When members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious convene in Atlanta next week, they will discuss a familiar topic: the future of religious life. In discussions, they will use contemplative dialogue, a process through which people in a conversation intentionally set aside their biases in order to listen to others and to what others trigger emotionally in themselves. LCWR's 2016 assembly is Aug. 9-13 under the theme "Embracing the Mystery: Living Transformation."

From A Nun's Life podcasts - In this LOL Random Nun Clip, the nuns discern Sister Julie's call to become an astronaut #DiscernmentDemo. 

"Rows at attention, watching, guarding. What gets our attention?"

Recently at provincial meetings, a presenter talked about workaholics as if they weren't people. In her rather dated way of looking at balance in life, she referred to workaholics as if they were a special breed of "automatons" who lived in a vacuum. Shortly after, a sister who came by my office surprised me by greeting me with the words, "Hey, Workaholic!"

GSR Today - Spending time with the Benedictines of Erie helped me realize the things I deeply desire in my own life. While living in intentional community, and as I participated in the sisters' practices, I came to recognize my longing to live a life of passion, joy, love and purpose.

Sonoma County, California, Adult Detention Facility. Veteran volunteer, Cece Gannon, retired teacher and therapist, teaches the course. We had designed the 14-week course together in 2008, using materials written by Brian Thomas Swimme, Ph.D. However, in the several years since, the course usually extends to over three months because discussion gets so involved.

"What making a home for hope does do, however, is shift how we see the suffering around us. It brings new possibilities to light and orients our response toward a future. Hope keeps us from hiding under the covers and eggs us on to action."

GSR Today - The Daughers of Charity in Ethiopia are among groups trying to increase eye care in a country where 80 percent of blindness is preventable and other eye diseases are prevalent.

Sr. Eileen McKenzie first found herself drawn to biology and studying life in high school. "It's tending to this miracle of the human body and spirit," she said. She went to nursing school and worked as a nurse in California before sensing a call to religious life and becoming a Lay Mission Helper. As a Lay Mission Helper, she spent three and a half years in Cameroon, learning about different cultural aspects of health care and how family, relationships and beliefs can play a role.

Nuns on the Bus Blog - Now that I've had some time to rest up and reflect on the experience of the Nuns on the Bus, Mending the Gap tour, I've been able to identify what I consider to be five important takeaways.