Living Bread

Lovely story from the KC (Ks) Catholic paper about a mendicant community on a mission trip to the area:

For the Little Sisters and Brothers of the Community of the Lamb, a branch of the Dominican order based in the south of France, go knocking on the doors of the houses of their mission territory to beg for one thing only - their daily bread.

The order has not yet been established in the United States. But six men and women of the order recently made a mission trip to the archdiocese with a little help from newly ordained Father Anthony Ouellette, and took to the streets.

The “Little Brothers and Sisters” (the diminutive is used to emphasize humility) dress in plain blue habits adorned only with wooden crosses. As members of a mendicant order, the men and women literally rely on donations - and divine providence - for their daily bread.

“Our only work is to live the Gospel, to pray and celebrate the liturgy and to go into mission in poverty, ” said Sister Lucie, visiting from Vienna, Austria.

The mission Sister Lucie refers to is the order’s daily practice of going out into whatever neighborhood they are in and begging for their food. Although begging is the term they use, it hardly encompasses what they actually do.

“Very often in the experience, we are just like instruments,” she said. “We knock at people’s doors and we witness that they are visited by God - not by ourselves. For us to listen, to talk and to pray for each of these people, for each family, that is most important.