spirituality
Day 7: Journey
Editor’s note: As part of FMS’ Advent blog series, Nora McMahon, a recently-commissioned missioner, reflects on what it means to prayerfully journey through life in a world that values destinations. A journey is a funny thing, one I am quite sure that few people do nowadays. Yes, people take trips, travel, and go on adventures,…
Mother Earth Teaches: The Sacred Nature of Seeds
Lay missioner Annemarie Barrett continues our series, “Mother Earth Teaches: Digging Deeper into Faith, Community and Justice.” “In the Andean cosmovision, we recognize that we are part of our environment. We are not superior to the Earth, nor owners of her, but we coexist in harmony with her, in relationship with the Pachamama, and…
Community 101: Listening
For the next four weeks, we will feature a four part series on faith in community every Franciscan Friday: “Community 101: An Introduction to Intentional Living”! and would like weekly contributors to highlight specific features of intentional-living in faith communities: Prayer, Listening, Sharing, and Learning to Love. Today’s post is by Kaitlin Depuydt, one of…
Community 101: Prayer
For the next four weeks, we will feature a four part series on faith in community every Franciscan Friday: “Community 101: An Introduction to Intentional Living”! It will feature weekly contributors highlighting specific features of intentional-living in faith communities: Prayer, Listening, Sharing, and Learning to Love. Today’s post about prayer is by Paola Piscitelli, President…
Poor and Free: “Invest in God’s Dream”
Franciscan Mission Service presents: “Poor and Free: A Spiritual Yes to Less” every Friday in Lent Series contributions: Shane Claiborne: Part I, Part II, and Part III Gigi Gruenke: “Invest in God’s Dream” Jack Jezreel: “The Simple Math of Voluntary Simplicity” Amy Echeverria: “Saying ‘Yes’ to Love” Sr. Marie Lucey (OSF): “Faith Keeps Hope Alive” Marie Dennis: “Beyond Detachment” Fr. Martin…
Franciscan Friday: “The Joy of Love through Commitment”
Casa San Salvador is the intentional faith community where Franciscan Mission Service Domestic Volunteers live along with Katie Miller and James Luisi, who work at NETWORK. Today we chat with Casa San Salvador House Manager Slavka Brigantova to learn more about her faith and how it inspires her to live in community. Slavka, you are…
Takeaway Wednesday: 3 Questions About Religious Orders
Continuing our series Sacraments and Social Mission: Living the Gospel, Being Disciples, our blog today features the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Franciscan Mission Service defines itself through its dedication to St. Francis. While discernment to serve as a Franciscan missioner is different from discernment to religious life, our organization is inspired by the lives and…
Returned Missioner Lorraine Kelley on Mission and Reconciliation Pt. III
This is part of a three part series by Lorraine Kelley: “Mission and Reconciliation” Part I Part II Part III Continuing our series Sacraments and Social Mission: Living the Gospel, Being Disciples, returned missioner Lorraine Kelley (Bolivia, 1994-2002) writes about her faith’s relationship to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and experiences on mission. Mission is a very important…
Francis and the Foolishness of God: Podcast Series, Episode 1
Our FMS podcasts bring the missioner formation classroom right into your home. Our presenters speak on a number of topics including church history, Franciscan spirituality, simplicity, and social justice issues. Our latest podcasts focus on Fr. Joe Nangle’s book, “St. Francis and the Foolishness of God.” Fr. Nangle takes listeners through the thought process behind…
Discernment Days – Is Mission for Me?
Perhaps you have just recently graduated from a college that’s cost you your life savings, countless sleepless nights, and many antisocial weekends. Or perhaps you just celebrated your 20th anniversary at a job you’ve kept through thick and thin. Whether you are 22 or 62, discerning a call to mission can be a journey. For…
Outreach and Charity: Reflections and Answers to Why
For our week of Outreach and Charity, Domestic Volunteer Anna Robinson shares the lessons she has learned through multiple years and ways of volunteering, encouraging everyone to look at service in a new light. Volunteering was a requirement of me and my siblings growing up. Trips to the food pantry, the history museum, group highway…
FMS Podcasts: History of the Church and Franciscanism
Franciscan Mission Service is making resources from our mission formation available to the public, including podcasts from the classes. Our missioners get to learn some interesting subjects while in formation: history, theology, geography, environmentalism, social justice issues, cross-cultural communication… the list goes on! Now you can also be enriched and inspired by these same lessons…
Recommended Reads – Francis of Assisi: A Model for Human Liberation
Last week candidate Jeff Sved shared his book recommendation from formation. This week Annemarie Barrett recommends a book that began with a question, “who is St. Francis?” Coming into formation Annemarie did not know a whole lot about this beloved saint. She knew he started the Franciscan order and that he lived in Italy. Beyond…
Mission Monday: Let’s Talk About Nonviolence
This past week the formation class attended a session on nonviolence, a subject that candidate Annemarie is very passionate about. For this Mission Monday post she shares her reflection on the training and the connections she had made through her spiritual journey. Annemarie (left) at anti-war rally in Oct. 2010. Recently, as a part…
Challenged to live as Franciscan “Minority”
For this Franciscan Friday post, missioner candidate Annemarie Barrett answers a question discussed in her formation class, “What does the Franciscan value of “minority” mean to my life and relationships?” Throughout our formation thus far, the value of “minority” in Franciscan spirituality has particularly affected me. During our sessions instructed by Fransican religious, I have…
A Letter from the Ixcán
We are honored to be able to share a reflection and letter from one of our Return Missioners, Kathy Snider. Following her three years of service with Franciscan Mission Service, Kathy helped to found the Ixcán Ministries, a Christian lay mission organization serving as a ministry of presence among the indigenous poor of the remote…
