"Simplicity — colors faded. And our beauty?"

“Why did you decide to become a Catholic sister?” This question has been asked of me many times in the 10 years since I began my vocation journey. It is really a very complex and multi-layered question of identity, call and response. Over the years, however, I’ve realized that the simplest and most honest answer is this: It is as a Sister of St. Joseph of Peace that I can become the person God dreams I can be.

Notes from the Field - It was good to be reminded that peace does not indicate the absence of anxieties or dire circumstances but instead is a grace granted to take the sting out of adversities. It was exactly what I needed to hear in that moment and I reflect on it often even eight months after Naam’s death.

GSR Today - Just over a month after the murders at  Emanuel AME Church, the attendees at the joint conference of the National Black Sisters Conference, the National Association of Black Catholic Deacons, the National Black Catholic Seminarians Association and the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus found themselves in Charleston for their annual meeting, just a few miles from where the unthinkable had happened.

See for Yourself - One of the tough things about being an MC who needs to introduce several individuals is how to do that efficiently by not taking forever and how to give directions about the applause. We’ve all attended programs in which the instructions are to “hold your applause until everyone has been introduced.” So far, so good.

“Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

Patty Gillis, a one-time pastoral associate at a Detroit parish who now is the executive director of Voices for Earth Justice, founded the organization with Dominican Sr. Janet Stankowski in 2002. Amid Detroit's many needs, it focuses on environmental education. By 2011 the organization evolved enough to consider purchasing property in Brightmoor to help connect people with the environment. That property turned into Hope House. Hope House and its parent program, Voices for Earth Justice, an interfaith ministry with strong Catholic roots supported by the Dominican sisters of Adrian, 70 miles southwest of the city.

Commentary - I am among those 60-something nuns blessed to accompany our 80-something sisters as they gently weave the final golden threads into the rich tapestries of their lives. Today, I honor one of my personal "sheros," Notre Dame Sr. Mary Louise Trivison, whose wake service and funeral were celebrated in Chardon, Ohio, last week. I knew Mary Lou because she is the sister of late FutureChurch co-founder Fr. Louis J. Trivison (aka "Father Louie").

The struggling Daughters of Charity Health System, which owns six hospitals in California, has accepted a proposal by BlueMountain Capital Management to provide over $250 million to “recapitalize” the hospital chain. In doing so, DCHS will transfer control of the hospitals to an independent board of directors and to Integrity Healthcare, which BlueMountain has formed to manage and operate the facilities.

On Dec. 11, 2001, Sister of Notre Dame de Namur Sr. Kristin Hokanson was on sabbatical after serving nine years as principal of Pope John XXIII High School in Everett, Massachusetts. Hokanson had been in education for more than 28 years at that point, but as she was reading the thought for the day from the Sisters of Notre Dame St. Julie Billiart, she had an idea about a new way to do school.