Before Brown v. Board of Education mandated the integration of America’s schools, Sinsinawa Dominican Sr. Patty Caraher taught at an all-black high school in the Mobile, Ala. As she puts it, she was naïve when she arrived, thinking she would sweep into the Deep South and teach her students how to survive in the “white world.”

"O Wisdom guiding creation with love, fill us with wonder."

GSR Today - Advent is a favorite liturgical season of mine. The Scripture readings, especially from Isaiah, give me hope for the world in the making. Isaiah also reminds us that we are a people, not just individuals. Particularly here in the U.S., too often we lose sight of that communal dimension of the summons, who we are and what we are to be about as a people.

Three Stats and a Map - This week, leaders from around the world are convening in Lima, Peru to work out a deal to address climate change. Up for discussion is a feasible plan to limit countries’ greenhouse emissions, and whatever the delegation comes up with is expected to be adopted next year.

"Underlying all religious traditions are two basic principles: The first is caring for others and the second is stewardship of nature."

A gathering in Cleveland, Ohio, last month marked the first time that social justice advocates from congregations of women religious met together. The participants will continue to network in the future under the tag line, Justice Conference of Women Religious. Ann Oestreich, IHM, co-chair of the convocation, called this continued commitment “a sign of hope for all.”

GSR Today - In a letter issued Friday – two days before the official start date – Pope Francis said the purpose of the Year of Consecrated life was to honor the past and embrace the future of religious life, encouraging religious communities to reflect on their unique histories with an eye to the histories yet to be written.

Thomas Berry would have been 100 on Nov. 9, 2014. Many conferences around the world, including the “Living Cosmology: Christian Responses to the Journey of the Universe,” held recently at Yale Divinity School, honored him on his centennial birthday. Berry’s influence on the world of science, ecology and religion, particularly at the beginning of the new millennial era, has been significant. It is an appropriate time to look at the emerging legacy of the “great work” he inspired in so many people.