See for Yourself - "I'm raising a felon. He's only 7 months old but he's already perfected the art of stealing." I responded to friend Mimi, "Sounds like you have a new dog."

I have long known that love is a package deal, complete with overflowing tenderness as well as overwhelming vulnerability to pain. What caught me up short was the sheer capacity of a single heart to hold equal portions of joy and pain simultaneously.

"God does not dispense the grace of healing from the heavens. We — God's incarnate presence on earth — are responsible to bring God's healing to our brothers and sisters in pain."

Charity Sr. Louise Akers came to national prominence in 2009, when Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk ordered her to publicly renounce her support for women's ordination. The attempted silencing was painful, but "she didn't bend to pressure. She held on to her convictions, and it made all the difference."

Santiago, Chile - Inside the chapel of the San Joaquín central women's penitentiary in Santiago, Chile, the handful of female inmates who met Pope Francis gathered to discuss their awe of and gratitude for the personalized Jan. 16 encounter. And nearly every woman who shared her experience with the Chilean media surrounding the inmates also thanked Good Shepherd Sr. Nelly Leon, head of the country's pastoral efforts in the jail system.

Sr. Jeanne Christensen travels throughout the Midwest to talk to students, parents, church groups and legislators about human trafficking in the U.S. She spoke with GSR about the role sisters can play in anti-trafficking work.

Paris - The community of the Handmaids of the Blessed Sacrament and of Charity, or Sisters Adoratrices, was founded in Spain to minister to women who were prostitutes; in France today, the sisters continue to help women who were trafficked from other countries and who likewise need assistance leaving prostitution work they were forced into.