Easter
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…
Read More
Drawing Upon Symbols
Editor’s Note: Freshman at Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School, Cayla Dolet spends her Wednesdays as an intern at FMS. Cayla has been working on creative projects to engage her artistic talents with the mission of FMS. This is a reflection Cayla wrote based off her drawings inspired by the Easter season. As a young…
Read More
The Paschal Mystery
Editor’s note: DCSC member Amanda Saunders reflects on the nature of the Paschal Mystery and how this process penetrates into our own daily lives. Passion and death…“the loss of life” Resurrection…“the reception of new life” Ascension…“the refusal to cling, as ascending beyond the old life” …
Read More
Were You There: “Is It Scary?”
Editor’s note: What do escape rooms and the 14th Station of the Cross have in common? NSLP alumna Maria Beben reflects on how Lent—with all its uncertainty, waiting, and unknowns—calls us to greater trust and community. As one of my part-time jobs, I work at Surelocked In Escape Games in Frederick, Maryland. For those of you…
Read More
Were You There: Comfort From a Stranger
Editor’s note: Missioner Anna Klonowski reflects on a past service trip she attended in college, where a small gesture of comfort from one of the women there reminded her that service begins in the little deeds of kindness we do for each other. In college, I had the opportunity to participate in an Alternative Break…
Read More
Letting Go and Following the Risen Christ
Editor’s Note: On this joyous day of salvation, we are reminded of the promise that lies behind Jesus’ invitation to follow him and walk in his footsteps. Alleluia, He has risen! After these 40 days of sacrifice and waiting, today is one of the most joyous days in the Church year. On this day, we…
Read More
Letting Go For Lent
Editor’s Note: Franciscan priest Fr. Greg Friedman reflects on approaching Lent without pride in order to allow God to direct us towards the most beneficial practice during these 40 days. “Doing something” for Lent? Even though we are midway through Lent, it’s a valid question. Some years ago I marched in to see my spiritual…
Read More
Lest we forget
I was recently given the unique opportunity to attend the opening mass for the Antilles Episcopal Conference, a meeting for all the bishops from French, English and Dutch territories, except Haiti, of the Caribbean. To show how big of a deal this is, there were 26 bishops there, one cardinal and a papal nuncio (Ambassador…
Read More
Clarity through sleepy eyes
As a new Spanish speaker, I often find myself asking for people to repeat themselves in order to understand them. Needless to say, things get lost in translation. Sometimes I can’t tell if I’ve heard the speaker incorrectly, or if he’s actually saying something strange. Most recently, this happened during the week before Holy Week,…
Read More
“I thirst…”
As Jesus hung on the cross, he proclaimed the words “I thirst.” Jesus called out in need of something to drink, but these two words encompassed more than the desire for a drink of water. Jesus was thirsting for a world filled with peace, joy, hope, and most of all a world filled with love.…
Read More
Eternal fulfillment
Last week we celebrated a funeral for one of the parishioners here in Jamaica. The woman had been sick for a long time, so she was now free from the pain and in God’s loving embrace. The Jamaicans have interesting traditions for funerals. Since most people in Jamaica are not Catholic, the mass is separate…
Read More
Millennial Lenten Reflections: That We All Might Be One
Editor’s Note: The following is part of Millennial Lenten Reflections, a blog series in collaboration with Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. Short reflections on the day’s readings, written by young adults from FMS and other organizations, will be posted everyday throughout Lent. Perhaps the most radical Christian belief is that of the equal dignity and…
Read More
Millennial Lenten Reflections: Why focus on the cross?
Editor’s Note: The following is part of Millennial Lenten Reflections, a blog series in collaboration with Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. Short reflections on the day’s readings, written by young adults from FMS and other organizations, will be posted everyday throughout Lent. This reflection is partially excerpted from an essay the author wrote for TIME on April 18, 2014. Today Christians around…
Read More
Millennial Lenten Reflections: Seraphic courage
Editor’s Note: The following is part of Millennial Lenten Reflections, a blog series in collaboration with Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. Short reflections on the day’s readings, written by young adults from FMS and other organizations, will be posted everyday throughout Lent. “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to…
Read More
Millennial Lenten Reflections: The greatest gift
Editor’s Note: The following is part of Millennial Lenten Reflections, a blog series in collaboration with Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. Short reflections on the day’s readings, written by young adults from FMS and other organizations, will be posted everyday throughout Lent. For the past few years, I’ve felt especially lucky to have been born…
Read More
Millennial Lenten Reflections: Stay the course
Editor’s Note: The following is part of Millennial Lenten Reflections, a blog series in collaboration with Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. Short reflections on the day’s readings, written by young adults from FMS and other organizations, will be posted everyday throughout Lent. We’re well into Lent. Perhaps what we gave up (or promised ourselves to…
Read More
Millennial Lenten Reflections: Eternal spring is ahead!
Editor’s Note: The following is part of Millennial Lenten Reflections, a blog series in collaboration with Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. Short reflections on the day’s readings, written by young adults from FMS and other organizations, will be posted everyday throughout Lent. This time of year it’s easy to get caught in the late-winter doldrums.…
Read More
Franciscan Friday: Spring Fugue
This Friday, guest blogger and Secular Franciscan Susan Burke, facing her garden, reflects on caring–or not caring–for things we care for. This morning I made myself a pot of coffee and thought I’d settle down with Morning Prayer. That’s what I thought—until I opened the door to the back porch and remembered I hadn’t watered…
Read More
Jesus is Risen!
Alleluia, Jesus is Risen! But are we? After a Lent spent looking at how we are called to be “Walking in Solidarity” with others, we celebrate on this joyful spring day how all is made new in the Lord. For if we follow Jesus’ example of dying to ourselves, we can also experience a risen…
Read More
Franciscan Friday: Why do advocacy? What is our motivation?
For our last post as part of our Lenten series “Walking in Solidarity“, Russell Testa closes with a reflection on advocacy and our call to mend relationships with those “nailed to a cross” in today’s societies around the world.On Wednesday we reflected on the manner in which we do advocacy—the manner in which we call…
Read More