This is Part II of a two-part story. Click here to see Part I. The night I missed the pilgrims’ departure to honor the Virgen de Urkupiña, I imagined the procession getting further and further away… So I tried to pull the story of her appearance closer to me, but the various accounts I had…
In mid-August 2017 in Cochabamba, Bolivia, I was nearly finished with Spanish language studies and in no hurry to return home. There was so much I loved about this place: the mountains, always in the distance; “Amiga,” rather than “hey you,” as the standard term of address by strangers; the value placed on a meandering…
I remember sitting between my fellow Catholic classmates at an evening student mass in my first year at a Jesuit University. The Jesuit offering the mass confidently explained, to us eager young Catholics, that by attending and participating that night, we were showing ourselves to be different from our peers who were forgoing the opportunity…
Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration Meg Earsley, who celebrates the anniversary of her first vows on Aug. 7, is currently ministering in Bolivia and serving with the Tertiary Sisters of St. Francis. Sister Meg is sharing her Bolivian journey of Jesus business, which we all know is sometimes messy, in her photo/reflection blog “Wanderings and…
My partner and I intentionally live simply. We have carved out, over a number of years, a low-cost way of living that allows for neither of us to work professionally full time. We also moved out of the city a couple of years ago, radically shifting our priorities and our environment from busy and overwhelming…
Every year around this time, companies ramp up marketing campaigns that do their best to connect contentment with consumerism. Feeling lonely? Buy a candy cane latte. Feeling grief? Buy more holiday decorations. Feeling afraid and anxious as you watch the daily news in a world plagued by family separations, endless wars and mass shootings? Buy…
It was early 2013 and I was fresh from three months of formation with Franciscan Mission Service. I had just arrived in Bolivia, South America, to live and serve for at least the next two years as a Franciscan lay missioner. I had spent the autumn months of 2012 in daily classes learning about Franciscan…
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