encounter
Lessons from Under the Sea
Editor’s Note: Lay missioner Joleen Johnson marvels at life and nature under the Caribbean Sea while contemplating this unfamiliar area of God’s creation. I was recently given a very rare opportunity: to snorkel in the sea. These are some of the thoughts, questions, and lessons that passed through while I fixed my eyes, in wonder…
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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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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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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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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 13: Simplicity
Editor’s Note: For day 13 of our Advent series, “The Day of Joy Drew Near,” missioner Julia Pinto contemplates the simplicity of Jesus’ Nativity and tells the story of a simple yet meaningful encounter. God, I don’t get it.. Why a barn in some far-off village? Why not have the King of the universe born…
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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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Day 5: Brotherhood
Editor’s note: Guest blogger Jeff Redder is a Secular Franciscan who currently serves as the minister of his local fraternity and as the JPIC Animator for St. Katharine Drexel Region. He is married, has four adult children, and six grandchildren. As part of our FMS’ Advent blog series, Jeff reflects on different faces of brotherhood,…
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The Unknown Ways of God
Editor’s note: Domonique Thompson, a current Lay Missioner in Formation, dives into an experience during her time serving at the Father McKenna Center. She recalls her encounter with someone at the Center, and allows for further reflection introspectively. The inward ponderings of her heart echo a greater call towards action in living intentionally and wholeheartedly. …
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Love Blooms Through Patience
Editor’s Note: Current Missioner in Bolivia, Maggie Van Roekel recalls a moment where beauty shone through the side of relationship that requires patience. The three of us walked back to the house in silence. There had been an argument on the soccer field. Unkind words and raised voices had been thrown. Heads down, we quietly…
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Surrendering to the “I Am” in the Womb of the Jungle
Editor’s Note: Current missioner, Tim Shelgren reflects on his experience at Mt. Tabor’s Beatitudes, a home for children who were born with different abilities. Since coming to Jamaica last February as an FMS missioner, I have spent most of my time serving primary school boys in the city of Kingston. Though I have learned to both tolerate and…
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Meaningful Encounters
Editor’s Note: Development Associate, Derek Slaton, shares a conversation he had with current missioner in formation, Becky Kreidler, regarding her love for intentional encounters with those in her life. By talking to Becky I was able to develop a deeper understanding of what motivates her and what matters most to her. In this blog I…
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Seeing Clearly: Solidarity, a Sandwich, and St. Valentine
Editor’s note: As part of FMS’ Lenten blog series, Harrison Hanvey, guest blogger and Assistant Campus Minister for Community Service at the Catholic University of America, reflects on an Ash Wednesday experience that helped him consider the distinction between service and solidarity–all while eating spicy chicken sandwich. The first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday, happened…
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Getting Over ‘Otherness’
Program associate John Quense tells how he ended up teaching yoga every Wednesday at Miriam’s Studio, an art therapy program in Washington, DC. I find that God often draws me to Himself using very personal and uncomfortable methods. This particular encounter began in my bed (pretty comfortable) while I read about the conversion of St.…
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Encountering God in Heartbreak
This Advent, we reached out to our network and asked, “Where did you encounter God this year?” Today’s response comes from Megeen Testa White, a board member who was one of our very first missioners back in 1991 to 1993 when she served in Zimbabwe. Megeen is now a nurse and lives in Silver Spring,…
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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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