Mission and Service
Loaves & Fishes
Editor’s Note: Lay missioner Victor Artaiz and his mission team notice a need in the community and meet it with a collaborative project to provide lunches for students. In a recent visit to a preschool in Los Molinos with our mission team made up of local Quechuan volunteers, Maryknoll Fathers, lay missioners, and myself, we…
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The End is Only the Beginning
Editor’s Note: As she concludes her time serving in the US-Mexico border region, lay missioner Julia Pinto recalls an encounter with a young woman at the airport and how this encounter prompted her to reflect on how she’s grown during her time on mission. Sitting at the Tucson airport waiting for my flight, I noticed…
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Grace and Goodness Light the Way
Editor’s Note: Lay missioner Susan Sarkissian shares what Jamaican schools are like and where she notices goodness and light in the school where she serves. “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” Matthew 5:16 The Franciscan…
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Let the Children Come Unto Me
Editor’s Note: Lay missioner Susan Sarkissian shares how she relates to the children whom she accompanies at one of her ministry sites. Every Sunday, I join my friends Jeanne and Joleen on a visit to Bethlehem Home. This is one among many homes established by the Missionaries of the Poor (MOP) in service to those…
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The Slow Work of God
Editor’s Note: In the Patient Trust prayer, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin talks about how we mature gradually and require time and grace to become our better selves. That prayer comes to mind for lay missioner Julia Pinto as she starts to wind down her time on mission, reflects on her year volunteering at Casa Hogar,…
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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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Having Hope in Times of Hopelessness
Editor’s Note: As she serves in the US-Mexico border region, lay missioner Kim Wagner reflects on how she finds hope during a seemingly hopeless situation. As I finish setting bowls and spoons on the kitchen counter during my shift at El Centro de Recursos para Migrantes (The Migrant Resource Center), I check my watch one…
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Ministry at Centro Social Franciscano
Editor’s Note: Lay missioner Victor Artaiz describes the ministries of Centro Social Franciscano, the organization where he lives and serves in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Franciscan Mission Service has provided its Overseas Lay Missioners the blessing of living at a converted convent in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Centro Social Franciscano has served the city’s community of people living on…
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With the Sheep
Editor’s Note: Inspired by a passage from the Gospel of Matthew, lay missioner Victor Artaiz considers his time on mission as accompanying Jesus’ sheep. Being here on mission in Bolivia since January 2022 has allowed me to review my journey, to contemplate my experience, and to discern future steps in my life. Being steeped in…
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Choosing the Lesser Ministry
Editor’s Note: Lay missioner Ralph Anderson, OFS recalls his previous mission experiences and reflects on how God is calling him to serve in “lesser” ministries in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Mission is not something new in my life. My first experience was in 1966 with the Knights of Columbus. I was 12 years old, and we drove…
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Dreaming and Discerning
Editor’s Note: DCSC volunteer Jennifer Eburuoh contemplates the various ways that God is calling her to serve and reflects on her year of service thus far. When I was a young child, I dreamed of being a missionary. I spent many days imagining a life among people and places unknown to me. I dreamed of…
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All Aboard to Tucson: Facing My Fears. Mission Accepted.
Editor’s Note: Lay missioner Julia Pinto reflects on how God strengthens her to face her fear of driving so that she can serve migrants at her ministry site. March 13, 2024 Lengthy disclaimer: When you go on mission, especially to do some hot-topic work like humanitarian aid on the US-Mexico border, people often act like…
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The Spirituality of Hello and Goodbye
Editor’s Note: DC Service Corps volunteer Jennifer Eburuoh contemplates being fully present even in brief interactions through a concept that she calls “the spirituality of hello and goodbye.” Being halfway through my service year, I would like to share an unexpected grace that I have begun to call the spirituality of hello and goodbye. This…
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Silent Accompaniment
Editor’s Note: DC Service Corps volunteer Noah Duclos shares a thoughtful reflection on God’s stillness and silence in a Bible passage and how this inspires his way of accompanying others. This week, I’d like to share a reflection on 1 Kings 19:9-13. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you…
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Embracing Connections
Editor’s Note: As she waits for her time on mission to begin, lay missioner Susan Sarkissian reconnects with friends and family members and cherishes her relationships with her loved ones. When the FMS Formation ended in November 2023, I knew I had a long wait for my Jamaican Visa to be approved. My heart and…
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An Appeal for Prison Ministers Everywhere
Editor’s Note: Lay missioner Mari Snyder describes her experience serving in prison ministry and encourages others to perform this corporal act of mercy. I’ll miss climbing up into Norma’s white pickup truck and heading north 7.5 miles, speaking with my friend in my best “slow and halting” Spanish. We can stop shielding our eyes from…
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Holy Ground
Editor’s note: Reflecting on the Scriptural concept of “holy ground,” missioner Joleen Johnson ponders how each person she encounters, created in the image of God, is inviting her to holy ground. Have you ever thought about why God told Moses to take off his sandals when he came over to the burning bush? The story…
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Breaking Down Walls
Editor’s Note: Lay missioner Julia Pinto, who serves in the US-Mexico border region, describes an encounter with a woman whom she serves both physically and emotionally at the Migrant Resource Center. We had months of attending to very few people at CRM, the Migrant Resource Center. The number of people I attended to in my…
