NCR Preview: Lay associates are a dynamic part of the church today. My experience with Mercy associates, within the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, has provided spiritual sustenance that I've not gotten in any parish setting over the past decade.

GSR Today - Stars seem to be a universally loved symbol, and they keep popping up in my life as a rich source for contemplation.

Casa del Migrante Reynosa, run by four Daughters of Charity in a Mexican town bordering McAllen, Texas, shelters deportees from the U.S. as they figure out what to do next. "When they're deported, they bring with them a very intense pain because they invested in the journey," said Sr. Edith Garrido, a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. 

Decades after the Sandinista revolution and 16 years after I first arrived in Nicaragua as a Jesuit Volunteer — recent testomonies from men and women religious in Nicaragua echo the fear and faith, repression and resistance of stories from the past that I heard during my time there. 

"To follow the way, to fish the waters, we need to clean our nets and prepare for what is yet to come."

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious issued a statement Aug. 20 in response to a grand jury report from Pennsylvania that more than 300 priests sexually assaulted at least 1,000 victims over 70 years, most of which bishops covered up.

Robert F. Kennedy's words and my religious formation experience coincided again June 6, 2018, at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., when his family and friends hosted a remembrance and celebration of his life. That day, 50 years earlier, RFK entered into eternal life, felled by an assassin's bullet.

At LCWR's 2018 annual assembly, St. Joseph Sr. Jayne Helmlinger became president-elect. Speaking with GSR, Helmlinger said that while in leadership, she'll combine her community's charism — "Unity in Reconciliation" — with her "ability to think systemically." She told GSR she is eager to connect LCWR with the rest of the world and reimagine the conference to fit a globalized future.

"Leaning on the beach this boat sits in solidarity for the day when small boats will not be overloaded with refugees and people will reach out to each other with compassion."

Network announced Aug. 20 that its popular Nuns on the Bus tour will travel the U.S. for a sixth time. This year's tour will begin Oct. 8 in Los Angeles and end Nov. 2 in Palm Beach, Florida, at the Mar-a-Lago resort owned by President Trump, where the sisters plan to present the stories they heard on their cross-country journey.