Franciscanism
The Franciscan Family
Editor’s Note: Lay missioner Ralph Anderson, OFS describes how he met members of Cochabamba’s local Franciscan Fraternity and became involved in the Franciscan community. Once I finished six weeks of language school in Bolivia, I moved to the place where I will reside for the next two years. I live in the Franciscan Social Center…
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A Franciscan Experience
Editor’s Note: Due to a change in her travel plans, lay missioner Joleen Johnson has a spontaneous and very Franciscan encounter in her home state of Minnesota. A good friend of mine got married in July, and I was honored to be able to go “home” for the wedding. It was beautiful all around. Immediately…
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Fostering the Franciscan Charism as a Franciscan Mission Fellow
Editor’s Note: Following this year’s Sending Forth Mass, Franciscan Mission Fellow Joe Costa shares a reflection on how he grew in the Franciscan charism during his program year with Franciscan Mission Service. July 20, 2024 On July 16, 2024, a Sending Forth Mass was held at the Capuchin College Chapel honoring the DC Service Corps…
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All Creation is Shouting for Joy
Editor’s Note: Lay missioner Ralph Anderson, OFS shares how he witnesses Creation singing in praise of God and the ways that it yearns for justice. Every morning, I wake at 5:00 and open the drapes, have coffee, and start my morning prayer. It is pitch black outside, and I can only see the reflection of…
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Finding Peace on an Ant Hill
Editor’s Note: Lay missioner Susan Sarkissian recalls a childhood memory and shares how it inspires her to find peace with other people and in nature. I recently walked past a hillside teeming with multiple varieties of vegetation. It struck me seeing this struggle for space, light, and air to breathe among this collection of grasses,…
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When Plans Change
Editor’s Note: As she returns to her ministry site after spending Christmas with her family, lay missioner Julia Pinto reflects on three strangers whom she encounters along the way. After being away for two years, I gratefully soaked in every moment I could with loved ones over the Christmas holidays. My heart was full as…
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Day 16: Humility
Editor’s Note: For day 16 of our Advent series, “The Day of Joy Drew Near,” Amanda MacMillan, a DCSC alumna and former house manager, reflects on the Feast of the Epiphany and contemplates how we can approach our Lord with humility. The Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the first visitors to the Holy Family. The…
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Day 15: Poverty
Editor’s Note: For day 15 of our Advent series, “The Day of Joy Drew Near,” Ralph Anderson, a newly-commissioned missioner shares his thoughts on poverty and describes how one of his Franciscan brothers embodied this virtue. When the list for the Advent blog series topics came around, I was the last to sign up. The…
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Day 14: Stood Before the Manger
Editor’s Note: For day 14 of our Advent series, “The Day of Joy Drew Near,” Executive Director Elizabeth Hughes shares farewell with the FMS family after 7 years of service to the organization. It is early Advent, and I join my friend’s 5-year-old in setting up their nativity from Cote d’Ivoire, comprised of the Holy…
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Day 8: Solemn: An Advent that Looks Beyond the Blow-Up Santa
Editor’s Note: For day 8 of our Advent series “The Day of Joy Drew Near,” DC Service Corps member Bohdan O’Shaughnessy contemplates the solemn nature of Advent and Christmas. Admittedly, the word “solemn” is not a term I have associated with Advent or Christmas. I typically would assign “joy” or “anticipation” to describe this time…
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Day 4: Brilliant: Why Let There Be Light?
