#catholic missions

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Therese of Lisieux

Doctor of the Church

1873-1897

Feast Day: October 1 (New), October 3 (Trad)

Patronage: Missions

St. Therese of Lisieux was a French Discalced Carmelite nun, popularly known as The Little Flower. She was a highly influential model of sanctity for others because of the "simplicity and practicality of her approach to the spiritual life." She entered Carmel at the early age of 15 and died of tuberculosis at the age of 24. Together with St. Francis of Assisi she is one of the most popular saints in the history of the Church. Pope Pius X called her "the greatest saint of modern times." 

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

[exploringca]

Spring sprung in wine country last month. The oak trees started turning bright green. The vineyards got their first vines growing. And the wild mustard was abound, creeping up through vineyards. Every year, the first signs of wild mustard bring great joy to me as I drive through Napa and Sonoma Counties. For over a hundred years the wild mustard has brought the first signs of spring to the hills, thanks to the Catholic missionaries who kept it in their bags. In Kenwood, fields of wild mustard line Highway 12. In wine country, wild mustard is not a weed, it is food. Wild mustard is in bloom until the buds in the vineyards start. Then it turns into mulch and food. It fascinates me that something so beautiful and bright is the magic that helps wine country prosper every year. To many though, the beautiful yellow blossoms are the first signs of spring and another year of excellent wine making. 

[interpretingtexas]

The San Antonio Missions

You may remember the Alamo, but it was only one of a string of missions built along the San Antonio River in the 1700s. The other four, Mission Espada, Mission San Jose, Mission San Juan, and Mission Concepción, are now part of the San Antonio Missions National Historic Park and are all part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Missions were an attempt to convert and “civilize” local Native tribes through prayer, discipline, and hard labor. Many Natives accepted the Missions’ strict discipline in return for protection from their now mobile enemies, the Comanche and Lipan Apache. Though the Missions were largely able to provide that protection, they also became epicenters for diseases which decimated the Native populations. Nearly all of the Native cultures in the area were destroyed by a combination of population loss, conversion by the Missions, and intermarriage with Europeans.

All pictures by me.

[bobonbooks]

Review: Death Comes For The Archbishop

Review: Death Comes For The Archbishop

Death Comes for the Archbishop, Willa Cather. New York: Vintage Classics, 1990 (first published in 1927). Summary: The story of two missionary priests from France and their labors over forty years to establish an archdiocese in the American Southwest. It is in the time when the United States took possession of lands in the American Southwest that were formerly part of Mexico. Two Catholic…

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[caribaezjuarez]

Because of the San Gabriel mission, I got an interest in learning about California catholic missions.

[oedanslo-mag]

Au XVIIe siècle, deux jeunes jésuites portugais (Andrew Garfield et Adam Driver) sont envoyés au Japon afin de retrouver leur maître disparu alors qu’il tentait de répandre les enseignements du christianisme. Avec cette adaptation du roman de Shusaku Endo, Martin Scorsese dans son film “Silence” traite du sacré avec ferveur et porte à leur paroxysme les thèmes de la culpabilité et de la rédemption.

Andrew Garfield et Yôsuke Kubozuka dans Silence, de Martin Scorsese

SILENCE Bande Annonce VOST (Martin Scorsese – 2017)

Un film réalisé par Martin Scorsese Avec Andrew Garfield, Liam Neeson, Adam Driver Date de sortie : 8 Février 2017 Nationalité : Américain, Italien, Japonais, Mexicain

Ce qu’en dit Télérama 

“Silence est l’apothéose d’un Scorsese hanté par la grâce, donnée à certains presque naturellement, mais que d’autres poursuivent à jamais et en vain. Et les périls d’une foi qui, parfois, ne reflète que la vanité de celui qui la professe. C’est un film lent, ample, rongé par le doute, certes, mais bien plus apaisé que d’habitude. Devant ces plans magnifiques, où la nature dépasse constamment les ambitions humaines, on mesure à quel point Akira Kurosawa a pu être, pour le cinéaste, durant toute sa carrière, une sorte d’ange gardien. Kagemusha et Ran sont formellement tout proches…” Pierre Murat

Lettre du père Rodrigues à son supérieur

« Les villageois, rassemblés sur la plage, observaient le silence. Les Japonais surveillaient pour empêcher toutes funérailles chrétiennes. Les os restants de Mokichi furent jetés à la mer pour ne jamais être vénérés… Mon Père, vous direz que toutes ces morts ne sont pas vaines. Que Dieu a sûrement entendu leurs prières. Mais a-t-Il entendu leurs cris ? Comment expliquer Son silence à ces gens qui ont tant enduré ? Il me faut toute ma force pour le comprendre moi-même… »

Tant de questions que l’homme croyant ou non d’ailleurs – car le non croyant a forcément déjà pensé à Dieu et à son existence ne serait-ce qu’une fois puisqu’il y a répondu par la négative – se posent encore et toujours. Pourquoi ce silence ? Pourquoi n’obtenons-nous jamais aucune réponse ? Et pourquoi tant d’injustices ? Ce “pourquoi” qui peut nous hanter jusqu’à la déraison ou l’abandon. Il y a-t-il des raisons à tout cela ? De celles qui puissent aider à notre compréhension de ce monde si imparfait ? Dieu est juste et bon. Mais, tant d’horreurs sont commises tous les jours sous nous yeux ; comment pouvons-nous les regarder et les accepter sans douter ? Comment continuer de croire en sa présence alors que la réponse que nous recevons à nos questionnements légitimes ne sont que ce douloureux et effrayant silence assourdissant ?

