GSR Today - "Difficult as it is to imagine, the situation has in recent months deteriorated even further. Fighting — barrel bombs, shells, rocket and mortar attacks — has intensified in almost every governorate."

Year by year we experienced a decline of religious sisters on the staff of Good Shepherd Services, the congregationally sponsored child care agency where I worked. At the same time, professional non-sister staff has grown exponentially as the organization has grown, with new programs developed and departments expanded; managing them has required evermore specialized and complex skills.

Evangelizing Sisters of Mary in Zanzibar, a Muslim-majority island off the coast of Tanzania, minister to Muslims and Christians, with an emphasis on the importance of educating girls and recognizing human trafficking. Sr. Yusta Tesha spoke with Global Sisters Report about their pastoral work on an island precariously balanced between a tourism destination and a radical group advocating for secession and Sharia law, three years after their own church was burned.

"Before God did anything else, God loved. That love is the root of creation. It embraces young and old and points us to the future. Creativity is the force of the future we need to harness today."

Contemplative Communities profile five - Carmelite Sisters of Mary Leslie Lund and Nancy Casale were formed in the monastery, but wanting to lead a less institutional and complicated life, went back to the original expression St. Teresa of Avila had in mind. So they moved to the wilderness and live as hermits.
Click here to see the rest of the series.

As a Sister of St. Joseph of Peace, I often find myself reflecting on the words spoken by the Bishop of Nottingham at the profession of our first sisters in 1884: “To secure this divine peace for ourselves and procure its blessings for others in the midst of the sin, turmoil and restless anxiety of this modern world is the object of your institute.” Our religious congregation was founded to promote peace in family life, in the church, and in society in the late 19th century, a time when there was tremendous social upheaval and poverty causing people to flee their native lands in search of a better life. Today in the early 21st century, there is tremendous poverty and violence forcing millions of people to flee their native lands in search of a better life.

When Pope Francis made a special appeal in early September on behalf of refugees from Syria and the Middle East, Catholic communities all over Europe mobilized to do more to help. While bishops urged a generous attitude and Catholic charities stepped up their aid efforts, the continent's women religious also responded with offers of shelter and support. "Each religious congregation has its own charism and tradition and has had to think how it can best help," said Sr. Martina Salmaier, of the Franciscan Sisters of Vierzehnheiligen, Germany.

See for Yourself - The word “sophos,” the root word of philosopher, means the bearer of wisdom in Greek. Philosophers like Plato and Aristotle come to mind along with Roman philosophers Cicero and Plutarch.

Contemplative Communities profile four - Srs. Emmanuela, Mary Grace and Mary Columba, longtime friends now in their 70s and 80s, decided to launch a new community in 2007. Though approved by church leaders, it was in some ways a step into unknown territory, attracting bewilderment from some and support from others. But for Dominicans, whether they be nuns, friars, brothers or sisters in active ministry, the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts. The women draw deeply upon the traditional model of community and individual prayer, but their presence on a campus that also contains a parish church and a school inevitably gives them a more public presence than customary in many monasteries.

" . . . I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me."