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?

Horizons: At a glance, most observers might assume that I'm the only free person in the room. That as a visitor and minister, I'm able to enjoy liberty and live as I wish, in ways that align with the Gospel. But in the following days, the Spirit reminds me I'm not free.

GSR Today - It is very easy — and natural — at this time of year to focus on the "Peace on Earth, goodwill to men" part of the Christmas story. After all, it is the story of how the Savior brings those gifts and many more to all humankind. But it is also the story of fear: thousands of years of fear