A new documentary on Franciscan Sister Thea Bowman, “Going Home Like a Shooting Star: Thea Bowman’s Journey to Sainthood,” shines a light on her life and work as an advocate for racial justice and intercultural understanding.
It is easy for us to romanticize this early experience of Francis—his first embrace of a leper. We speak of it often as emblematic of dramatic change in a person seeking to know Christ, to live by the Gospel’s injunction. Given the lack of experience of most modern people with the experience of Hansen’s disease (leprosy), it becomes hard to truly imagine the kind of courage and self-control that serving such sufferers entails.
When I traveled to Assisi for pilgrimage almost 10 years ago, I thought I was going mostly to immerse myself in the life of St. Francis.
On May 17, Franciscans celebrate the memory of St. Paschal (Pasqual) Baylón (1540-1592), a friar known for his devotion to the Eucharist.
