by Ellen Dauwer
Contributor
Autumn is on its last legs these days. Some late-coloring trees stand out among the many leafless ones. Unless I missed it, this year did not seem to bring a brilliant autumn in the part of the country where I live. Most likely this was the result of a dry summer and early fall. This time of year, between fall and winter, is one of letting go.
Ellen Dauwer is a Sister of Charity of St. Elizabeth of Convent Station, New Jersey, currently living in Chicago. She spent 20 years in higher education, teaching educational technology and serving in administration. She has served in congregational leadership and most recently served as executive director of the Religious Formation Conference for two terms. She is currently engaged in governance in several ministries and teaching, speaking and writing.
Catholic News Service
Franciscan Sr. Alicia Torres won a special Thanksgiving competition on the Food Network's "Chopped," bringing $10,000 to the ministry of Mission of Our Lady of the Angels. Torres says the experience also unexpectedly deepened her faith.
by Christine Schenk
For the past several months I've been attending various film festivals in the U.S. and Canada in support of the award-winning documentary "Radical Grace." I am one of three sisters the film tracks as we traversed the scary terrain of the "nunquisition" -- the Vatican's six year investigation of U.S. sisters that finally ended favorably for us last spring.
by GSR Staff
"The core of the vocation to service is to embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison."
Lilian Muendo is a freelance multimedia journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya. After graduating with a master's degree in media management from the University of Westminster in London, she joined the BBC to produce a television and radio governance debate program in Kenya from 2012 to 2014. She is currently a part-time lecturer at Daystar University's School of Communications, mostly teaching broadcast journalism. She worked for Kenya Broadcasting Corporation from 2006 to 2012 as a reporter and news editor.
God’s designs demonstrate that diversity is a gift, a naturally essential part of community. To encounter “the other” — someone who is different from us in experience, perspectives and ideas — should stretch and grow us. We are compelled to work out the tough parts of our dynamics and dialogue about our differences.
by Nancy Linenkugel
Contributor
GSR Today - On a particularly gorgeous and jigsaw puzzle-perfect sky day, I was turtle-ing across campus. I wasn’t in any particular hurry for once, so I could take my time and take in the beauty of the day.
by Clare Nolan
NCR Contributor
Have you ever lost something when you seem to be moving around too much or are overly distracted by a number of things? In past months I misplaced a sweater that I had been using daily but, in the end, I am without any idea where I had left it. Sometimes it is a book or a key; all kinds of things get lost. I have been thinking of such things since talking to Sr. Rebecca Kay Thi Oo, a Good Shepherd Sister from Myanmar, after she had attended the Vatican-sponsored International Symposium on the Pastoral Care of the Road/Street.
by Sharon Zavala
Contributor
Notes from the Field - Immokalee, Florida, is the center of the region's agriculture industry and is home to many immigrant and migrant families, who have had to organize for decent working conditions and wages. I'm extremely pleased to be working with such a strong and determined organization as a Humility of Mary volunteer.
