Care for Creation
A Special Connection
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” Fr. Michael Della Penna, OFM, is the Director at Valley of the Angels school in Guatemala. I am sharing one of the most touching letters I have ever received here at Valley and perhaps in my 15 years as a priest.…
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A Humble Mission
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” Fr. Joe Nangle, OFM, is a former FMS executive director and board member. The originating vision of Franciscan Mission Service remains compelling today, thirty years after it was articulated by FMS founder, Anselm Moons, OFM. Called by Franciscan leadership in North…
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The Shared [Captive] World
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” Teresa is a Secular Franciscan with a long-standing relationship with the FMS family. “To proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners…” (Is 61:1) About 12 years ago, I received an invitation from Andrew, one of the first prisoners from when I…
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Learning from Weeds
Lay missioner Annemarie Barrett completes our series, “Mother Earth Teaches: Digging Deeper into Faith, Community and Justice.” At the end of the day, I am learning that Mother Earth is our greatest teacher. When we look close at the garden, it is all there. “Greatest teacher” of what? What is “all there”? In reconnecting…
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Mother Earth Teaches: The Sacred Nature of Seeds
Lay missioner Annemarie Barrett continues our series, “Mother Earth Teaches: Digging Deeper into Faith, Community and Justice.” “In the Andean cosmovision, we recognize that we are part of our environment. We are not superior to the Earth, nor owners of her, but we coexist in harmony with her, in relationship with the Pachamama, and…
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The Marginalization of Farmers and Learning from Communities
Lay missioner Annemarie Barrett continues our series, “Mother Earth Teaches: Digging Deeper into Faith, Community and Justice.” In connecting with the land, I am also growing closer to farmers. And in our time spent together I am learning more about their reality, their suffering and their resilience. In knowing the women in Santa Rosa,…
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The Disconnection from our Earth and the Call of Franciscan Mission
Lay missioner Annemarie Barrett continues our series, “Mother Earth Teaches: Digging Deeper into Faith, Community and Justice.” Living in the city, shopping at grocery stores, and watching a lot of TV, I never had to think much about how my food arrived at my table. I could answer that easily, “From the grocery store.”…
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NEW SERIES! Mother Earth Teaches: Digging Deeper into Faith, Community, and Justice
Today we launch a new series by lay missioner Annemarie Barrett about what she has learned from her time working in the parish garden alongside rural communities in Bolivia. Okay, so I am just going to say it again. I grew up in the city, disconnected from the land. In my parents’ house, we grew…
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Takeaway Wednesday: Uncomplicating Ecumenism
In today’s post, Communications Associate Michael Carlson writes about his participation at Ecumenical Advocacy Days 2014 as an insightful formation experience. Don’t miss the reflection questions at the end! “Ecumenism” can be a complicated word when there are connotations of theologians debating doctrinal minutiae that can seem ironic given the simplicity of Jesus’ teachings and…
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Short-Film: Reconciliation and Mother Earth
Continuing our series Sacraments and Social Mission: Living the Gospel, Being Disciples, today we share a short film titled “El litio: La Siguiente Batalla de Bolivia” or (roughly translated) “Lithium: The Next Battle of Bolivia”. “Care for Creation” is hugely important in Franciscan Spirituality. This film is about concrete political realities, but it also is…
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“Necesitamos menos ciencia y más Pachamama”
Continuing our series Sacraments and Social Mission: Living the Gospel, Being Disciples, current missioner Annemarie Barrett writes about her relationship with the Earth, its presence in her life, and her ongoing conversion. When I am in Santa Rosa, time is relative. We spend less energy worrying about what time it is or when we need…
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Spirit, Body, and Earth: A Missioner’s Transformation
Continuing our series Sacraments and Social Mission: Living the Gospel, Being Disciples, current missioner Annemarie Barrett writes about her relationship with the Earth, its presence in her life, and her ongoing conversion. I did not grow up gardening. I never got much into my science classes. I preferred reading and writing and making art to…
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The Light of One: Mother. Administrator. Agronomist. Jefa. Friend.
Continuing our daily Advent reflection series, Missioner Annemarie Barrett writes about a woman who continues to greatly influence her life in more ways than one. Mother. Administrator. Agronomist. Jefa. Friend. Working with Casta, our parish administrator and jefa in the parish garden, has been one of the many transformative relationships that I have encountered in…
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Natural Beauty Using Natural Ingredients
Recently Mary House, an organization where some of our Domestic Volunteers help out on Wednesdays, hosted a workshop on natural hair and skin care. Try some of these tips we learned and go natural with things you can easily find in your kitchen! Photo taken by Sarah Cady via Flickr Hair Care Tips Apple Cider…
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Franciscan Friday: Laborers of the Lord
This Friday post comes from Jeff Sved on mission in Bolivia where he is finding work, and God, in the vineyards. Photo by Feliciano Guimarães Fruit of the vine and work of human hands now has a new meaning for me after a few afternoons sorting grapes with the Capuchin Sisters down the street. They…
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Mission Monday: Community Gardens in Bolivia
As a Franciscan organization rooted in the commitment of caring for creation, Earth Day is a very special time for us. We are especially joyous today because our newest lay missioners in Cochabamba, Bolivia have been recently participating in some great ecological endeavors while exploring the ministries in which they’ll serve. From community gardens to…
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Take the First Step and Don’t Leave a Footprint!
Earth Day is in a couple of weeks and as a Franciscan organization we are looking forward to celebrating! With a new Pope expressing the urgent need of our attention to protecting the earth, a renewed push for environmental sustainability has rattled the religious world. Search “catholic earth day” on Google and you will receive…
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