advent
Come, Journey in Love This Advent
This first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of a journey. Around the world, Catholics joyfully welcome a new Church year and start to ready ourselves for the coming of Christ’s birth. And here in Washington, D.C., Franciscan Mission Service comissions our new class of lay missioners. We mark the end of Annemarie Barrett and Jeff Sved’s three-month…
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Franciscan Fridays: God Give Us Courage This Advent
Ring in the new Church year and prepare for Christmas with Fr. Joe Rozansky’s four-part Franciscan Friday series on Advent: Photo by Per Ola Weiberg The Advent readings are beautiful invitations to walk in the ways of the Lord. The reading from Isaiah for the first Monday of Advent speaks about the instruction that the…
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The Christmas Challenge: Getting Creative and Simplifying
Our missioner Kitzi Hendricks shares how she challenged herself in her Christmas preparations and hopes you’ll do the same. As the Christmas season approaches, I find myself contemplating the best way to prepare myself for it during my first year on mission. I have found myself turned a little bit upside down without the sounds, the…
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Franciscan Friday’s on Ramadan: Preparing for the Light
To celebrate interfaith friendship and St. Francis’ history with Islam, Fr. Michael Calabria, OFM is guest blogging about Ramadan every Friday though August 17. A shop in Cairo displaying Ramadan lanterns for sale. Dates – the sugary sweet fruit of the palm tree. They are the first food traditionally eaten after a day of fasting…
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Prayers for Christmas: Joy to the World!
“Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room, And Heaven and nature sing, And Heaven and nature sing, And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.”Share in our joy with our “Prayers for Christmas” video. May you have a happy, healthy, holy day filled with…
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Prayers for Christmas: Why Christmas?
Original photo by Ambuj Saxena “Why Christmas? Our vision, our purpose, our goal: to know, to love, and to serve God. To know God, to know the love between the Trinity, to know the Son, and through Him the Father, and the love that is the Spirit. To know the almighty, the creator, the everlasting,…
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Prayers for Christmas: Witness of Love
“This Christmas I am grateful that the love God showed the world in sending His Incarnate Son has been shown again to me personally in the grace of His sending me to witness to that Love, Jesus Christ, in Africa.” – Sandra Bradford, missioner, Zambia Sandra serves with her husband Bryce through a partnership with the Province…
Read MorePrayers for Christmas: Food and Health
We hear the Canticle of Mary, the Magnificat, in today’s Gospel from Luke: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;my spirit rejoices in God my savior.for he has looked upon his lowly servant.From this day all generations will call me blessed:the Almighty has done great things for me,and holy is his Name.He has mercy on…
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Prayers for Christmas: Silent Night
Today’s prayer for Christmas comes from Rhegan Hyypio, FMS program director and returned missioner who served in Brazil from 2005 to 2007 and Bolivia from 2007 to 2008. “May we truly hear the cry of the poor, hungry, sick, afflicted and marginalized in our midst this Christmas. And may we respond in love, acting with…
Read MorePrayers for Christmas: Jesus
“This Christmas I am thankful for the sky, the flowers, the trees, and the people around me — and that Jesus died for us.” – 90-year-old South African woman to whom FMS missioner Tim Marcy brings communion weekly Photo by Rennet Stowe It might seem strange to talk about Jesus’ death this time of year. Suffering…
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Prayers for Christmas: Family
The Gospel for today looks at Jesus’ family tree. Forty-two generations culminate in the birth of Christ. Generations of our own families gather in celebration of this birth this time of year. “I thank God that for having had one more year of my family being together. At Christmas we reconfirm the unity of our…
Read MorePrayers for Christmas: Art and Sharing
Photo from flickr, localjapantimes Today’s prayer for Christmas comes from Andrew Kaleya, a Zambian artist and friend of missioners Sandra and Bryce Bradford. “My prayer is to support my family through art in this coming year, and also to be able to share with others the little things which we have during Christmas.” Andrew…
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Prayers for Christmas: Mothers and Fathers
From flickr user Samuraijohnny “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.” Luke 1:43-44. The gospel for today features two mothers: Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, and…
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Prayers for Christmas: Joy
On this Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent, we rejoice that Jesus is almost here, that our wait it almost over! Today’s joyful prayer for Christmas comes from Sr. Erika, one of missioner Lynn Myrick’s students in Bolivia. Sr. Erika is a St. Joseph sister studying to become a physical therapist. We’ve included her…
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Prayers for Christmas: Youth and Inspiration
Our missioner Nora in Bolivia with children at the Franciscan burn center Remember what St. Paul said in his letter to Timothy? “Let no one look down on you because of your youth, be an example of faith, love and purity to all believers.” FMS trains, commissions and supports lay missioners as young as 22…
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Add to Our Prayer Wall
Each day of Advent, we’re sharing a prayer from one of our missioners, people they serve, volunteers, staff, board members and friends all around the world. Today’s prayer is from Tim Marcy, one of our lay missioners in South Africa who works at an HIV/AIDS clinic and is a practicing deacon. “This Christmas I am…
Read MoreFMS’ prayers for Christmas
Join us in preparing for Christmas by giving thanks for all the blessings God has bestowed on us! We’ve gathered prayers from around the world to share with you this Advent, and this video is a collection of some of our favorites: Check our blog each day until Christmas for a new prayer from someone…
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