Sisters with their own hands and feet were the foundation, the path and the grounds for many others who are now following. The stories of congregations should inspire religious and laypeople to continue the charisms.
Most parishioners I meet either remember the sisters who taught them in pre-Vatican II habits or they have never actually met a sister in real life. This, it seems, is a big part of bearing public witness to religious life in the world today: being human and being present.
From the beginning, God has seen women as co-creators. And if we are truly driven by our belief in Jesus, we cannot remain silent about the status of women in society, or the practices that suppress and dehumanize women.
A long time ago (40 years to be exact) in a land far away (northern Indiana), I think I functioned as a deacon. I performed diaconal tasks and duties. I think I was a deacon … or was I not?
Many people seem to view leadership as a place to show might and prestige, rather than a place of service. This reminds me of two women close to Jesus who asked for favors from him.
Through the story of young Magdalena Gomez Gregorio and her family — witnesses to adversity and unexpected support during the August 2019 immigrant raid at food processing plants in Morton, Mississippi — Sr. María Elena Méndez reveals in her column for GSR an inspiring story of how courage can transform pain into a beacon of hope and unity.
The news of migrants killed, injured or harassed as they try to enter the United States should horrify us and drive us to action. Their lives matter. The human right to migrate matters.
Social media links us, yet in real life there is fragmentation all over. One of the reasons for this is the inner clutter and the outer noise, and we cannot escape both. But this crisis is not permanent.
An agriculture project helps postulants in a Zimbabwean community grow in all aspects of life: exercise, discipline, planning, follow-through and respect for the Earth and its gifts.
Sr. Sandra Margarita Sierra Flores discovers the strength of faith in a country where Christianity is a minority, helped along by the wisdom and welcome of Japanese fellow sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame.
As the ratio of females to males shifts among India's Christian population, we cannot ignore sociological factors contributing to the rise or decline in vocations. But isn't vocation basically "God's call"?
I'm worried about the future my nephews will experience. But lots of religious sisters are empowering young people like them and showing them God's love, so they can face the challenges ahead.
My calling as a Chadian Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus impels me to embrace the challenge of being a Christian prophet — proclaiming God's message of love and inclusion, especially during times of conflict.
I do not like crowds, so I was very surprised to find myself with over a million people at World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, at a vocation fair representing the Congregation of Notre Dame de Montreal.
Pope Francis challenges all people of good faith, deeply religious, Christian or Catholic, to be multi-issue advocates, supporting political positions that foster the common good and address the needs of the many over the wants of the few.
The courage of the young people, their yearning for Christ, and their hunger for communication and interaction with others filled me with admiration. When I looked around, I saw young people kneeling, silent young people — one thought, one prayer.
Horizons - I've been reflecting on the interplay between federal and local governments. In many ways, it resembles the interplay between solidarity and subsidiarity in Catholic social teaching.
In a time when Russia seeks to create divisions, we at the Institute of Theological Sciences of the Immaculate Virgin Mary in Ukraine decided to organize joint retreats for sisters of both Eastern and Western rites.
Kenyan freedom fighters gave their all for a freedom that today is so widely abused in the country. I wonder — why is it that beneficiaries cannot sustain the vision that was once dear and clear to the visionary?
