He was born Francesco di Pietro di Bernardone, in Italy around 1181, to a wealthy family. Though Francesco was baptized, he was known for excessive partying and drinking in his youth. He joined the military in Assisi and was captured during a battle between Assisi and Perugia, and then he spent a year in prison. His life began to shift away from attachment to worldly possessions during his imprisonment. He powerfully renounced his family’s dedication to their acquired wealth by stripping himself of his clothes, choosing instead to wear a simple cloth - a habit that Franciscans still wear today to unite themselves to St. Francis.

Click here to see how St. Francis lived out his call to mission!

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By: Julie Bourbon

If being a missionary is about building relationships, then the members of the Newell family—Jeffrey, Sharon and their son Kyle—have been doing just that, not only with the people of Haiti they’ve been visiting annually since the year 2000, but with each other. Mission may be the perfect expression of their faith and desire for connection.
 
Jeff and Sharon’s parish, the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Lafayette, Indiana, is a member of the Parish Twinning Program of the Americas. It was a 1999 visit from Fr. Ronel Chareleus — then-pastor of St. Joseph Church in Pendus, Haiti, about 120 miles from Port Au Prince — that sealed the deal for the Newells.
 
Sharon was on the parish council as the first trip was being planned; Fr. Bob Klemme was their pastor at the time. As a teacher, she couldn’t get away from school, but she encouraged Jeff, a graduate of the diocese’s ecclesiastical lay ministry program and an attorney in his day job, to go. Remembering that initial visit nearly 20 years ago, Jeff said he’d never seen such stark poverty.

Enter into the Newells' story here..

USCMA receives complimentary books about missiology, theology, and spirituality for review. Our feature book for the month of October is Catholicity and Emerging Personhood: A Contemporary Theological Anthropology. For this book or a current listing, email Nichole Petty, the USCMA Office Manager.


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