For the past five years, I have participated in the annual meetings of the United Nations' Commission on the Status of Women. I am inspired by the women who come forward to share their stories, but I wonder: Are we going forward in this struggle?

Focus on Human Trafficking - Human trafficking has been on the rise in Brazil. One goal is to keep people who fit the main demographics of trafficking victims — children and women ages 8-29 — from falling into networks of sexual exploitation through prevention in schools.

We are called to be sowers of seeds and to remember the power of small, sown seeds. Several weeks after the UISG assembly in Rome, I carry with me strong images from our gathering, of events that exemplify small actions that begin to change landscapes of impossible situations.

In the Bay Area, four millennials in their early 30s became the first of the Nuns and Nones group to try out a residency program, temporarily living in a convent to witness and share in a spiritually grounded community life. At the Mercy Center, "a place where you couldn't escape spiritual wisdom," sisters and seekers learned from each other.

I have no doubt that the many forms of membership in our congregations will (and do) play a monumental part in the lives of religious congregations into the future. Yet, for all the hope these forms present, the cultivation and preservation of vowed membership must not be lost.

From A Nun's Life podcasts - In this random nun clip, sisters discuss what it means to have a "Pentecost spirituality."

A Good Death, Part 2 - Though they are separated by a generation, two Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia have spent years living with cancer diagnoses, sharing a life-altering experience of an illness that threatens to turn deadly. Both find strength in being of service to others and in the support from their community. "When they say, 'I'm praying for you,' I know they are, and I know I can go the next few feet," says Sr. Margaret Lewis. 

On outdoor porch swing, my "oneness with Creation" provides a morning liturgy like none other: I can only praise a Cosmic Creator whose evolutionary artistry leaves me speechless. This is the context in which I've read a new biography on Thomas Berry.

The sound was deafening as we walked the litter-strewn paths of the Mitomba slums in Nairobi. At least a hundred men were hammering at the same time, creating kitchen utensils out of discarded oil drums while children ran barefoot back and forth among the vendors. We were visiting some of the recipients of small loans from Jamii Bora/Yawezekana, a microfinancing organization for which we help to provide funding.

When I first discovered Good Shepherd Volunteers, I spent a lot of time scouring the program website. Now, as I approach the end of my year, I've been thinking: If I could go through this process all over again, what would accurately explain why I fell in love with Good Shepherd Volunteers?