the world around me. When I was younger, the majority of my wonders consisted of ‘how’ questions. I would wonder: At this stage in…
Read MoreDay 22: Prophecy
Editor’s Note: On this twenty-second day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” DC Service Corps volunteer Victoria Wangler shares an original piece of prose that touches on the specific details within a person’s life at a given moment: “How small it can seem (arriving to a new life in a new city, understanding that our earthly…
Read MoreDay 21: Goodness
Editor’s Note: On this twenty-first day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” FMS’ Executive Director Liz Hughes reflects on the importance of seeing goodness in the world. Earlier this fall, Fr. Joe Nangle ended a homily in the FMS chapel with a poignant story and the reflection: “If people only knew how good they…
Read MoreDay 20: Gaze
Editor’s Note: On this twentieth day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” FMS board member Teresa Redder reflects on the importance of gazing upon God’s creation with awe and wonder after a camping trip in Iowa, Nebraska, and North Dakota with her husband. While returning to my husband’s home state of South Dakota this…
Read MoreDay 19: Ponder
Editor’s Note: On this nineteenth day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” Brigid Prosser, director of Catholic Charities Volunteer Medical Clinic, shares a poem she wrote that ponders the incarnation of Christ. Let us celebrate this season By contemplating the Incarnation The mystery of God’s humility In His unfolding of salvation. The Messiah…
Read MoreDay 18: Unknown
Editor’s Note: On this eighteenth day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” Overseas Lay Missioner Julia Pinto reflects on the importance of relying on God despite the unknowns in her life, as Mary did. When Mary came to terms with the fact that the Son of God would be growing within her womb, she…
Read MoreDay 17: Humility
Editor’s Note: On this seventeenth day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” Anna Metzger, who just completed her time on mission in Bolivia with FMS, shares what a bike injury taught her about humility. Nothing teaches us humility quite like the Christ child. God chose to come to earth as a baby…babies are the…
Read MoreDay 16: Promise
Editor’s Note: On this sixteenth day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” FMS Board Member Dr. Hans Dethlefs encourages us to place our hope in God’s promises. Promise is a powerful word as we await the coming of Christ during Advent. Promise is hope personified. When we receive a promise from another person, we…
Read MoreDay 15: Sojourn
Editor’s Note: On this fifteenth day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” DC Service Corps volunteer Christopher Zaragoza reflects on what it means to be pilgrims on earth. Advent is a time of reflection, meditation, and prayer. The Church gives us this season as an opportunity to prepare ourselves for the first coming of…
Read MoreDay 13: Praise
Editor’s Note: On this thirteenth day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” DC Service Corps volunteer Joanie McMahon collaborates with Sr. Meg Earsley, FSPA to bring you “The Canticle of Underappreciated Creatures,” written by Sr. Meg and illustrated by Joanie. Check out more of Joanie’s beautiful artwork on her website and Instagram. Back in…
Read MoreDay 12: Community
Editor’s Note: On this twelfth day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” former DC Service Corps volunteer and current FMS House Manager Fatima Godfrey reflects on living in intentional community. I assume “community” is not a word commonly used on a daily basis for the average person. I can certainly say “community” only became…
Read MoreDay 11: Presence
Editor’s Note: On this eleventh day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” DC Service Corps volunteer Lauren Barry reflects on how living in community at Casa San Salvador (FMS’ house of hospitality) during her year of service is helping her appreciate the present moment. I have lived in Casa San Salvador for about four…
Read MoreDay 10: Grace
Editor’s Note: On this tenth day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” DC Service Corp volunteer Grace Kueber shares how God’s grace has been revealed to her while learning to navigate Washington, D.C. A new environment keeps me unsteady Relying on Google maps to tell me when I am ready. To explore, Open the…
Read MoreDay 9: Shelter
Editor’s Note: On this ninth day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” DC Service Corps volunteer Victoria Wangler writes a moving poem about God being a shelter throughout her life. Hold it in your hands. Touch it in the air. Inhale the breath and feel the earth as it slips in there. …
Read MoreDay 8: Accompany
Editor’s Note: On this eighth day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” Kim Smolik, Ed.D reflects on what the pandemic taught her about accompaniment. Kim serves as Executive Partner at Leadership Roundtable, an international Catholic organization based in Washington, DC. Prior to her current role, she served as Executive Director of FMS from 2009-2016, after…
Read MoreDay 7: Hospitality
Editor’s Note: On this seventh day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” Overseas Lay Missioner Mari Snyder reflects on a hospitality practice that she is leaning into this Advent. I have 21 days to make my newly created Advent hospitality practice into a habit. This is the hardest time of year for me to…
Read MoreDay 6: Friendship
