Horizons - As I've been praying my way through the figurative fog, I've been asking myself — how can I project hope, happiness and goodness, rather than succumb to negative thoughts, gloom and despair?

India's Supreme Court rejected bail for a Missionaries of Charity nun arrested nearly seven months ago on suspicion of child trafficking. The top court turned down the plea from Missionaries of Charity Sister Concilia Jan. 29 on grounds that police had not yet pressed charges in the case.

Kogi, Nigeria - The Augustinian Sisters of the Mercy of Jesus spent three decades running a hospital in Shuwa, until Boko Haram insurgents destroyed it, leaving the congregation to ultimately find a new home. Their wrenching decision is one other congregations have faced in troubled regions: leave behind a population desperately in need of their services, or ensure the safety of their sisters?

Notes from the Field - Kindness in daily interactions has a ripple effect. If enough people walk around with a compassionate attitude, the collective presence of that compassion can be felt viscerally.

Contemplate This - How many of us have felt that to really fit in, we had to be someone we are not? How do we begin to accept people for who they really are in order to belong?

Sr. Maria Cimperman came to Catholic Theological Union in the fall of 2012 and was a visiting associate professor for the next two years. A sister with the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, she was named director of the newly formed Center for the Study of Consecrated Life at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago in the fall of 2014.

Have you ever prayed so hard for someone or something very dear to your heart and felt disappointed when God did not grant your request?

The government shutdown says to Americans that some leaders are willing to forsake hardworking peoples' lives of dignity in exchange for a monument to fear, power and selfishness.

The Life – Sister panelists and their congregations are battling against what one sister calls the "scourge of trafficking." Their tactics focus on prevention and awareness as well as rehabilitation of survivors. They are educating governments and even the United Nations about this worldwide form of modern slavery.