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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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All Great and Precious Things
Editor’s note: Inspired by a quote from John Steinbeck, missioner Julia Pinto reflects on what loneliness is teaching her while serving on mission in the US-Mexico border region. She shows up and greets us in the crowded gathering, office cubicle, family home, jail cell, big city, small town. We often ignore her, distracting ourselves with…
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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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What It Was Like on the Border When Title 8 Sunset Title 42
Editor’s note: When Title 42 was ended in May, missioner Mari Snyder and the organizations where she serves were preparing to support an influx of migrants crossing the US-Mexico border. She shares her reflections on the experience. It’s been just a few months since the May 11th reinstatement of Title 8, with the end of…
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Finding My Center in Nature
Editor’s note: After moving across the country to Washington, DC, missioner-in-formation Kim Wagner shares the ways that nature has kept her grounded in prayer and peace during this season of transition. These past few months have been a season of transition for me. Between saying goodbye to my Jesuit Volunteer Corps intentional community in May,…
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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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Memorials on the Migrant Trail
Editor’s note: Each year, an organization called The Migrant Trail in Arizona leads a solidarity walk across the US-Mexico border and through a well-traversed valley, giving walkers a chance to experience the region and bear witness to the place where thousands of people in migration have lost their lives. This year, missioners Mari and Julia…
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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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Small Acts
Editor’s note: DC Service Corps volunteer Matthew Hinderberger recalls a small act of service that he witnessed during his ministry at Christ House, and reflects on how our Catholic faith draws us toward others in service. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves…
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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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The Way the Wildflowers Grow
Editor’s Note: Happy Earth Day! In this poem, Julia Pinto, a missioner on the US-Mexico Border region, reflects on the ever-changing and adaptable nature of desert wildflowers. Through verse, Julia compares herself to these wildflowers, and shares how her experience on mission has forever changed her and her way of life. Experience has taught me…
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Loneliness and Resilience
Editor’s note: Hogar Nuestra Casa, a home for girls who have experienced sexual abuse, is one of missioner Domonique Thompson’s ministry sites in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Reflecting on accompanying the girls through holidays like Christmas and Father’s Day, she recognizes how this ministry has expanded her understanding of both the impact of trauma and the power…
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Designing My Ministry of Presence
Editor’s note: Through his ministry at Food & Friends, DC Service Corps volunteer Jarrett Murano both designs communications materials and makes food deliveries of medically-tailored groceries to clients who live with life-challenging illnesses. He views both parts of his ministry as accompaniment. The holiday season is always a great time to reflect. There’s something about…
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Empanadas y Api Ministry
Editor’s note: Sharing food is a significant aspect of Bolivian culture, and it is a moving part of many of missioner Victor Artaiz’s ministries. He shares how, along with a few friends, he found another way to share food with people experiencing hunger in his neighborhood. It was an evening after Mass at San Francisco…
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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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Trust
Editor’s note: DC Service Corps volunteer Erin Frances Reinhart leads peace workshops at organizations throughout the DC area with her ministry site, Little Friends for Peace. While leading a workshop on trust at the Father McKenna Center, Erin Frances was challenged to trust herself, others, and God more deeply. Little Friends for Peace is an…
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Learning from Children
Editor’s note: Julia Pinto, a missioner in the US-Mexico Border region, shares how the children she meets and teaches at CAME, a migrant shelter in Agua Prieta, teach her how to be loving, welcoming, and intentional. “Maestra Julia, what words would you like to learn in Spanish? We can teach you.” That is my best…
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5 Tips for Talking About Restorative Justice
Editor’s note: Originally published on the Catholic Mobilizing Network blog on January 30, 2023, returned missioner Maeve Gilheney-Gallagher shares five tips on how to talk about restorative justice with those who have never heard of it. My first introduction to restorative justice was accidental. I was one hour into a 12-hour road trip from my…
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Pressing Questions
Editor’s Note: Lay Missioner Mari Snyder reflects on the hardships of migration as she follows a trail through the Sonoran Desert on the U.S.-Mexico border. I invite you to look at the following picture and note your very first thought before reading further. Yes, the Sonoran Desert and its mountains are simply stunning; they’re a…
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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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Compassionate Companionship
Editor’s note: DC Service Corps volunteer Matthew Hinderberger reflects on the need for companionship through an experience at his ministry site, Christ House, a home for men experiencing homelessness with acute medical needs. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then…
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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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Day 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…
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