Horizons - It's impossible to overemphasize the centrality of love in our beautiful tradition. The mystery of love is inexhaustible, present at the beginning when God brought forth all that is, singing in Jesus' incarnation, life, death and resurrection, pulsing through each of us as Spirit, and drawing us to a future where peace and justice will reign forever. This Christmas, I was reminded again what it's really all about: Love.

Sr. Wendy Beckett, the contemplative who became an unlikely television celebrity after hosting art programs on BBC and American public television throughout the 1990s, died Dec. 26 at a care facility near the Carmelite monastery where she lived in a trailer hermitage. She was 88.

GSR Today - To better put the year into perspective, I asked a number of sisters their thoughts on 2018. Was it a good year? A bad year? Hopeful? A slog? And what may 2019 bring?

The proclivity to overlook black women and girls doesn't begin with their deaths at the hands of law enforcement. Data suggests institutions like hospitals and schools have routinely disregarded the needs of black women and black girls for years. And that's exactly where some sisters in the Baltimore area have seen an opportunity for change.

Friendship is like a stunning landscape where one enjoys every tree and pebble and bush and flower. Walking the roads of life in this kind of landscape is delightful, even enchanting. With loving friends, the human need for belonging is satisfied. Friends steady us, helping us to be ready and secure in decision-making, and calm and adept in follow-through.

In the midst of the momentous events in 1968, as a 19-year-old, I professed my first vows as a Franciscan sister. Fifty years later, I find myself a golden jubilarian. How did that happen?

The Incarnation solidified Christ's cosmic connection with all of creation, a cosmic reality through the flesh of Christ: a cosmogenesis. It is the reality of God's love for the world.

The Worleys of Tennessee adopted their daughter Teagan at the age of 5 in March. Wanting to know more about her early years, they came across a Global Sisters Report article about nuns in China who care for orphans with disabilities — and found some of the answers they were looking for.

From the humble beginning of a single concert in 1995, the Paulines' Christmas concert has grown into an annual nationwide tour in Advent. The choir also has produced 30 albums at the motherhouse recording studio.

Celebration's Scripture for Life column – Everybody is getting ready for Christmas. Did you ever wonder what the preparations for the first Christmas looked like from the vantage point of eternity?