Franciscan Formation Friends 2023 Newsletter Vol. 1 |
|
Week 1-2: September 8, 2023 |
|
Missioners in formation and DC Service Corps volunteers |
|
Welcome to the FMS e-newsletter! Each week, our newsletter will be highlighting what our missioners are learning through their mission preparation at Casa San Salvador, the FMS missioner house. Enjoy these stories from the missioners' first two weeks!
|
|
New Arrivals to Casa San Salvador |
|
In August, the Casa welcomed three new DC Service Corps members and three international missioners in Formation. For the next three months, the three international missioners will be undergoing extensive spiritual, personal, and cultural formation and will share meals, chores, prayer, and laughter with the rest of the Casa residents.
|
|
International missioners in Formation pictured with FMS Director of Mission Integration, Meghan Meros. From left to right: Meghan Meros, Susan Sarkissian, Kim Wagner, and Ralph Anderson
|
|
We have raised $24,000 of our $30,000 goal! A generous donor has offered to match each new donation up to $1,000.
Please help us reach our goal and support this new class of missioners in Formation and DC Service Corps volunteers by making a donation to FMS.
|
|
On August 23rd, the participants of the Overseas Lay Mission program and DC Service Corps program embarked on a week of orientation activities led by the FMS staff. The days were packed with icebreakers and teambuilding activities as well as spiritual reflections and program information sessions. |
|
|
|
One of the first teambuilding activities, aptly named "The Spaghetti Challenge," (left), prompted the missioners to build the highest freestanding tower possible using only dry spaghetti, string, tape, and a marshmallow. In teams of two, the missioners had to rely on each other to solve problems and complete the task within an 18-minute period. After the time was up and the winner was called, Associate Director Rose Hardwick led the groups in a discussion about the connections between the intense problem-solving during the challenge and effective communication in community life. |
|
The missioners pictured during a trust exercise at the Shrine of St. Anthony in Ellicott City, MD.
|
|
On the final day of Orientation, the Casa was visited by former FMS board member Fr. Jim Gardiner, SA, who celebrated an Opening Mass for the missioners, volunteers, and FMS staff as this season of Formation begins. |
|
At the end of Mass, the missioners and volunteers each lit a candle and committed to living out a ministry of presence through accompaniment and solidarity with God's people living on the margins. |
|
Formation Begins at the Casa |
|
After the buzz of orientation week died down, it was time for Formation to begin. The missioners took part in several Formation sessions and activities during these past two weeks.
|
|
Missioners posing with "Advent," a sculpture of Mary in front of the Theological College, as they explore Brookland on their scavenger hunt. |
|
On Wednesday, they explored the Brookland neighborhood on a scavenger hunt to find important landmarks and meet their neighbors. While the hunt was presented to them as a friendly competition among multiple teams, the missioners banded together in one group to make the challenge an opportunity for community bonding.
"We learned there would be prizes for the winning team. As soon as we missioners were left alone, the scheming—I mean, strategizing—began...There was an immediate consensus that we should work as a group, and then the fun began...We broke the rules, but the tradeoff was beautiful, we felt like a team, and perhaps for some of us, like a family."
-Susan Sarkissian, missioner in Formation, reflecting on the scavenger hunt
|
|
On Thursday, the Casa welcomed new and longtime members of the FMS family, including board members and alumni of the Overseas Lay Mission and DC Service Corps programs, to a welcoming potluck. In the spirit of Franciscan hospitality, guests brought an abundance of food to share with the new Casa community. Current missioners in Formation and DCSC volunteers spent the evening getting to know the extended FMS family and enjoying an array of homemade dishes. |
|
DC Service Corps member Jennifer Eburuoh, returned missioner Maeve Gilheney-Gallagher, missioners in formation Kim Wagner and Susan Sarkissian, Franciscan Mission Fellow Mary Liepold, and FMS Board Chair Emmjolee Mendoza-Waters. |
|
Missioner in Formation Ralph Anderson spending some quality time with Executive Director Liz Hughes' dog, Flurry! |
|
New Program: Franciscan Mission Fellows |
|
The Franciscan Mission Fellows gathered for their opening retreat on August 26th, embarking on their year-long program to grow in understanding of Franciscan spirituality and the role of mission in the world today.
|
|
Each week the missioners will learn about different styles of prayer as part of their faith formation. We encourage you to enter into this journey; hopefully it can assist in your own spiritual life as well.
Taizé is an ecumenical monastic Christian community in France that practices a meditative musical prayer style. The unique prayer consists of simple repetitive song, Scripture, and silence. The community is dedicated to unity across cultures and traditions. Taizé draws in thousands of visitors each year to experience the community and prayer life.
|
|
Stained glass image of St. Francis from the Taizé community
|
|
Franciscan Saint of the Week |
|
The Franciscan tradition is brimming with Saints, Blesseds, and Venerables included in the Roman Canon. Each week, we will highlight a different Franciscan who lived a notable life of holiness.
This week, we will highlight St. Agnes of Prague. Agnes was born to royalty, the daughter of the king and queen of Bohemia. As was the case for most women of her time and status, she was treated like a political pawn during her childhood and young adulthood, being betrothed to this or that prince, king, or emperor when it became politically expedient. Seeking the help of Pope Gregory IX, she secured release from her engagement to Emperor Frederick II, who remarked that he could not be offended if Agnes chose the King of Heaven over him.
Freed from the potential of an unwanted marriage, Agnes dedicated herself to a life of good works and prayer. She established a hospital and a few friaries before entering the convent herself as a Poor Clare nun. St. Clare of Assisi sent five sisters to join the Prague community, and her correspondence with Agnes advising her on her duties as abbess and the nature of their shared vocation is one of the most important sources for Franciscan spirituality from the early days of the movement.
Despite her noble upbringing, Agnes lived a humble life with devotion. She was known for her strict observance of simplicity and compassionate care for people living at the margins of society, cooking for and mending the clothing of people living in poverty and those living with leprosy even after becoming abbess of the monastery.
Devotion to Agnes arose soon after her death on March 6, 1282. Canonized in 1989, her liturgical feast is celebrated on March 6.
|
|
|
|
www.franciscanmissionservice.org
415 Michigan Ave. Suite 104
Washington, DC 20017
202-832-1762
P.O. Box 29034
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
