The people, while having faith in Jesus as the Prince of Peace, wonder when the peace Jesus' presence implies will ever come to Congo. For 26 or more Christmases, peace has not come.
My faith helped me embrace the goodness that Marie brought into my life amid the too-numerous hospital stays and doctor visits. Loving and caring for her was one of my greatest gifts from our God.
2023 is a good time to look ahead with hope (for hope does not disappoint us), to renew our resolutions to be different, and do some creative thinking with the free intelligence given by God to glorify his name.
Horizons - I usually have a clear plan in my mind of how a journey is going to go. But I can't say that any journey of significance that I have taken has gone how I had planned or envisioned it.
This Advent was a unique experience for me. The phrase "I got the opportunity but did not make good use of it" is one I have heard often; but recently it spoke to me in a new way because it resonated with my experience.
The sisters of my community and I set the stage in early December to imitate the shepherds and wise men. We set out to bring joy to children of low-income families in the communities we serve in Alabama.
I went with a delegation of religious congregations to COP27, the 27th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. We had a challenging, educational and also disappointing experience.
As we re-create the nativity through our cribs and celebrations, may we not forget that it is essential to become seekers and not be satisfied with decorations and celebrations.
Horizons - Science and faith always have something new to teach us. God delights in us as we make such discoveries. Wonder waits around every corner. At the start of a new year, I ask: What are you wondering about?
My meditation on the kinship of Christ the Anointed urged me to transcend the imitation of the historical Jesus and move to reflect on the Cosmic Christ, pervading the entire universe.
Our Lord understood very well the role played by a mother and her unconditional love. And since high school, I have had the habit of going to the Son through the Mother, especially at any dire point of need.
During decades writing fiction and journalism, I've learned the importance of telling a good story. That applies to the websites and social media accounts of women's religious communities.
Three Catholic sisters were among 11 entrepreneurs recognized with a Builders of Africa's Future award in 2022 by the African Diaspora Network. Each sister wrote about her experience and shared it with Global Sisters Report.
I grew up feasting on stories, and still do as part of a religious community. Stories of success and heartbreak. Of laughter and tears. They feed our hearts and our imaginations. They fire us up. It is who we are.
On the feast of the Holy Innocents, I think of the faces of the children killed in Uvalde, Texas. Earlier this year, their photos were an unrelenting, "in your face" testament to the plague of gun violence in the U.S.
Early on, Jesus called us to come and follow him, telling us we could do all he did and more, inviting us to leave all the nonsense and walk on water with him. Let’s pick up our incarnation.
Horizons - Since the start of Advent, I have been reflecting on the mystery of God becoming human — the first Christmas. The feast of Christmas invites us to become vulnerable, to join with the vulnerable.
We each have something unique and essential to share with the world. We won't find that present under the Christmas tree, but do not be fooled. It is within us just waiting to be unwrapped.
Christmas is our best hope to tell our story of good news. Let's not jeopardize this annual opportunity by channeling Scrooge, but rather proclaim, with the angels: "Glory to God in the highest!"
