Father Ponchie Vasquez, OFM, shepherds one of the largest parishes, in area, and also among the poorest that can be found anywhere in the United States. San Xavier del Bac Mission lies just 10 miles south of downtown Tucson, Arizona, and contains nearly 72,000 acres of Sonoran Desert. There you will find the Tohono O’odham people, whose name translates to Desert People. They total around 33,643 with about 2,300 being part of the parish mission area.

It’s a tale of two cities, a landscape of extremes, in Negril, Westmoreland, Jamaica. The friars serving in this Franciscan mission in the western part of the island know the contradictory images all too well: spectacular beaches, unimaginable poverty, columns of world-class resorts with ultra-luxurious accommodations and decadent cuisine, dilapidated single-room plywood “board” houses with no windows, running water or electricity and barely enough food on the dinner table.

I hope you are enjoying the autumn season! It can only mean that Thanksgiving Day is almost here, so I’d like to share a beautiful story that captures the essence of gratitude and being thankful.

I hope you are enjoying the autumn season! It can only mean that Thanksgiving Day is almost here, so I’d like to share a beautiful story that captures the essence of gratitude and being thankful.

I hope you are enjoying the autumn season! It can only mean that Thanksgiving Day is almost here, so I’d like to share a beautiful story that captures the essence of gratitude and being thankful.