We, the Africa Faith and Justice Network-Nigeria, went to a school to speak to about 200 girls from grades 7-12 on how to avoid being trafficked. I told them that anyone could be a victim, and that the keyword is vigilance.
A former Ursuline convent in Louisville, Kentucky, finds new life as a compassionate care home, the brainchild of a co-member of the Sisters of Loretto. It's one of many success stories of former religious properties pouring new wine in old wineskins.
Contemplate This - As we move forward out of the pandemic, take time to turn your head backwards and see what wisdom emerges from our past. We have learned too much to think there is a "normal" to which we want to return.
Living on a beautiful island like Papua New Guinea is a blessing. Although the isolation has its disadvantages — like bad (or no) roads and limited internet access — it also means few COVID-19 cases in rural communities.
Horizons - There's no reason to wait for long-range strategic plans. Beautiful, new iterations of religious life in response to the signs of the times are everywhere in the here and now. We simply have to open our eyes and look around.
Perhaps the signs of the times in our world of rapid change call for a radical revisioning of religious formation. Prophetic voices call sisters to read these signs and follow in the footsteps of Jesus, the prophet.
The terrible coronavirus has placed us in the liminal space between life and death. Certainly, there is fear, anxiety — precisely for this, we need an extra dose of courage.
As an African, dance is as much a part of my life as eating and working, but it is also an important part of our worship. Dance in Africa is a way we can express ourselves when words are deficient.
In Luke 6:6-11, the scribes and Pharisees watch Jesus to see if he will cure a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. That Gospel account reminds us that following the letter of the law may spur selfish actions.
Horizons: Watching multibillionaires spend enormous amounts of money to rocket to space shows the extreme inequality of the global health crisis as many people around the world struggle to access basic needs.
Some might view my simplistic concept as naive or outright ridiculous, but it is a feasible starting point to deal with prejudice in general and, more specifically, systemic racism.
The negatives of COVID-19 feel overwhelming at times but there are positives too. We sisters keep thinking of new ways to work with the people to strengthen their faith.
Missionaries to Africa erred in attempting to separate cultural expressions of faith from Christianity. Instead, it's practices such as songs, dance, drum and incantations that create authentically African ways to grow as Christians.
Horizons - Sometimes my own need for healing is all I can see of myself. What happens when we don't pay attention to our giftedness, when we downplay what is good about who we are?
I read former President Barack Obama's book A Promised Land. He has germinated hope in my heart; and when I feel discouraged, I promise to "try anyway."
It is not easy to live the quote "bloom where you are planted," but there is hope in the gradual practice that leads to "fully blooming" life. My religious experiences helped me to bloom entirely for God.
Although my religious order, the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, has put overcoming racism at the heart of our mission, the more I read about, pray about and study it, the more I see my own blind spots.
Horizons - "It's scary to give up what we know, but the abyss is where newness lives." These words jumped out at me as I read Margaret Wheatley's 2002 book Turning to One Another. The words seem like they were made for today.