Editor’s Note: For day 4 of our Advent series “The Day of Joy Drew Near,” DC Service Corps member Jennifer Eburuoh compares the image of light disrupting darkness to the Advent season and the mystery of Christ’s Incarnation. Light can be a disturbance–even a nuisance. Many of us have experienced an interruption of sleep due…
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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…
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A Tribute to Our Lay Missioners
Editor’s Note: As this year’s Overseas Lay Missioner Formation comes to a close, DC Service Corps member Bohdan O’Shaughnessy dedicates this blog to FMS’s three recently commissioned missioners. In the not-too-distant future, the Casa is losing our three lay missioners as they embark to their international ministry sites. Last Saturday was their Commissioning Mass, and…
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The Need to Achieve
Editor’s Note: DC Service Corps member Noah Duclos reflects on how God led him to Franciscan Mission Service after attending an Ivy League school and how he has taken Franciscan values to heart. For the past three years, I studied theology and ministry at Yale Divinity School, acquiring my Master of Divinity degree. That’s right;…
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Sacred Spaces and Receptivity
Editor’s Note: DC Service Corps member Jennifer Eburuoh admires the sacred art in the Casa San Salvador chapel. She allows the art to draw her deeper into prayer and to reflect on her year of service thus far. The first day that I arrived at Casa San Salvador, I was immediately drawn to our chapel.…
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DC Transportation Woes: An Unlikely, but Valuable, Lesson of Franciscan Spirituality
Editor’s note: DC Service Corps volunteer Bohdan O’Shaughnessy has an unlikely experience of ministry of presence while taking public transportation. One of the great aspects of living in DC is the accessibility of public transportation. Last Saturday night, after catching up with a close friend from high school who lives in the nearby NoMa neighborhood,…
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The Long Walk
Editor’s note: Not all formation comes from a classroom or book. Missioner-in-formation Ralph Anderson, OFS, shares what he learned on a self-directed day during his 3-month Formation program in Washington, DC. I can hardly believe that I have been living at Casa San Salvador in Washington DC for six weeks. Time has flown by. I…
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Mystical Body of Christ
Editor’s note: Victor Artaiz, a missioner serving in Bolivia, reflects on the ways he sees the “mystical body of Christ”—that is, the Christian community—alive and committed to service in Cochabamba. In mission, we who have left home and family to accompany others living on the margins in other countries are encouraged and nourished by the…
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A Community of Accompaniment
Editor’s note: A dear partner of FMS and supporter of our missioners in Jamaica, Sister Maureen Clare, passed away in May. In this reflection, missioner Joleen Johnson, who lives in a convent in Kingston with the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, reflects on the ministry of presence that the sisters and other convent residents showed toward…
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Video: Life as a Franciscan Missioner on the US-Mexico Border
Editor’s note: Lay missioner Julia Pinto takes us on a journey through her daily life and ministry as a Franciscan missioner on the US-Mexico border. Question for reflection: What part of daily life as a missioner on the US-Mexico border surprises you? Where do you see God at work in Julia’s ministry?
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Finding Hope in Seemingly Hopeless Situations
Editor’s Note: When someone asks DC Service Corps member Sam Goodyear what she does for a living, she is always a bit unsure how to respond. Here, Sam gives us a full answer with a glimpse at her challenging but rewarding work at the UN Refugee Agency. She shares her experience talking with migrants and…
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A Day in the Life at a Franciscan Convent
Editor’s note: When missioner Joleen Johnson found out that she had a day off from her ministry at primary school, she made a plan for how she wanted to spend her time. But the day unfolded much differently than she expected, with many opportunities for ministry of presence with the residents of the Franciscan convent…
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Happy Easter – Feliz Pascua
Editor’s Note: In the Christian calendar, Easter is not just one day, but a whole season to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. As it comes to a close this Sunday with Pentecost, Missioner Victor Artaiz reflects on how he and his Franciscan community share Easter joy in the 50 days of the season. We Franciscans…
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An Interview with Sister Grace
Editor’s Note: In this video blog, Overseas Lay Missioner Joleen Johnson interviews Sister Grace, a Sister of Allegany in Kingston, Jamaica. Sister Grace shares her story of joining the Franciscan sisters and learning to love and serve the poor and marginalized of our communities. Question for Reflection: How have you developed your lifelong ministry? In…
