Will be at St. Gerard Majella Church (Los Angeles) || Parish Website - Check for Mass Times
At Franciscan Mission Service, we believe that God calls us all to serve, and that serving others can cause a ripple effect that creates a more loving world. Our model of service is the ministry of presence. What does this mean? A ministry of presence means that simply being with someone else can make them feel whole, seen, and encouraged. Jesus did this when he visited the sick, the lonely, and the forgotten. St. Francis and St. Clare, our patron saints, lived the ministry of presence by serving people who had leprosy. Our missionaries do this by accompanying people in Bolivia, Jamaica, and on the US-Mexico border.
Here is one of their stories:
Our missionary Hannah served at a home for orphaned boys born HIV positive in Kingston, Jamaica. She spent time with the boys each week, taking them to Mass, playing games, and sharing meals with them. Through her ministry of presence, she grew close to these boys, and especially one boy named Peter. Peter didn’t remember his family because he had been left at the orphanage at a young age, so he came to view Hannah as family. He told her that when he was with her, he felt safe and less lonely.
One Sunday, after Mass, Hannah took the boys to another children’s home where she served, called Bethlehem. These children experience profound disabilities. Hannah explained to the boys how the children at Bethlehem could not feed themselves, that the children’s brains, arms, and legs didn’t work the same way that the boys’ bodies did. Without hesitation, Peter found a hungry child, scooped him up, gave him a big hug, and started bottle feeding him. For over two hours, he was focused on loving the children. Peter, who experienced being marginalized and oppressed, cherished the opportunity to accompany these kids, and they loved him in return. Peter saw God’s love through Hannah’s service, and it inspired him to serve, too.
Hannah’s ministry in Jamaica began because her heart was on fire with a call to serve. Yet this call didn’t stop there—it inspired and empowered many others, including individuals facing marginalization themselves, like Peter, to serve their communities.
May the call to serve inspire us all!
– Franciscan Mission Service
Support the Franciscan Mission Service of North America 1543
You can support the Franciscan Mission Service of North America #1543 through your prayers and monetary donation by making a check payable to THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE FAITH, 3424 Wilshire Blvd 3rd Fl., Los Angeles CA 90010, memo #1543. You may also donate online by clicking the donate button. When making an online donation, reference #1543 in the Memo box. Your donation is tax-deductible as allowed by law.
