Dominican Sr. Barbara Reid has created a work of feminist biblical interpretation that delves into every book of the Bible. An eight-woman board of feminist scholars helped her coordinate the project, and in November, the first three of what will ultimately be a 58-volume series of feminist biblical commentary were published by Liturgical Press: Hebrews, Haggai and Malachi, and Micah.

For more than 15 years, St. Joseph Sr. Judy Blake has helped the poor in Flint, Michigan, as co-founder of the St. Luke N.E.W. Life Center in 2000, where she is co-director. The center provides meals, a food pantry, literacy classes and job training, serving about 3,000 clients a month. Now Blake is helping the center's clients cope with another disaster as the city of Flint's water crisis grows.

Professional pilgrimage planners and those who regularly receive or accompany pilgrims set off on their own Year of Mercy pilgrimage in late January. Most had experience working with pilgrims to Lourdes, Fatima, the Vatican and World Youth Days. But one had a unique experience: St. Joseph Sr. Helen Prejean says she is a constant pilgrim to the "holy land" of the human dignity and pain of society's most despised members.

by Susan Rose Francois

NCR Contributor

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We live in an information age where many of us are constantly plugged in. Technology that fits in my pocket can instantly connect me to loved ones or strangers. My smartphone alerts me to child abductions in my local area, while events thousands of miles away, such as hurricanes, terrorist attacks, and mass migration, unfold before my eyes almost in real time. What does it do to the human psyche and the spirit, I wonder, to regularly witness images of suffering, death and destruction from within our safe and comfortable homes, and then go about our daily lives?

Traditionally the third week of January (January 18-25) is devoted to prayers for Christian unity. For over 100 years the World Prayer for Christian Unity has invited Christian denominations of every stripe to pray for closer union. Not long ago, I found myself longing for the day when our prayers will finally lead to Eucharistic table sharing. Here's the story.