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Food and Friends and Photography
Editor’s note: Recognizing that we can practice Franciscan values in all aspects of life and work, DC Service Corps volunteer Jarrett Murano practices humility by centering the desires of the client in his graphic design ministry at Food & Friends. At Food & Friends, one of my current projects is to make postcards to reach…
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Kindness
Editor’s note: DC Service Corps volunteer Erin Frances Reinhart, who ministers with Little Friends for Peace, shares the impact of a peace education workshop for students on kindness. Little Friends for Peace provides in-school and after-school programming for students at many sites, including schools in Riverdale Park, Maryland, Alexandria, Virginia, and Washington, DC. I have…
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Humility in Franciscan Mission
Editor’s note: Missioner Mari Snyder reflects on how she is learning humility, a key Franciscan value, through her ministries in the US-Mexico border region. Experiencing humility on mission is an oh-so-very-frequent occurrence. The words minor and lesser and to live on the margins of society are words used within the Franciscan community to describe –…
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Almsgiving on a Stipend
Editor’s note: DC Service Corps member Matthew Hinderberger volunteers at Christ House, a home for men experiencing homelessness with acute medical needs. Inspired by the call to increased prayer, fasting, and almsgiving during Lent, Matthew reflects on creative ways to give alms, even while living on a stipend or limited income. Jesus answered, “If you want…
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Living Out Franciscan Values on Mission in Bolivia
Editor’s note: Missioner Victor Artaiz was welcomed to the home of a large family in the countryside of Bolivia. During his stay with them, he witnessed Franciscan values come to life. I am no longer surprised by the levels of Franciscan values I experience on mission here in Bolivia! Case in point are my experiences…
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A Feast Day for Our Wholly Human Families
Editor’s note: Reflecting on the recent Feast of the Holy Family, missioner Mari Snyder shares the mission statement, written during FMS Formation, that grounds her call to serve. Her experiences serving at the Migrant Resource Center this year have only deepened her call to serve “wholly human” families that she meets on the Border. Early…
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And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life
Editor’s Note: Missioner Joleen Johnson shares a reflection on life and death that she wrote and shared for the Transitus prayer service, which celebrates St. Francis’s passing from life to death, and the deeper meaning she found after her grandfather’s passing a few days later. As a Franciscan Mission Service missioner placed in Kingston, Jamaica,…
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Day 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…
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Hospitality: Having a Servant Heart
Editor’s Note: Our new class of DC Service Corps volunteers will each be reflecting on a way that they resonate with Franciscan Mission Service’s mission and spirituality. Matthew Hinderberger reflects on his past and present service and shares his favorite Benedictine and Franciscan value – hospitality. I have always felt that I have been called…
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A Radical Faith: What I’ve Learned from St. Clare about being Franciscan
Editor’s Note: Our new class of DC Service Corps volunteers will each be reflecting on a way that they resonate with Franciscan Mission Service’s mission and spirituality. Sam Goodyear shares the radical story of St. Clare of Assisi and reflects on what it truly means to be a Catholic follower of Christ. Since moving to…
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Ears to Listen: My Ministry of Presence
Editor’s note: Our new class of DC Service Corps volunteers will each be reflecting on a way that they resonate with Franciscan Mission Service’s mission and spirituality. Jarrett Murano shares how his ministry of presence is lived out at his ministry site, Food and Friends, which delivers medically tailored meals and medical nutrition therapy to…
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Beholding
Editor’s Note: Our new class of DC Service Corps volunteers will each be reflecting on a way that they resonate with Franciscan Mission Service’s mission and spirituality. Erin Frances Reinhart shares the Franciscan practice of contemplative beholding as a counterpoint to living life on autopilot. I spent the last seven years earning my doctoral degree…
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Creature Comforts – How God has Accompanied Me Through His Animals
Editor’s Note: DC Service Corps volunteer Joanie McMahon reflects on the Franciscan perspective that encourages her to stop and look for signs of God in all life and through his creatures. As my year in DC Service Corps draws to a close, I have been reflecting on God’s presence throughout the ebbs and flows of…
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100 Days in Jamaica
