patience
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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Day 17: Process
Editor’s Note: Darleen Pryds is a professor history and spirituality at the Franciscan School of Theology in San Diego. She researches and writes on the role of lay women and men in the Franciscan tradition. In this blog, Darleen reflects on the prayerful process of preparing for the Incarnation and how it often nudges us…
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Scripture, Alive
Editor’s note: Through the lens of scripture, DCSC volunteer, Emily Dold, recalls her experiences of God’s providence and peace at the Father McKenna Center. Soapy streaks marked the plastic folding table where I had successfully captured the bits of food, now between the textured ridges of the towel. The towel was certainly well-designed for the…
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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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Love Blooms in Traffic
Editor’s Note: Current Missioner in Bolivia, SarahJane Cauzillo recalls a moment when she allowed herself to be present to the workings of God, instead of sitting in frustration. I was late. Like, really late. I was over an hour outside of the city and yet here I was, slammed into a crowded trufi (taxi bus),…
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Come to the Table: Patience
Editor’s note: Missioner Maggie Van Roekel continues a three-part blog series on how kitchens and cooking have become important to her on mission. In part two, Maggie shares a time she learned patience in the UAC campus kitchen in Carmen Pampa, Bolivia. Another kitchen that has made an impact on my experience on mission was the…
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Patience, Pride, and Pasta
Editor’s note: DC Service Corps Volunteer PJ Herrera recounts an adventure he had with homemade pasta and shares the resulting lessons he learned. The afternoon of January 1st started off about as well as an afternoon can. Alessia, Sam, and I had just returned from the Basilica, where we had gone to Mass. After walking…
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Faith Calls Us to be Neighbors: Finding Peace
Editor’s note: Pat Maloney is the Principal Director for Joint Operational Programs for Aerospace at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and one of FMS’ Board members. As a guest blogger for FMS’ Advent blog series, Pat reflects on her recent trip to Rome and Assisi and shares the opportunities she had to live out…
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Faith Calls Us to be Neighbors: “Welcome” Has No Language Barriers
Editor’s note: As part of FMS’ 2017 Advent blog series, missioner Maggie Van Roekel describe a time when she was patiently welcomed by her students in Carmen Pampa despite the challenges of the language barrier. When I think about being welcomed, one of the biggest ideas that comes into my mind is my first few…
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Showing Up
Editor’s note: Missioner Allison Dethlefs traces the ups and downs of her journey on mission and reflects on the challenges and joys of forming relationships along the way. When I decided to go on mission, Iwas prepared to experience two of the most fulfilling and gratifying years of my life. I pictured myself arriving in…
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Responding With Love
Editor’s Note: Missioner Aubrey Kimble shares her thoughts about how, often, the seemingly simple and obvious answers are the ones that we should really seek. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about love. During my free time, I’ve been reading more of the Bible – specifically the Gospels – and man, does Jesus talk a lot…
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Lord, Teach Me to Pray
Editor’s Note: Missioner Janice Smullen reflects on the challenges of her first few months teaching in a primary school in Kingston, Jamaica, and how she has altered her mindset to fit these challenges. Prayer isn’t so much about making something happen, but asking how I may accomplish my best within what is happening. St. Francis…
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The Bolivian Way
Editor’s Note: In Bolivia, missioner Tom Little oversees and works in a meat packing plant on the campus of Carmen Pampa University. In this post, he shares how he’s had to adapt to a very different understanding of time and deadlines than what he was used to in the US. My main job at the…
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Sorry I Forgot the Camera
Editor’s Note: Missioner Janice Smullen reflects on some of the new sights she’s seen in Jamaica and how sometimes it’s less about getting the photo and more about engaging the people and sharing bits of each other’s stories. There was an old Saturday Night Live skit, probably in the 70’s, with (I think), Buck Henry…
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Roots
Editor’s Note: Missioner Janice Smullen shares how she’s found comfort learning more about herself as she adjusts to a new life in Jamaica. Putting down new roots is so difficult. Being new to Jamaica, I feel as if I am continually struggling to find a good foothold, stand secure among swirling cultural forces, and just…
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Millennial Lenten Reflections: Keep Calm
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. “The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus.” Today’s gospel tells us about…
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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…
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“10 Things I’m Thankful For”
In today’s blog post, current missioner Valerie Ellis writes in gratitude about the blessings she’s experienced during her first month on mission. Photo by Valerie Ellis on a scenic drive with her host family 10. My host family. They have been incredibly hospitable, kind beyond my wildest dreams, and have the patience of saints. 9.…
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Update From Bolivia: Patience and an Open Heart
New lay missioner Annemarie Barrett has been in Bolivia since January 2013. Here is her update on her experience so far. Without the comfort of familiar schedules, places and plans, I can tell you now that the process of growing into a new context is even more challenging than I had expected it to be.…
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Mission Monday: Patience in Solidarity
To kick off week three of our Lenten Walking in Solidarity series with its theme of”Living Solidarity: Work, Family and Citizenship,” new missioner Jeff Sved writes about his experiences so far in Bolivia. Paciencia. With time and practice I’ll be able to communicate adequately in a new language. Paciencia. With time I’ll get used…
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