« Même s’Il a gardé le silence toute ma vie jusqu’à ce jour, tout ce que je fais, tout ce que j’ai fait parle de Lui. C’est dans le silence que j’ai entendu Sa voix. »

Cinéma ~ “Silence” le dernier film de Martin Scorsese Au XVIIe siècle, deux jeunes jésuites portugais (Andrew Garfield et Adam Driver) sont envoyés au…

[weissmissionaries]

Pentecost Newsletter 2016 🔥

Beloved Friends and Benefactors,

Happy Pentecost! Come Holy Spirit, Come!

It has been an incredibly long time since we last wrote and gave you an update. We apologize for not keeping you better informed. Life has been insanely busy with trips out of the country, a new baby, moving and a new job.

2015 began with a blessed 3 month long mission trip to the Philippines. It was a beautiful and difficult time for our family. Serving the poor in Malaybalay included jail ministry, medical mission trips, home visits, work projects, hospital visits, and Bible studies with our Filipino neighbors. Jonathan was commissioned by FMC to create videos of FMC’s missionary work in that country. This included testimonies from our missionaries and attempts to show more clearly what this missionary field looks like. Many of the stories from our time in the Philippines can be found here on our mission blog.

The Lord challenged and stretched us as His servants as we struggled with mysterious bug bites, infections, and sickness as a family. This was especially difficult for Kristen who was 6 months pregnant while trying to keep the boys healthy (3yrs and 18mo at the time).

During our last few weeks in Malaybalay, we went on family retreat to pray and discern what the Lord was calling us to do in the future. We clearly heard the Lord speak of our doing something new and different as a family, but at the time we were unsure of what that meant. After returning home, we continued to pray and discern what God wanted of our family. We were feeling called out of our role as “House Parents” at the Big Woods community but were unsure of where the Lord was calling us next.

On July 2nd we welcomed our baby daughter, Avila Catherine into our family. She has been a delight and a joy and, of course is spoiled by all. We are all completely in love with her and her little personality.

In August, Jonathan was contacted by a fellow Franciscan University graduate about joining 4PM Media, a company specializing in videography, especially Catholic videos. The company is based in Fairhope, Alabama. We went for a visit and an interview and knew that this was the “something new” God had in store for our family. We had less than 2 weeks to pack all of our things and move to Alabama without even knowing where we would live. God led us to the perfect little home for our family and has continued to provide for our needs. We truly see Jonathan’s new job as a ministry and mission field and we are blessed daily to see him sharing his talents and passion for film and photos to build God’s kingdom in a new way.

To see some of the projects that Jonathan is currently working on, check out both The Wild Goose Series, a 14 part online video series on discovering a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit (www.thewildgooseisloose.com) and The Vigil Project, a beautiful series of seven songs for Lent and Easter which will be released online as an aid to your prayer in these seasons. (See www.thevigilproject.com).

We have had many opportunities to witness to others about our faith in the community here. God is constantly putting people in our path to converse with and speak truth to.

We are filled with so much gratitude for the years of constant support and prayers you have provided for our family as we served the Lord through foreign missions and Family Missions Company. Although we are no longer working as missionaries full time, know that all donations that you have made to us are in a “mission only” fund through FMC that we only have access to for missionary purposes. We have chosen not to process out of FMC so we can continue to go on short term mission trips and support FMC in whatever ways God might lead.

Though we are no longer in need of your donations, there are many missionaries that are in desperate need of mission partners. There is an Asian missionary family in particular that we would love for you to consider supporting, Junar and Dian Mardoquio. They are an amazing family and awesome missionaries that we are so blessed to call our friends.

You can read more about them and watch their call to missions video here: www.mardoquiofamily.familymissionscompany.com

We continue to keep each of you and your intentions in our prayers and thank God for your partnership in spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth! We love you all!

Until the whole world hears,

Jonathan, Kristen, Edmond (4), Philip (2), & Avila (10 months)

251-604-8318 [email protected]

[rogalbert]

Deep down, are we all racist?

Deep down, are we all racist?

Deep down, are we all racist and xenophobic?

In my last two posts I wrote about a book by Dom Benoit published in 1904 about the Catholic missions in the mid 19th Century in the Canadian West.  The book is a biography of Mgr. Taché, second archbishop of St. Boniface (1853-1894).

Was I unfair in singling them out for a special call-out for being racist?  Yes and no.

It’s pretty obvious that the…

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