Lent can be a challenging time. We are asked to fast, pray, and give alms, and sometimes it feels like a lot to juggle. We all have our slip-ups. Maybe you accidentally ate meat on a Friday. Or you snacked on cookies and a few minutes after scarfing them down, you realized you vowed to […]

In February, the St. Joseph Workers and I headed South to visit Sister Alicia and the people of Maklovio Rojas, Tijuana. Sister Alicia—a Sister of St. Joseph—picked us up in a tough and sturdy white van. The long journey to Tijuana was eye-opening for me to see what it is like to cross the U.S.-Mexico […]

On November 15, 2018, I stood in a throng of people outside of the deadliest detention center in the United States. The bright headlights of police cars illuminated us and made the sea of darkness between our feet on the sidewalk and the guarded detention center seem to stretch even further. I trembled, partly from […]

by Tim Shelgren – Franciscan Mission Service Who was she? She wore a white habit, she was mischievous, funny, pretty and she could fly. That’s right, Sally Fields in the television show “The Flying Nun.” Until a year ago, Sally Fields’ portrayal of this character was pretty much the only picture that came to my […]

Before joining the Assumption Mission Associates (AMA) Program, I was a young graduate working full-time in a comfortable job and living in the heart of Philadelphia. I felt driven from finally being out in “the real world” after college. It was a new environment with its own set of challenges: adjusting to new roommates in […]