From A Nun's Life podcasts - Given the vow of poverty that sisters take and the particularities of each community, we talk about how to approach gift-giving to women religious in your life.

"Leaves in their glory caught in the waters of time, crackling like glass. We are people in a moment, holding just a piece of it in our vision."

Sister Priscilla and I would be two of six Giving Voice sisters at the Border Convergence where we'd lead an Encuentro de Hermanas for other Catholic sisters and their associates. Throughout the same weekend dozens of other Giving Voice sisters would be leading solidarity prayer services in places as varied as North Dakota, California, Iowa and Texas.

See for Yourself - It wasn't sitting well with me. I knew that from the moment I hung up the phone. There was something about the interchange that "left money on the table" as my dad used to say.

Dominican sisters are making use of purification equipment to provide clean water to people who struggle in Vietnam, a place where wells are often polluted or dry. The sisters' water costs less and tastes better than water people can buy elsewhere, and distributing it allows the sisters a chance to meet people and see what else they may need, such as other basic necessities or day care for their children.

"We need to know why we react the way we do; to explore our racism and sexism; to face into our fears. I believe it is an invitation to be serious about one's spiritual journey and to deepen one's spiritual practice."

Sr. Bridget Tighe, a member of the Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood, is executive director of Caritas Jerusalem in Gaza, a place she describes as "an open prison with a population of almost 2 million," where electricity is on only 4-6 hours a day and the tapwater undrinkable. The Caritas health care center she manages is the hub for outreach projects.

I am not a person who likes to sit around doing nothing when I have some free time. Since I am a teacher, during the summer I like to try to find something that will take me to the edge, out of my comfort zone and call me to more. This summer I volunteered at Camp Suzanne which is an outgrowth of Get On The Bus out of the Center for Restorative Justice in North Hollywood, California.

Early last month I was giving a day presentation to religious congregations in San Rafael, California. The day focused on the power of contemplation as a transformative process, the transformation of consciousness and communal contemplation. The day ended with a section on exercising contemplative power. During the final discussion the question arose as to whether we could do something collectively to exercise contemplative power during this election.