Editor’s Note: On this sixth day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” DC Service Corps volunteer Victoria Wangler reflects on the gift of friendship from the perspective of being a triplet. A friend loves at all times. [Proverb 17.17] “Friend.” “Friendship.” “Best friend.” “BFFs.” “Bestie.” These are words that are used so commonly that…
Read MoreDay 5: Generations
Editor’s Note: On this fifth day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” Overseas Lay Missioner Victor Artaiz reflects on generations of faith in his family. As I leave the Thanksgiving holiday celebrations with family and friends, I carry cherished feelings of gratitude, faith, hope, and love into the spirit and season of Advent. We…
Read MoreDay 4: Embrace
Editor’s Note: On this fourth day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” Anna Fluharty reflects on what it means to embrace Advent as a DC Service Corps volunteer serving at Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School. To embrace is to hold someone close or to conceive and radically support a motion. There’s a difference…
Read MoreDay 3: Blessed
Editor’s Note: On this third day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” Sr. Meg Earsley FSPA, who recently completed her formation with FMS and will be serving with the Tertiary Sisters of Saint Francis in Bolivia, shares a reflection on her experience of “blessed leavings” as she said goodbye to the Casa community. Oh, only…
Read MoreDay 2: Meeting
Editor’s Note: On this second day of our Advent blog series “Hidden Joys,” Associate Director Meghan Meros shares how a reunion with a long-distance friend in Scotland inspired new reflections about Mary and Elizabeth’s meeting in the Visitation. Through the drizzle of a wet night in Glasgow, Scotland, a familiar face emerged from a hotel…
Read MoreDay 1: Hidden Joys
Editor’s Note: We invite you to join the FMS family as we journey toward Christmas with a new Advent blog series, “Hidden Joys.” In this first post of the series, DC Service Corps volunteer Emily Putzke reflects on the hidden joys of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, along with the hidden joys of being in the…
Read MoreDay 33: Wisdom
Editor’s Note: To close out this Advent Blog series, Programs Director Emily Norton reflects on the gift of wisdom in the context of the Magi come Epiphany. She shares from her own experiences on how she has found this “sacred wisdom” throughout her past year. The Wise Magi of 2020 “Sacred wisdom.” These are the…
Read MoreDay 32: Wonder & Awe
Editor’s Note: DCSC volunteer and Programs Associate, Fatima Godfrey, reflects on this gift of the Holy Spirit in this Christmas time. She shares how wonder and awe are ever-present should we actively choose to accept their call. Sitting around the dinner table on Christmas day with the Casa Christmas crew, I mentioned to my housemates,…
Read MoreDay 31: Courage
Editor’s Note: Former DCSC volunteer Nayeli Garcia reflects on having the courage to recognize your full self, the sum of all that makes up who you are in this moment, and being able to grow in your faith through it. As individuals, we strive to be our true selves. We want to feel invincible, undefeated,…
Read MoreDay 30: Knowledge
Editor’s Note: Former DCSC volunteer Julia Pinto reexamines the gift of repeated and applied knowledge to her faith life, especially during this yearly season of Advent. She shares this through her lens as a teacher, while conversely contemplating and reflecting as a student who still has much to learn. There is a common phrase about there being a vast…
Read MoreDay 29: Right Judgement
Editor’s Note: Newly-commissioned Lay Missioner Jenny Tsui shares her journey of acquainting herself with the gift of Right Judgement. With being one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, she continues to see how He has been using this gift and working through her. To preface this, I had to do a little research to…
Read MoreDay 28: Call to Holiness
Editor’s Note: Fr. Brad Milunski, OFM Conv. serves as Chair of the FMS Board of Directors and as Postulancy Director for the Our Lady of the Angels Province in Chicago. Reflecting on the meaning of holiness, Fr. Brad considers how Jesus’ life serves as a roadmap for our own lives and how baptism helps us…
Read MoreDay 27: Gifts
Editor’s Note: Communications Associate Bekah Galucki dives into what “gifts” and how we can offer them back to God by recalling the Presentation of the Gifts within the context of Mass. She shares how her own personal experience of bringing gifts to the altar has been transformed. When I think of gifts, my mind immediately…
Read MoreDay 26: Light
Editor’s Note: Executive Director Elizabeth Hughes discusses the light that has contrasted the darkness of this past year. On this Christmas Day, she reflects on the power of Christ’s light within us. One of my favorite websites is NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day. Each day, NASA features a different image of the cosmos, along…
Read MoreDay 25: Truth
Editor’s Note: Margaret Carney, OSF, is a member of the FMS Board of Directors and served as the 20th President of St. Bonaventure University, a position she held from 2004 until 2016. Speaking to the difficult realities of a pandemic Christmastide, Sr. Margaret invites readers to find truth and goodness in the heroic acts of…
Read MoreDay 24: Gather
Editor’s Note: Fr. Jim Gardiner, SA is a member of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement. Based in Washington, DC at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land, Fr. Jim has served on the FMS Board of the Directors and is a friend of the FMS community. In this blog, Fr. Jim encourages readers to…
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