"We thank you and praise you for a people of many colors and cultures and gifts who enriched one another's understanding of life rather than set out to set one against the other."

Never would I have expected my Presentation community to ask me to be a registered lobbyist at our South Dakota State Legislature! Our foundress, Nano Nagle, said, "If I could be of service in saving souls in any part of the globe, I would willingly do all in my power." But to the state legislature?

Notre Dame de Namur Sr. Mary Johnson and Immaculate Heart of Mary Sr. Sandra Schneiders told the Religious Formation Conference that the structure of religious formation needs to be reimagined. The heart of their proposal is a process that includes graduate-level theology, with novices in intercongregational programs.

Notes from the Field - I was on mission in Jordan for about four months. On Sept. 5, I took a bus to the Salesian Sisters' house in Nazareth, my next mission site. I have heard great things about the sisters' community in Nazareth and, although I was going to miss all the wonderful people I met in Jordan, I was excited about this new mission, which is completely different than the one I had before.

"We encounter the God of mystery only if we encounter others who are different from us."

The present and future of religious life must always be focused on the ministry of encounter, speakers told members of the Religious Formation Conference at their annual national congress Nov. 17-18 in Milwaukee.

We are challenged to raise our consciousness to a level where we will avoid repeating the mistakes of the past in our care and protection of children. The way forward is contrary to our natural instinct and how we have responded in the past.

"Fall glories in color as the leaf hands of sassafras reach to the sky. What are our glories to remember?"

Women religious congregations in Vietnam are giving emergency aid to those affected by deadly hurricanes and floods in the country's northern and central provinces, responding to a call by the nation's bishops. Two tropical storms, along with landslides and floods caused by driving rain, have severely damaged 14 provinces in the region since August, leaving thousands of people homeless and destroying agriculture in the region.