Sister of Mercy Sr. Barb Supanich has been a doctor for 32 years, but it’s only been in the last 23 that she’s been focused on the chronically ill and dying. Supanich says it was after working as a family physician in small-town Michigan – where her patients ranged from the newborn to the very old – that she first thought about a shift in her ministry. In 1992, she joined the faculty at Michigan State University’s family medicine department, teaching and writing about hospice and palliative care.

GSR Today - Last Thursday was Menstrual Hygiene Day, a day dedicated to both teaching good hygiene practices and to addressing the stigmatization of menstruation that persists in many societies around the world. I love this.

The anticipation of the pope’s encyclical on ecology and climate change grows with every passing day. Almost everyone seems to have their issue or angle which they hope will be addressed. In parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin it’s all about the extraction of silica sand, used for concocting the fluid made of sand, water and unknown chemicals used to do hydraulic fracturing mining of natural gas from shale deposits. Silica mining causes its own pollution.

“If there is a sense of reality, there must also be a sense of possibility.”

"All is prepared in welcome. Will you come and celebrate the fountain of all life?"

Recently I had an opportunity to lead the discussion following the screening of the film, "Band of Sisters," which I am in. It tells the story of how we women religious became involved with various ministries following the Second Vatican Council. It focuses on the emerging works of social justice, political advocacy, the movement toward sustainability and ecological centers and the transformation of consciousness rooted in contemplation. Woven within the film is the challenge women religious faced with the investigations initiated from two different Vatican Congregations.

GSR Today - Earlier this year we reported that an uneasy peace seemed to have come to South Sudan, though the war-torn country’s troubles were many and both the government and rebels were rumored to be re-arming. Now comes word that fighting has, indeed, again erupted.

Notes from the Field - As a Dominican Volunteer this year, I have had the chance to live in community with 14 Mission San Jose Dominican sisters in their convent in the Mission District of San Francisco. Observing and participating in their prayer, communal lifestyle, and community conversation, I have grown in ways that were unexpected but invaluable. Lately, I have been thinking especially of the way that contemplative living allows a person and a community to be more adaptable in times of change.