"From the east, house of light may wisdom dawn in us so we may see all things in clarity; From the north, house of the night may wisdom ripen in us so we may know all from within; From the west, house of transformation may wisdom be transformed into right action so we may do what must be done; From the south, house of the eternal sun may right action reap the harvest so we may enjoy the fruits of planetary being."

"Reprehensible," "unconscionable," "historic injustice," "cruel," "disgraceful": As deportation hangs over 800,000 people, sisters and other Catholic leaders react to the Trump administration's announcement that it will end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

There were two things I most wanted to see in my life: Denali and the solar eclipse of 2017. Though I didn't see them, there was grace in the not-seeing.

How are we to be in the face of such intolerable and un-American hatred? What if we were to look right into the face of the hatred that is eating so many of us alive?

"Each charism has its place. Each charism fulfills a need. And just as each charism is lived out by members of specific religious congregations, each charism embodies the spirit of a religious foundation and utilizes the gifts of that foundation's members toward the same end: the glory of God and living of the Gospel."

Several Sisters of Divine Providence are working to sustain impoverished ethnic villagers in the Binh Phuoc Province, bordering Cambodia. They have been working with Stieng ethnic villagers in An Khuong Parish since last August when they built a convent. The parish has 700 Catholics among the population of about 7,000. Many villagers live on incomes of $31-44 per month and suffer from starvation, so the nuns cooperate with a group of local Catholic women and Fr. Joseph Nguyen Minh Chanh to give pastoral care to parishioners and help feed ethnic villagers.

"Ecology tells us we are part of the web of life, while computer technology promises to liberate humans from the burden of earthly life, orienting us toward a new artificial cyber world. Ecology speaks to us of our deep interrelatedness within nature, and technology lures us to become something other than nature; to transcend the limits of nature."

Immigrants and their advocates are in a rush to save the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy as 10 state lawmakers are threatening to amend a lawsuit to attack the program as unconstitutional.

As religious life evolves, so does the nature of charism. A charism is only as sustainable as the needs it serves and the response of individuals to the call to live it out. Today, that response and the needs served by a charism are in constant need of reconsideration.

See For Yourself: "Through the picture window I could clearly see the stranded little bird. In my best Franciscan conjurings, I talked to the bird and said that I was on my way."