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Darkness Descends – by Brayton Shanley
After voting for local candidates, I spent the remainder of Election Day fasting alone in our hermitage. I sought relief from the hellish fixation of a presidential campaign. The next morning, I came down at 5am to drive to Boston to be in a meeting supporting our Iraqi Family with Sabah and his Family. As […]
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“Democracy is coming to the USA.” Leonard Cohen (1934-2016) – by Suzanne Belote Shanley
Post-election depression is palpable, all too real. I wonder by the time our readers set their eyes on this piece, written over a week after our national catastrophe, where we will be as a people. Several days after the deluge, during an interview with David Remnick of the New Yorker, I hear Leonard Cohen’s voice, […]
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Living the Story by Connor May
I began to see an alternative faith experience unfold at Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA, with a powerful epiphany while on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius during my senior year, which caused me to start seeing connections that I could not ignore. Seeing my life through Jesus’ eyes is a Catholic cliché yes, […]
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The Peace of “Selah” by Hannah Miles
I believe Agape offers something that has become so rare in our world today. It offers peace. The community exudes acceptance and love. My grandmother always used the word “Selah,” which, in the Psalms, is a brief period of rest after the song is over in order for the listeners or readers to take in […]
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God in the Garden by Libbie Steiner
Since my teenage years, I have felt a strong yearning towards “living out my faith” in the truest sense of that phrase that I could find. My mother prioritized not only Sunday Mass, but also frequent trips to soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and our local organic farm. She encouraged my siblings and me to go […]
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Listening to Muslim Voices in an Election Year: Agape Francis Day, 2016
This Francis Day was totally unique in that 200 people gathered with Muslim brothers and sisters from the region to listen to the suffering and struggle of Muslim people from Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and the United States in this dangerous, Islamophobic election year climate. The following are excerpts from the talks of that day, beginning […]
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Responses to Francis Day: Listening to MuslimVoices in an Election Year, 2016
Mohammad Saleem Bajwa, Islamic Society of Western Mass Members of The Islamic Society of Western MA, participated in the educational, enjoyable and very productive program that was in line with the great story of St. Francis, and the Sultan, Malik-al-Kamil. (The Saint and the Sultan by Paul Moses– little known nonviolent meeting between St. Francis […]
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Networking With Nature – by Pat Tracy
This past wood harvest and workday at Agape in June brought many volunteers to work together, stacking large piles of wood that will dry and be used to heat and cook throughout the coming year. A team of terrific students from St. Joseph’s College requested to go to Agape couple of days ahead of the […]
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The Wisdom of Generations by Nicholas Hagens
I arrived at Agape on the Feast Day of St. Francis, October 4th, fresh from four years at L’Arche in Tacoma, WA, an international federation of communities for people with and without disabilities. I expected to spend a month learning about sustainability. I have indeed learned a lot about care of the earth; yet, it […]
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Alicen Roberts Recipient Pax Christi Massachusetts John Leary Youth Peacemaker Award
Alicen’s reflections on her peace journey I have been a part of the wider Agape Community (family, really) since 2009 when I glanced at an Agape poster while sipping from a water fountain during my sophomore year at Smith College. I like to think that this must have been holy water, because it opened up […]
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