Lissy Maruthanakuzhy

Is God calling us today to a particular mission? All that we need when being called is an empty and humbled heart that will be filled with faith and hope by the one who calls us.

On Jan. 27, Sr. Christine Mynsong was elected superior general of the Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians. With more than 1,500 members, it is one of the fastest-growing women's congregations in India.

"We may have an inspiration or insight during prayer or in the course of the day," writes Sr. Lissy Maruthanakuzhy. "Let us not dismiss it … Stop and try to act on it. It might be the Holy Spirit leading us."

I encountered God in the movie theater watching "Manjummel Boys." The true story behind it illustrates Jesus' words: "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends."

For Mother Thecla Merlo, the Daughters of St. Paul's first mother general, taking up new communication technologies was part of her dream project to spend all her energy on whatever was good for the spread of the Gospel.

"A Pilgrimage of the Heart" in Old Goa includes 17 scenes depicting Francis Xavier, Joseph Vaz and Jesus. Journeying through these scenes helps visitors know their lives and missions on Earth.

The butterfly pea plant had no complaint when I moved it from place to place. It continued to grow in the sunlight of God's presence. Yes, I had received a message from God, through God's tiny creation.

The COVID-19 lockdown in India "compelled me to look for a new way," says Sr. Sunitha Ruby of the Congregation of Carmelite Religious, and she took to YouTube to continue her mission of catechism and counseling.

Families in the Archdiocese of Trivandrum in Kerala credit the home visits by nuns from multiple congregations with unknotting their problems and refreshing their Christian life. Nuns who have been part of the program say it has revitalized their vocation.

"Teachers should be the best minds in the country," Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan once said. Since 1962, India has observed Teachers' Day on Sept. 5, Radhakrishnan's birthday. Story after story about teachers' kindness and commitment highlight the lifelong influence they often have over students. 

One morning on my way to the chapel I was stopped by purple button flowers in our drawing room. I expressed surprise at the tiny white blossoms within the flowers: God's creativity never stops. He is creatively creating.

Holy Family Sr. Tessy Kodiyil manages Aswas ("Comfort"), a center that reaches out to accident victims and their families in the Indian state of Kerala, with a mission to bring love and hope to those in pain.

Sacramental blackmail, clergy sexual abuse, clericalism and property disputes are among challenges facing Catholic sisters in India, according to an online panel organized by the Rome-based Voices of Faith.

As one of the Daughters of St Paul, June is a time of reflection on the life, mission and writings of St Paul, in preparation for his feast day June 29. At this moment of pandemic, I feel the call to change.

At Asha Sadan at Baina Beach near Vasco, the port town of India's Goa state, Holy Family of Nazareth Sr. Lourenca Marques helps children of sex workers and HIV-positive women train for a new life and future.

Holy Family of Nazareth Sr. Crina Cardozo walks miles to visit tribal people, their homes in hilly, forested areas of Goa, India, where she teaches academics to children and career-oriented courses for women and youth.

Each day of Lent, as I meditate on the stories of Noah, Job, the Israelites, the Roman official, the prodigal father, the lost coin, the Pharisee and publican — the story of the lime plant flashes through my mind.

Lockdown helped me discover the growth of "other-centeredness" in most of the people as a whole. And as nature is cleansed, our life, too, began to return to a gentle, nurturing atmosphere.

The Pious Disciples of the Divine Master began holistic health ministry in India some 20 years ago as another branch of their charism, liturgical apostolate. The nuns say the treatment is person-oriented, that every person is sacred.

Sr. Meena Dias, a member of the Sisters of Holy Family of Nazareth, serves at St. Xavier's Academy, an institution under the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman that serves people with disabilities in India.