The sisters of Congrégation de Notre-Dame didn't want to give up the same coffee they had been drinking for decades. But paying a fair wage to the poor farmers who grew the coffee beans was something they could get behind — one of 12 actions they're undertaking to lessen their environmental footprint.

"I believe that training is the only way to bring about individual and collective transformation toward gender equality. We aim to enhance gender consciousness and to ensure the rights of women, their security, well-being and sustainable development."

Sometimes the things that control us the most are the things about which we are the least conscious. I'm haunted by the idea that we all may blindly, unknowingly sacrifice our freedoms. 

"And to that I give a rousing 'Holy catoot'!" So ended a phone conversation with my sister, who was channeling Mom, now in heaven, and one of her favorite phrases. 

"Even if you are not familiar with how to use a smartphone and don't understand Twitter, you have an invaluable gift to offer the young: your presence."

Immigration activists say they are committed to passing a Dream Act without anti-immigrant measures, despite Trump's recent insistence that any legislation protecting DACA recipients be paired with his policy demands.

About 160 women religious convened for the 2017 national assembly of the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious, which represents 12 percent of U.S. sisters. Formed in 1992 with a commitment to the preservation of "traditional" religious life, CMSWR has had a busy quarter-century.

It is common for Catholics in parts of Vietnam to marry outside the church and suspend practicing their faith, sometimes for decades, when they live in poverty, far away from a church and can travel only by boat in canals. Others stopped practicing faith because of concerns with priests, nuns or lay Catholics. Some abandoned the Catholic faith to join the Communist Party to gain jobs.

Sr. Thresiamma Mathew is a women's rights activist and an advocate of gender equality. She has helped some 2,500 women from economically poor families to become professional masons when it was unthinkable to employ female masons in her home state of Kerala, southern India.

The call to accompaniment continually requires significant inner work. Letting go of ego, opening ourselves up to the other, and most importantly, doing the spiritual work that offers us the great gift of staying grounded in God's love, mercy, and joy demands a discipline and a commitment to prayer and truthfulness.