"Might Jesus say of this situation that the kingdom of heaven is like a city overwhelmed with water? The first who come to help are the local neighbors — some white, some Hispanic, and some African-American. They get in their boats and search for those in need. He would say, 'These people who come to help others are my guests.'"

Good Shepherd Sr. Monique Tarabeh's visit home in July and August was gut-wrenching. Tarabeh grew up in Damascus, Syria, and her family still lives there despite the ongoing civil war that started in 2011. The conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced millions to flee to safety in other nations.

Our church's closing was announced in April by way of the church bulletin. A pall came over the congregation. After the final blessing, the pastor said he was sorry. 

We are fortunate to be living in the post-Vatican II period in which we have been called to a renewal of not only religious life but every life, challenging everyone to dream impossible dreams. I have been in pastoral ministry for almost 20 years and a feminist theologian for the last 10. Let me share some of the champions who have broadened my vision to encompass cosmic reality.

In the late 1960s, as the effects of the Second Vatican Council began to reverberate through the Catholic Church, Sr. Marie Augusta Neal of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur conducted a survey of American women religious in active ministry. Now, thanks to the University of Notre Dame's Cushwa Center for American Catholicism, the data has been decoded, re-saved and made available for anyone's research.

"Forts of child's play: May we not build in earnest leading to division and War. Triumphant flags declare hubris; may we teach our children to reach beyond and find a way to peace."

Notes from the Field - Part of my mission in Jordan was to work in ministry to Iraqi refugees. In my months working with refugees. Despite the struggles the Iraqi refugees I met face, I found them to be kind, warm, smart, well-educated, and optimistic amid their hard situation.

As general superior, Sr. Mary Ho Thi Quy is challenged to provide basic needs for more than 1,100 members of the Lovers of the Holy Cross of Vinh, Vietnam. "Five sisters in one community share a bed," she notes. But the sisters "love and support one another" as they serve the people of Vinh Diocese.

The writer of Matthew's Gospel had learned from Jesus a very different concept of the kingdom of heaven from that previously understood in the Jewish religious law and social community.

"In serving others, we can find a connectedness, a kinship that leads to binding joy."