GSR Today: In November, seven Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena in Iraq had a chance to do something they had not been able to in more than two years: return home, if only for a visit.

Studying at a university is normal for many people in the world, but it is unusual for Mary Yok Rolak Jrai. In a country where ethnic minorities like Jrai make up 13 percent of the population but account for 40 percent of the people living in poverty, she is an exception. She is one of the young women who have benefitted from staying at the Dominican Sisters' Huong Duong Dormitory while going to college in the city of Da Lat.

"Who is knocking on our door in our interdependent globalized world this Advent season? Who are we willing to let in, to welcome? On whose door are we knocking to be let in to their world?"

Advocates and attorneys for undocumented immigrants aren't waiting until Inauguration Day to assist the millions of people who find their status in even greater jeopardy given the campaign rhetoric by President-elect Donald Trump.

The past month has been a time of questions. In my ministry as a community organizer, I meet daily with folks who are asking questions about how the recent election will impact them: "Will my family be separated? How can our church provide a safe place for our people? How can my children feel safe in their black bodies?"

'Dreamers' — undocumented immigrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — hope for the best, prepare for the worst under new U.S. administration's immigration policy.

"As I have said before, the ever more sophisticated weapons piling up in the arsenals of the wealthiest and the mightiest can kill the illiterate, the ill, the poor and the hungry but they cannot kill ignorance, illnesses, poverty or hunger. "

From A Nun's Life podcasts - If I'm afraid of worldly things, does that mean I should be a nun? In this Random Nun Clip, a listener asks if her fear of worldly things should determine the decisions she makes about her life.

Last month, FutureChurch launched Catholic Women Preach, a project aimed at highlighting the voices of Catholic women preachers around the world. Dominican Sr. Jamie Phelps, a theologian and social worker, kicked off the project's Advent series.

See for Yourself - Having encountered a fair number of persons recently who ask, "Is December 8 still a holy day of obligation?" I conclude that the Feast of the Immaculate Conception doesn't have quite the same meaning in the Midwest USA as it does in Nicaragua.