The answer is a resounding yes. Aside from the usual suspects — laity and nuns — bishops are exercising prophetic leadership in opposing the massive deportation of refugees.

Sr. Francoise Bosteels makes and exhibits dolls. She says dolls can tell stories and spread messages of hope and values. "Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs or those with no faith say the dolls spring in their heart compassion and make them aware of their sinfulness," Bostells said. 

From A Nun's Life podcasts - Who might be a good patron saint for extreme sports? In this Random Nun Clip, an extreme sports enthusiast asks if there are saints who took on high risk situations for something they loved. 

The Victory Noll sisters recently sold their Indiana campus to a nursing home company. Sr. Janice Bader, superior of the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood in O'Fallon, Missouri, and the former director of the National Religious Retirement Office, said communities of women religious partnering with nursing homes has become common: As congregations age and numbers drop, many have worked to find ways to provide care for their elderly sisters either at the convent or another facility.

"O God of our longings, we long to see your face."

The St. Louis Catholic Worker community took an unflinching look at its own practices and made anti-racist changes to existing community structures.

Notes from the Field - I never feel like I'm quite doing enough and that my weekly presence in Kathy's life cannot possibly make that much of a difference. But one week, she opened up more than she had previously and told me that she thanks God for putting the two of us together and helping her find a kindred spirit.

"Watch. Notice everything with the eyes of God, contemplation in action, as the kingfisher waits."

Forty years ago, St. Francis Sr. James Ann Germuska, of the Neumann communities, left her job as a schoolteacher to begin a ministry for the elderly and those seeking behavioral health services in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. With no experience in geriatric or mental health care, Germuska founded Crosskeys Human Services, a nonprofit organization now with eight locations throughout Fayette County, an area with one of the highest poverty rates in the state.

The season of Advent has always been one of my favorites. It is a time to be quiet and to commit more time to listening; a time to revel in the power of simple flames atop purple candles, casting out the darkness; a time to really ponder all the ways God's presence in our midst reveals itself; a time to prepare for the coming of Christ in ways unexpected, beautiful and ordinary.