Dear Friends of the Augustinian Missions:   The dark days of Lent have come to an end. The forty days of Lent give way to the joy of the new life of Easter. Jesus experienced his forty days in the desert to emerge to new life.  Has our Lent given way to new life?    We see the beauty of new life in our missions. In this edition of the Mission Newsletter we see many blessings of new life. In Japan, a young man has taken his vows as an Augustinian Friar. In Peru, we are b... [More]

Dear Friends of the Augustinian Missions: With the celebration of Palm Sunday we begin the most important week of the year. In this seven day period we see the richness and fullness of our Christian faith. On Palm Sunday we see Jesus entering into the city of Jerusalem with the people singing Hosanna in the highest as Jesus rides into the city. On Thursday we will celebrate the New Covenant with Jesus as he take the Jewish Passover meal and gives it new meaning as the new Covenant between God a... [More]

Dear Friends of the Augustinian Missions: When we gather as the community to pray in Church we now see the color purple, which immediately causes us to think of the penitential season of Lent. Once again we enter into the season that challenges us to reflect on our lives, to see those areas where God calls us to conversion, to change. One of the most beautiful aspects of this season is the theme of forgiveness.  Immediately we think of the forgiveness offered by God to us when we exp... [More]

Dear Friends of the Augustinian Missions: As we come to the end of another year we tend to become reflective of the past. In the Augustinian Mission Office we can look back on 2012 with great happiness. During this past year our friars in Japan, Peru and South Africa have continued their ministry of serving the Church in those distant lands. In Japan and Peru we have continued to see young men continue their journey in Formation to become full members of the Order. One group of Augustinian ... [More]

Dear Friends, I take this opportunity to write you a letter as we enter into the season of Advent, the four weeks of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is a joyous time to reflect on the great gift from God, the gift of the Savior of the world. It is a busy time for people. Hopefully, in the midst of the business of these four weeks we will all stop, pause and call to mind what this season is all about; "Prepare the way of the Lord" in our hearts and lives. Ma... [More]

Dear Friends of the Augustinian Missions: As a nation we gather to celebrate Thanksgiving this week. In the midst of the natural disaster of Hurricane Sandy, the conflict in the Middle East and so many other places, it might seem that the negative outweighs the good in our world. We need to keep these intentions in our thoughts and prayers. We also must look at the good in our world. The outpouring of support and aid to the victims of Hurricane Sandy has been a powerful message to the goodn... [More]

Feast of St. Augustine - 2012 Dear Friends of the Augustinian Missions: On August 28th we celebrate the Feast of Our Holy Father, St. Augustine. On this day Augustinians throughout the world celebrate the spirit of our Holy Father. It is a time for us to reflect on our call to the Augustinian life, and our call to ministry, in its many and varied forms.  Why did God call us as Augustinians? And why did we respond to that call? Augustinians come in all shapes and sizes, with diverse person... [More]

Every year students from our Augustinian schools in the US travel to our mission territories to experience, share and work with the Augustinian Friars amd Volunteers in Peru and South Africa. Once again the student nurses from Villanov University traveled to South Africa and had a tremendous experience with the local Zulu people of all ages and conditions of health. In addition to serving in our Zulu primary school of St Leo's, the student nurses visited the AIDS Hospice in Hillcrest and St Ther... [More]

The answer to that question is very simple - You, our Donors. It is very expensive to maintain such a wide and diverse range of missions in three parts of the world. Each mission territory has its own unique needs and projects. In Japan the need might be to educate future Augustinians. Peru helps to feed the poor in villages. Africa requires food and clothing for the poor children and especially for the orphans affected by HIV AIDS. The main method of Fund Raising to support the missions a... [More]

This weekend is a time for us to reflect on the sacrifices made by countless American service personel who have given their life in the name of our country. We also remember those alies who have stood side by side with our service men and women. We pray for all victims of war. We pray for their families, their loved ones and friends. We pray most fervently for peace in the many places of our world where peace does not reign. Let us pause, reflect, and pray