Editor’s Note: Joleen Johnson reflects on her first 100 days as an Overseas Lay Missioner in Jamaica. I’ve officially been in Jamaica for three months now. In fact, I calculated it, and my 100th day in Jamaica was June 9th, 2022. My time here has felt like it’s just flown by, and I really can’t…
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La Paz Sea Contigo
Editor’s Note: Overseas Lay Missioner Victor Artaiz reflects on the gifts of the Holy Spirit working in his life as he serves on mission in Cochabamba, Bolivia. I recently celebrated the Feast of Pentecost with men and families at El Abra prison in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Within the Catholic chapel, the celebrant priest, Padre Juan of…
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Appreciating God’s Creation in Jamaica
Editor’s Note: Overseas Lay Missioner Joleen Johnson shares a photo blog of God’s creation in Kingston, Jamaica. As a way to appreciate God’s intricate creation, this blog post consists of photos of just a few flowers and plants (and one parrot) found in Kingston, Jamaica. Each petal is different than the next and has God’s…
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The Kitchen: A Sacred Space
Editor’s Note: Lay Missioner in Bolivia Anna Metzger reveals the tenderness that lies within the seemingly common kitchen. She shares different stories of how this space has become sacred to her through meaningful connections. Before my time with FMS, I worked for another mission organization called YouthWorks. During my summers with YouthWorks, I spent many…
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Ending My Year of Service in DC
Editor’s note: DCSC volunteer Emily Dold shares a thoughtful video compilation made throughout her year of service with DC Service Corps. She shows moments all reflective of intentional community, what service looks like, as well as the joy that has come from this year alone.
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The Enlightening Process of Interfaith Photovoice
Editor’s Note: DCSC volunteer Bekah Galucki shares her experience taking part in an interfaith photovoice project across the country. She dives into the fruitful community of this leap into the unknown as well as deep personal growth. Within this year of service, an abundance of opportunities have found themselves my way. Given that time…
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A Peek into my Thought Process
Editor’s Note: DCSC volunteer Madeline McKissick shares her experience from a recent Formation Session, reflecting on her time thus far within the program. She welcomes the pause that comes with stopping and recognizing the moments that have formed her into who she is. Every week, DC Service Corps attends a Tuesday session where we gain…
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Two Desert Days
Editor’s Note: Lay missioner Rhonda Eckerman describes two days from her time in mission at the US-Mexico border. She dives into the details of her experiences of encountering the harsh realities and hardships of a migrant. I am in the first months of my border mission here in Douglas, Arizona and recently have had two…
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Complaint Fasting
Editor’s Note: DCSC volunteer Domonique Thompson shares her experience of fasting from complaints this Lent. In a continuation from her last blog, reflecting on her blessings, she shares her process of practicing gratitude this season. Part of Lent is taking time to fast and sacrifice. When most people think of fasting, they often think of…
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“Who do you say that I am?”
Editor’s Note: DCSC volunteer Madeline McKissick brings the reader into an experience from the DCSC Mid-year retreat. In playing a get-to-know-you game there, she reflects on her identity both within Christ and this intentional community. I anticipated the mid-year retreat for several reasons. First of all, we spent three days in a cute little Airbnb…
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Meals Made to Share
Editor’s Note: DCSC volunteer Airianna Beitler shares her experience of cooking for our great, big Casa San Salvador community. She delves into the importance of food for her and the significance of being able to share this with others. Food is very important to how people express themselves and their cultures. You can guess that…
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One Year: A Reflection on my DCSC Discernment Days
Editor’s Note: Communications Associate, Bekah Galucki, reflects on the impact a year can have in thinking of her discernment a year ago. She openly shares from a perspective of gratitude about the movements of her heart in those few days last February that have brought much fruit. So much can happen when giving God…
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Constantly Immaculate: From Luxury Hotel to Franciscan Home Base
Editor’s Note: Lay Missioner Megan Hamilton delves into the history and Franciscan connections of her daily home-base within the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany convent in Kingston, Jamaica. Megan would like to thank her friend Adrianna Amari who contributed critical research on Constant Spring Hotel. At my November 16, 2019 Commissioning Mass in Washington DC I…
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