GSR Today - Nearly two years ago, the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena, fleeing the so-called Islamic State group, left their hometown of Mosul and relocated to Iraqi Kurdistan. GSR has been following the sisters, and last week Prioress Sr. Maria Hanna penned a 2015 year-end recap, which seems appropriate to highlight here.

Even as a child, New Year's Eve has always been a time of reflection and remembrance. During my childhood, my parents always took my sister and I to a church service on December 31, and the sacred space, music, and silence always provided the backdrop for quiet remembrance and contemplation. I would stand at the cusp of the New Year, simultaneously reflecting on the past and wondering about the future. Although I no longer attend church services, this New Year's Eve took me again to that place of transition — suspended in time — looking backward and forward as midnight approached.

"It takes an 'emergency,' a break in our everyday consciousness, to become aware of what is always already there awaiting our response."

Those who work with Central Americans coming across the U.S.-Mexico border say the recent wave of federal raids to round up asylum-seekers for deportation is aimed at sending a message to other would-be immigrants: Don't come to the United States. On Jan. 2 and 3, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers conducted raids in Georgia, Texas and North Carolina, taking into custody 121 people to be processed for deportation.

Loreto Sr. Ephigenia Gachiri, 71, has traveled across rural Kenya for the past 16 years educating people about the dangers of FGM. She created ways to honor cultural tradition while protecting young girls from the harmful ceremony that is used to signal transition to adulthood. More than 130 million girls and women alive today have undergone the ceremonial cutting in the 29 countries where it is practiced, mostly in Africa and parts of the Arab world.

GSR Today - The Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary in Voinjama, Liberia, reported in their Christmas newsletter that they are currently waiting for their third Ebola-free declaration.

From A Nun's Life podcasts - How did Henriette Delille overcome cultural issues and social standing dictated by race to begin the Sisters of the Holy Family congregation?

"Religious life is a life before it's an institution. So even though the institutions around us are changing, it's a chance to deepen our lives."

What an opportunity Pope Francis has given us in the Year of Mercy! It feels like something beautiful is dawning. It is a chance to rediscover and put forth the best of who we are. A few weeks ago, I went to an Advent production at a local church. It is a fairly new and up-and-coming "mega church" that presents itself as "relationship, not religion." The huge sanctuary filled up with people, including many young families, for the show. Outside the sanctuary, the building buzzed with activity. There was a coffee bar, couches, meeting rooms, and activities happening for people of all ages. Strangely, I found myself sad as I observed it all. Not sad because something good is happening there.

The face of theological studies in the U.S. used to be male, white and clerical, until Holy Cross Sr. Mary Madeleva Wolff established the first graduate theology school for women at Saint Mary's College while she was president there. The new School of Sacred Theology opened its first class on June 19, 1943.