Having just completed my 59th year of ministry in religious life, I am in awe of the knowledge gained along the way. I've spent these years largely in service to youth and young adults, so it is from them that I have learned about their lives and also mine; about God's working in subtle and not-so-subtle ways.

"As I prayed I realized that in fact we are all blind. We really don't see all that is there."

As Maryknoll China Programs Liaison, Sr. Janet Carroll, a native New Yorker, has worked with sisters in China since the 1980s and is a passionate advocate for better understanding among Americans about China and the Catholic church there.

Six Chinese sisters from five different congregations recently completed a 120-hour Geriatric Spiritual Care certificate program through the Avila Institute of Gerontology in the United States. "Each of their congregations is already engaged in providing assisted living and nursing home care, as well as other programs of ministry to the elderly in China," said Sr. Janet Carroll, Maryknoll China Programs liaison. The goal, Carroll said, "is having this team of sisters extend their training to other sisters and lay partners upon their return to their local dioceses in China."

The Indian subcontinent has myriad cultures, languages and seasons. It also experiences freezing winter, scorching heat, heavy monsoons and salubrious springtime. Some places undergo extreme winter and summer. Nagpur, a central Indian city that has become my home for the past year, is one such place.

Mother Rosemae Pender, 94, foundress of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist, died unexpectedly during a June 26 Mass of Thanksgiving for Consecrated Life celebrated at the order's motherhouse in Meriden to honor her 75 years of consecrated life.

GSR Today - Alton Sterling. Philando Castile. Five Dallas police officers. The generations before us made great strides toward the dream of equality, but much work remains. I don't have the answers; I don't know how to do this work or whether we or our children will see it accomplished.

"Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

From A Nun's Life podcasts - What was the most pleasant surprise you had after you became a nun? Hint, it has something to do with community.