Do we have eyes to see the sacredness of water? May we who have passed through the waters of baptism recognize that as our call to speak and work passionately so all in our global family may have clean water.
Visual Essay, Easter in Yen Bai Province - Holy Week took on particular significance for Lovers of the Holy Cross sisters who helped prepare Hmong ethnic villagers in the mountainous province of Yen Bai in northwestern Vietnam celebrate the holiest time of the year for the first time in decades.
As Venezuela's unprecedented economic crisis drags on for a fifth year, the four sisters from the Hermanitas de los Pobres de Maiquetía congregation that run the Providence Asylum nursing home face a heartbreaking dilemma: record demand, but record low resources. The most dreaded part of Sr. Emilia Rivero's day comes each morning. When she opens the door to the nursing home she runs in downtown Caracas, she almost always finds six to eight senior citizens, sometimes with their families, waiting outside, hoping she has space.
You can't rush grace. You can only be willing to receive the gifts of the season whenever they come.
"My spirituality is enriched with gratitude, and it is a joy to give of myself to those who have so little."
See for Yourself - The flight attendant squeezed down the narrow aisle with her tightly engineered refreshment cart. She got to me, and I accepted a cup of ice water. Delicious.
GSR Today - At the gathering of the Confederation of Major Superiors of Africa and Madagascar, or COMSAM, more than 400 brightly habited women and men religious from some of the most troubled areas of Africa reflected on their roles in the future of their countries and the continent.
Sister for Christian Community Alison McCrary, the executive director of the National Police Accountability Project, laughs when she explains how she came to be a lawyer and a Catholic sister. "It's really just listening to the Spirit's invitation," she said. "None of it was ever planned."
Comboni Missionary Sr. Azezet Kidane thought the worst part of the trauma for the Eritrean asylum seekers she counsels in Israel was already past. But the Eritreans in Tel Aviv, already struggling with poverty, isolation and discrimination, and some healing from torture, now face yet another hurdle: Netanyahu's aggressive and controversial plan to deport African asylum seekers. Deportation is set to begin within weeks.
"The little virtues may seem simple. Cultivating them is a life's work."