Mission Class 30
My Brother’s Keeper
Editor’s note: Missioner Amanda Ceraldi shares how she has found a deep, inspiring example of what it means to be our brother’s keeper in the lives and actions of her students at Valley of the Angels. Juan* was sitting at the table crying. Tears streamed down his face from his bloodshot eyes. He tried wiping…
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Hidden Treasures
Editor’s Note: After a recent geocaching adventure, missioner Patrick Montine reflects on how placing God at the center of our lives compels us to persevere and find the treasure in any given situation. Recently, my fellow missioner Brandon and I went on a geocaching adventure. For those who don’t know, geocaching is a kind of…
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Taking Down Fences
Editor’s Note: Missioner Amanda Ceraldi shares how the kids she lives with and teaches at Valley of the Angels in Guatemala have challenged her to reexamine her emotional barriers and allowed her to be her full and complete self. When driving nearly anywhere in Guatemala City, I am constantly surrounded by fences. Wooden fences, wire…
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Accepting Differences and the Right to Fight
A perspective from Brandon Newland, first-year missioner in Jamaica Recently, the U.S. Supreme court has decided on some very large decisions. Living outside the U.S., in Jamaica, I witness what is happening in a unique way, and I have become frustrated by where we, as Americans, choose to focus our energy. Even though the political…
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An Unsettling Reality
I often forget where the students at Valley of the Angels come from. I forget the lifestyles they face at home. I forget that they are at Valley for a reason. I forget this because, more often than not, the kids are full of love and smiles. I see them laughing, studying, and playing games.…
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Learning from Children with Special Needs
The last couple of of weeks I have had the amazing opportunity to work in a classroom with some student teachers from Xavier University (Cincinnati, OH). They came to work with children with special needs. They needed assistance for their student teaching, and I have some experience teaching, so I agreed to help. I worked…
Read MoreDave El Pulpo
For many people, my name is difficult to pronounce. It doesn’t matter where I am in the world, someone will manage to mispronounce it. I became used to this at a young age and I don’t mind gently correcting people. Many of the kids in Guatemala find my name especially difficult to say due to…
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What Does it Mean to be Sent?
After 13 weeks of formation filled with classes, early mornings at service sites, and plenty of community time, the 30th mission class of Franciscan Mission Service walked into the Blessed Sacrament Chapel at the Franciscan Monastery filled with our family and friends for our Commissioning Mass to celebrate our being sent out on mission. During…
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Lessons in Sainthood
I chose St. Cecilia as my confirmation saint when I was only thirteen years old. I can’t remember what drew me to her, but I know I didn’t recognize the significance of her martyrdom at my young age. Church Tradition tells us that St. Cecilia was a noblewoman whose parents arranged her marriage to a…
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Lessons from a Shirt Store
I have spent many years teaching English as a Second Language in foreign countries. In my travels, I was witness to poverty rare to the US and felt a higher power calling me to do whatever I can to support the marginalized in this world. This is how I have found myself as a lay…
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The (Not So) Joy of Cooking
I can’t cook. In theory, I am capable of cooking. I can physically put the soup in the pot, but I find it’s always a chore. There is no passion or joy in it for me. I am blessed to have grown up in a family where both of my parents are not only good…
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Carving Pumpkins
To get in the Halloween spirit, the Casa San Salvador intentional community of young adults carved pumpkins. “Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. God lifts you up, takes you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. God opens you up, touches you deep inside and scoops out all the yucky stuff–…
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Walking Together on the Journey— US Catholic Mission Association Annual Mission Conference
Three years ago I was on my way to Miami, Florida for the annual Mission Conference hosted by the United States Catholic Mission Association (USCMA). At the time, I had no idea what I would be getting myself in to. I was a college sophomore, had only been an intern with USCMA for two months, and…
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Overcoming Discomfort and Making Friends
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5) In the weeks leading up to Christmas last year, my siblings and I received a group text message from our mother explaining the details of a caroling outing at a local convalescent home. When the time came, our family of seven trudged into…
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Owning My Ignorance
I was taught at a young age to try to find rooms in which I was the dumbest person there. It was not an invitation to be lazy or to not take education seriously. Quite the opposite: I was told that if I surrounded myself with people smarter than I, then it was an opportunity…
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Inspired by John Paul II
My birthday was a couple of weeks ago. I turned the ripe old age of 23 or 69, depending on who you ask (friends say that some of my interests – including my love of naps – make me an old man.) I had a great birthday – my parents came to visit as part…
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Learning About Homelessness
The first few weeks of my training at FMS have been very eventful. In the short time I’ve been here, I’ve met countless individuals that have opened up and shared stories that are both meaningful and full of great experiences. I have been a part of a community that is set on helping each other…
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