Colleen Mitchell and St. Bryce Missions on The Catholic Foodie Show

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I’m joined by my friend Colleen Mitchell of St. Bryce Missions today. We talk about the missionary work that Colleen does together with her husband Greg and their five sons. And we’ll be talking about this missionary work within the context of the call to hospitality. God might not be calling me and you to live a missionary’s life with our families in Costa Rica or Tanzania, but God does call us to welcome him present in those we meet in our daily lives. Whether it’s our spouse, our children or their friends, co-workers, or the guy or gal standing next to us in the grocery line, God is present and calls us to encounter Him with open hearts and open hands.

I have lots of stories that I could tell about the wonder and the beauty of hospitality. It’s not always glamorous and it’s not always easy, but hospitality has a way of bringing to the surface our truest selves. And I think you will get a glimpse of that today in my conversation with Colleen Mitchell.

You can find out more about this missionary family at their website, StBryce.org.

I also want to give a shoutout to GraceTable.org. This week they are celebrating one year in existence. One year in ministry. One of the hosts of GraceTable.org, Kris Camealy, has joined me here on The Catholic Foodie Show to talk about hospitality, even radical hospitality, in our own homes. With both stories and recipes, the hosts of Grace Table help you to be more intentional about gathering around the table with your loved ones, and to open your home and your heart a little wider. So, congratulations to the hosts of Grace Table on your first year!

To learn more about Grace Table go to GraceTable.org.

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Beginnings and Promises

If memory serves me right, I first met Colleen when I was just starting out in college. It was at a youth group meeting at St. Dominic parish in New Orleans. And to this day I am blessed to know Colleen and her husband Greg and blessed to call them friends. I can look back over the years and pinpoint many times that their lively faith, their real, palpable connection with God in prayer, and their love of each other within the mess and miracle of family life have brought me very real grace, helping me to hold on to the promise that God wants this for me too.

If this is the first time you are hearing of St. Bryce Missions, then I hope this is a good beginning for you… a beginning to helping them fulfill the promises of God in their service as missionaries, and a beginning of a fresh openness to God’s marvelous love in your own heart.

Thank you for listening!

Links from the Show

St. Bryce Missions Concert Benefit Performed by Mr. Eric Genuis

We are so excited to announce that on November 5th 7:00 PM at St. Dominic’s Church Mr. Eric Genuis will be holding a benefit concert for the St. Francis Emmaus Pregnancy Hostel. The career of composer, virtuoso pianist and acclaimed performer, Eric Genuis, began in Krakow, Poland in 1997. A government dignitary heard Genuis’ music and he was invited to headline the entertainment for an AIDS benefit concert. This premier performance was attended by 15,000 people. Since then, Genuis continues to perform worldwide, upwards of 100 concerts each year.

Eric has received praise from music industry greats such as Joel Sill (Music Supervisor for films Munich and Forest Gump) who said “I remain a fan and look forward to him being more broadly discovered and to watching as his audience expands and appreciates his fine talents” and John Debney (Film Composer for The Passion of the Christ and Spy Kids), who proclaimed “From a musicians perspective, Eric Genuis’ music is brilliant- superbly crafted, unique in style and expertly performed.” Eric has collaborated with famed British Maestro, Allen Wilson and the Slovak National Symphony to produce four CD’s of his original work.

Genuis’ musical education includes achieving First Class A.R.C.T. Honors in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. He has completed course work in film scoring from the Berklee College of Music. Eric Genuis is a musical tour de force and his concerts are a proven thrill to music lovers of both classical and contemporary music.

The St. Francis Emmaus Center

The St. Francis Emmaus Center is part of St. Bryce Missions Love in Action programming in Costa Rica. The center provides a safe, comfortable place for Cabecar mothers, who must journey long hours on foot to have access to medical care, in the days just before and after the birth of a child or in the event of the hospitalization of a child. St. Francis Emmaus Center also provides continued education and nutrition.

A Story of Success, Making a Difference and Saving Lives:

In the Mission to Save Lives, The St. Francis Emmuas Center Makes a Difference. In 2015 we received remarkable news and a letter from the director of medicine in Turrialba, Costa Rica that St. Bryce Missions played a major part in the reduction of infant mortality in the indigenous reserve by 50%. Letter From Regional Medical Director.