"Let us become the first generation that decides to be the last that sees empty classrooms, lost childhoods, and wasted potentials."

Like many students and teachers around the country, I recently started a new school year. As this new year began to feel imminent, I looked back on my experience of teaching, so far. I hesitate to admit that I haven’t always loved teaching. Sure, when I started this important ministry eight years ago, I loved it. I was full of passion and energy and idealism. I was going to change the world, one willing student at a time. Somewhere along the way, however, I felt my passion for the ministry wane.

GSR Today - Just as the news was breaking that enough U.S. Senators have declared their support for the Iran Nuclear Deal for it to survive a veto override, U. S. women religious were weighing in. A letter, signed by over 4100 of us from more than 30 congregations, was being delivered to Senators and Representatives urging our support for the agreement.

She was bombarded with high-fives and hugs after she got the call — an invitation to meet Pope Francis during his Sept. 22-27 visit to the United States. But Sr. Norma Pimentel's biggest surprise came Monday, when the pope singled her out during a satellite video feed. Pimentel was present at a teleconference hosted at Sacred Heart Church in McAllen, Texas, where she coordinates ministries and services for immigrants. The pope's teleconference was recorded for ABC's "20/20" show, which airs Sept. 4. and includes participants in Los Angeles and Chicago.

This summer I was privileged to “take a long loving look” at authentic religious life and saw with new eyes what it means. It struck me so clearly that I felt it was worth sharing. The experience was a gathering of the Oblate Sisters of Providence and the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary from Monroe, Michigan; and Immaculata and Scranton, Pennsylvania.

See for Yourself - The many observances of World War II anniversaries this year are insightful reminders about the devastation from worldwide inhumanity. These reminders sent me reviewing a remarkable event in my own life that occurred in 1975 — 40 years ago. On a sunny and pleasant July 31, 1975, I spent a day with Anne Frank’s father, Otto Frank, in his home with second wife, Fritzi, in Basel, Switzerland.

July marked the third time the Oblate Sisters of Providence were included in the decennial meeting of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The three Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary congregations, in Scranton and Immaculata, Pennsylvania; and Monroe, Michigan — and the Oblates — share a biracial co-founder in Theresa Maxis Duchemin. The meeting is a time for the congregations to celebrate their shared history and to update each other on their lives and ministries. For more than 160 years, the congregations' common history had been kept closely under wraps by leadership in the Immaculate Heart of Mary communities who did not want to be associated with a black sister.

Every once in a while something really special comes across my inbox. Recently a friend who teaches theology, "Margie," sent me this story about her 5-year-old daughter Olive. For kindergarten homework, Olive was assigned to draw pictures of things that begin with the letter "G." When she came home she proudly displayed drawings of a ghost, a garage and her grandpa. But a fourth picture was not so easily identifiable, so my friend asked Olive what it was supposed to be.

"Do we ignore the commonplace plight of the homeless or sit pondering why and what to do?"

Three Stats and a Map - This morning, the Pew Research Center released a 140-page report on the beliefs and opinions of the United States’ Catholic adult population, an in-depth look at what they believe about family life and the church.