Knowing the commands of the Christ, let this be our way of life: Let us feed the hungry, let us give the thirsty drink.

Maryknoll Sr. Joanna Chan's renowned work in the theater began with writing plays for youth at New York's Transfiguration Church. "But theater is not only about the writing. Mounting a production involves bringing very diverse types of art and artists together. I have stayed in the profession for a number of reasons, and one of them is that idea of working together."

Thousands of people are expected to take part in the March For Our Lives event March 24 in Washington, D.C., and the more than 800 "sibling marches" planned worldwide. Hundreds of sisters will be among them. The march is to demand that children be safe from gun violence in their schools.

The first black U.S. sisters ensured that future generations would know what it meant to be authentically black and Catholic.The 400 black women religious in the United States today can be found in both the historically black congregations and in the predominantly white congregations from which they were previously banned. However, they make up less than 1 percent of the nation's vowed women religious, which perhaps explains, in part, why people are often surprised to learn they exist.

When you bring it all together, you realize water is at the heart of all of it."

I believe that a oneness exists between the sufferings of creation and the sufferings of Christ.

Notes from the Field - I joined Dominican Volunteers USA not because it was a Catholic volunteer program, but because I identified with their mission and admired the great work they did. When my service year started and I came out to New York, the sisters I met here were of similar minds to the people I knew at the Dominican University Ministry Center, in that they were just as progressive about the issues I cared about and were open to learning.

"Black people, in ages past, have traditional ways of teaching the children to rejoice in grief, in adversity, in oppression, in slavery. It's that kind of joy that helps a person keep going in faith."

"Through the internet, movies and television, they see a very different reality, an image of Europe that is not real. They see that women have more freedom in Europe, and nobody believes there is also a lot of poverty."

Although no placards or public speeches were made, Nigerian sisters kept the counsel of St. Francis of Assisi to "preach the Gospel, and if necessary, use words" in the first consolidated public prayer gesture for their country.