Franciscan Formation Friends 2021 Newsletter Vol. 4 |
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Week 5 & 6: October 1, 2021 |
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On Saturday, international missioners in formation and DC Service Corps missioners walked in the Walk4McKenna, a 5k that benefitted the Father McKenna Center in DC. Currently, two of the DCSC members work at the center during the week and the international missioners in formation visit once a week to volunteer. |
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Welcome to the FMS e-newsletter! Each week, our newsletter will be highlighting what FMS missioners are learning through their mission preparation at Casa San Salvador, the FMS missioner house of hospitality. If you would like to submit a prayer for the missioners as they also pray for you, please click here to be a part of the Missioner Prayer Community. Enjoy these stories from Week 5 and 6!
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On Tuesday of week 5, the missioners were treated to a joint session led by one of the current missioners in formation: Sr. Meg Earsley. As a certified Laudato Si animator, Sr. Meg is qualified to expound upon the encyclical and encourage other members of the Church to consider Pope Francis's call to "care for our common home." Sr. Meg explained the document in depth and asked each member of the Casa to spend intentional time with nature during the session. Sr. Meg's fellow missioners were delighted to hear their fellow housemate speak on her area of expertise, and they appreciated the opportunity to connect with nature in the Casa's backyard.
"While I’ve read Laudato si when first published, it was great to discuss the key messages of Pope Francis with our full community and see his leadership and imperative call to action." -Mari Snyder, international missioner in formation
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Sr. Meg Earsley is pictured reading aloud the creation account from Genesis as DC Service Corps member Joanie McMahon illustrates the story as a visual aid for the participants. |
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Taking Steps Towards International Service |
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Pictured above is the Franciscan Social Center in Bolivia, which is home to the FMS international missioners during their two-year stay. |
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Learning about the international mission sites is an exciting but somewhat daunting step for missioners in formation. Last week, the missioners learned more about the invitational process that FMS uses to assign them to their mission sites in late October. Taking into account each missioner's personalities, gifts, and experience, the FMS staff will invite the missioners to the countries that suit them best. It can be intimidating for the missioners in formation not to know where they will be sent in a few months, but during a series of sessions last week, they were able to learn more about the sites where international missioners are currently serving in Bolivia, Jamaica, and the US-Mexico border. The missioners in formation were also "visited" via zoom by current international missioners living abroad. Missioners Hannah Hagarty, Megan Hamilton, Nora McMahon, Anna Metzger, and Rhonda Eckerman gave overviews of their lives at the international sites and each gave a personal account of their ministry work. These sessions provided the missioners in formation with an vivid illustration of their future lives abroad with FMS. |
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During a week packed with information on the international mission sites, the missioners in formation were blessed with a visit from Fr. Joe Nangle, OFM, spiritual father and former co-director of FMS. Fr. Joe spent many years serving in parishes in Bolivia and Peru, and wrote about his experiences in the book St. Francis and the Foolishness of God, which the missioners were required to read for formation. During his visit, Fr. Joe answered questions posed by the missioners in training, and he shared his wisdom through stories about his time on mission. After his sessions, he graciously celebrated Mass at the Casa for both DC Service Corps members and the missioners in formation.
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"Fr Joe Nangle is a gem of a person as he was delightful and inspiring to listen to! His mission journey in Bolivia and Peru describes his ability to persevere through his faith." -Victor Artaiz, international missioner in formation |
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With lessons on implicit bias and contemplative listening, the international missioners in formation learned the benefits of a humble approach this week. |
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Implicit Bias
On Tuesday, the missioners learned about implicit bias from Dr. Crystal Taylor-Dietz, a licensed psychologist from St. Luke Institute, an education and treatment center for ordained and religious members of the Church. Dr. Taylor-Dietz visited the Casa and held the first of two information sessions on implicit bias, which she explains as, "attitudes and beliefs that affect our behavior in an unconscious manner." The missioners also learned about how implicit bias can negatively effect ministry within the Church, and how trainings on implicit bias can help the Church minister to her people. You can watch a webinar on implicit bias by Dr. Crystal Taylor-Dietz here.
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Contemplative Listening
In addition to learning about implicit bias, the missioners in formation were also led in a session on contemplative listening this week. Patience Robbins visited from the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation to talk to the missioners about listening in the spirit of companionship. Patience Robbins led the missioners in listening exercises in which accompaniment was prioritized over people-fixing and problem-solving.
"Prayerful listening requires the willingness to simply offer what is there – like a question, a wondering, a Scripture that comes to mind, an image or just simple gratitude,"
-Patience Robbins
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We invite you to our long-awaited “Franciscan Fall Festival” 2021 World Care Annual Benefit & Celebration, featuring Keynote Speaker Cardinal Wilton Gregory.
Our Annual Event will take place on October 21, 2021 at St. Francis Hall at 7:00 p.m. As we celebrate our home in Washington DC, we will honor those whose ministries in the city reflect Franciscan values.
Please bring a mask and proof of vaccination status. To submit vaccination proof ahead of the event, email meghan@franciscanmissionservice.org
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Ignatian and Imaginative Prayer |
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Each week, the missioners will learn about different types 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. |
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The Ignatian Examen can be prayed daily as a way of recounting the day and renewing one's awareness of the presence of God in their life. |
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Ignatian prayer is perhaps best known for the daily examen that St. Ignatius presented to the Society of Jesus during its formation. However, there are other aspects of Ignatian spirituality, such as recognizing interior emotions, finding God in all things, and spending contemplative time in discernment, that are the foundation of the examen and other Ignatian exercises. The missioners in formation learned about Ignatian and imaginative prayer this week as an aid to their current discernment process, which is a time set aside for contemplative prayer and recognition of emotional responses. |
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Franciscan Saint of the Week |
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The Franciscan tradition is brimming with Saints, Blesseds and Venerables included in the Roman Canon. Each week, we will highlight a new Franciscan who lived a notable life of holiness.
Bl. Solanus Casey was born in Oak Grove, Wisconsin in 1870. During his childhood, a bad case of diphtheria caused his voice to become quiet and raspy for the rest of his life, a trait that he was known for in his ministry. He joined the Capuchin friars in Detroit in 1897, and much like St. Joseph of Cupertino, struggled with the academic portion of his priestly studies and was thus ordained a "simplex" priest. This meant that he could celebrate Mass, but would not take on the usual pastoral duties of a priest. Instead, he was appointed as the porter of the monastery in Detroit, where he greeted visitors at the door with a kind and gentle approach. His prayerful, soft-spoken demeanor was a comfort to his neighbors in Detroit, and soon word of Fr. Solanus spread among local Catholics and non-Catholics alike. People would flock to him for spiritual counseling and to ask him for prayers. Fr. Solanus never turned anyone away, especially the sick. He would pray with and for the sick members of his community, and offered frequent Masses for their healing and comfort. Fr. Solanus himself suffered with severe eczema towards the end of his life, which eventually caused his death on July 31st, 1957. Miraculously, his body was discovered incorrupt years after his death, without any signs of his severe eczema. You can purchase a collection of Fr. Solanus's letters to his friends and relatives, God Bless You and Yours: Letters from Solanus Casey here.
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Bl. Solanus Casey, pray for us! |
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www.franciscanmissionservice.org
415 Michigan Ave. Suite 104
Washington, DC 20017
202-832-1762
P.O. Box 29034
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