Three Stats and a Map - Forest fires have been blazing in Indonesia throughout the year, making it likely that the country will experience more fires in 2015 than it did in 2006, one of its worst fire seasons on record, and the costs are enormous, to humans, the environment and the islands-nation's biodiversity.

From a Nun's Life podcasts - We answer a question from a postulant (candidate) about how property is disposed of as one enters religious life, and when is the best time to do so.

"Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die.” 

Communities of Catholic sisters in Guatemala provide care for some of the country's poorest citizens, especially children, in lieu of a government hobbled in political turmoil, strict adoption laws and budget constraints. The women also confront a tradition in which the church has traditionally offered social services for the poor and not the state. 

"Leaves hold fast, soon to drop all but their legacy. What footprints will we leave on the Earth?"

Sr. Bernadette Prochaska is a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration and professor of English at Marquette University. Every summer since 1992, she has taught English to women and men religious in the Czech Republic. Most recently, she has taught through a program sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which this summer welcomed students from 10 different dioceses, mostly from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

GSR Today - There’s just something about making and eating bread that has always seemed supremely spiritual to me; even the phrase “breaking bread” evokes in my head strong and immediate images of Jesus eating with his disciples. So it makes sense to me that my first time baking bread will be in order to break bread with an intentional community within my church family.

Kathy Schiro, director of Mercy Associates for the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Mid-Atlantic Community, explains how laypersons can be part of religious life. Associates are women and men who are committed to another state of life also made known their desire to share various aspects of Mercy life and ministry, organized according to guidelines and policies developed by the community.

GSR Today - The Jesuit Refugee Service is presenting Mercy Sr. Denise Coghlan the JRS Accompany Award on Dec. 1. Coghlan is one of the founding members of JRS Cambodia, where she has served displaced people for 25 years.

While the Catholic church's role in caring for the Earth has gotten more attention in recent months following the publication of Pope Francis' encyclical, Laudato Si', a dedicated group of women religious has occupied a special place in the Earth justice movement for decades, working to bridge these various social justice silos that operate as though progress were a zero-sum game.