December 2016 – Agape Community

Darkness Descends – by Brayton Shanley

Posted by SuzanneShanley on December 19, 2016

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…

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“Democracy is coming to the USA.” Leonard Cohen (1934-2016) – by Suzanne Belote Shanley

Posted by SuzanneShanley on December 19, 2016

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,…

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Living the Story by Connor May

Posted by SuzanneShanley on December 19, 2016

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…

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The Peace of “Selah” by Hannah Miles

Posted by SuzanneShanley on December 19, 2016

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…

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God in the Garden by Libbie Steiner

Posted by SuzanneShanley on December 19, 2016

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…

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Listening to Muslim Voices in an Election Year: Agape Francis Day, 2016

Posted by SuzanneShanley on December 19, 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…

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Responses to Francis Day: Listening to MuslimVoices in an Election Year, 2016

Posted by SuzanneShanley on December 18, 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…

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Networking With Nature – by Pat Tracy

Posted by SuzanneShanley on December 18, 2016

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…

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The Wisdom of Generations by Nicholas Hagens

Posted by SuzanneShanley on December 18, 2016

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…

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Alicen Roberts Recipient Pax Christi Massachusetts John Leary Youth Peacemaker Award

Posted by SuzanneShanley on December 18, 2016

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…

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