Joan Chittister, Mary 11, 2016 | NCR

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. — Dalai Lama

I’ve written or spoken a good many times about the incivility that unmonitored social media sites have generated in this country. Someplace along the line we have managed to confuse freedom of speech with the freedom to be rude, crude, mean, hurtful or brutal — anonymously. Secretly. Behind some silly moniker like “Darth Vader 2.” Or worse.

I grew up in a society where there were some words that were never spoken — in front of women, in front of children, in public, at a dinner table, in a professional setting, on a telecommunications program of any kind. But then, little by little, we began to see it painted on back walls of old buildings. And did nothing. Then we began to accept it in teenage music. And did nothing. Then it showed up in racy “literature.” And we did nothing. Finally, it was everywhere on the streets. And now, it seems, there is very little we can do about it at all.   (more…)

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Rosie Scammell, March 15, 2016 | Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY

Mother Teresa of Calcutta will be made a saint on Sept. 4.

Pope Francis made the announcement on Tuesday during a meeting with Catholic cardinals, which also saw four others approved for sainthood this year.

Approval from the pontiff marks the definitive stage in the path to sainthood for the Albanian nun, who became reputed globally for her charity work in India. Mother Teresa’s canonization will come almost exactly 19 years after her death on Sept. 5, 1997, a relatively speedy sainthood for the Catholic Church.

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GSR Staff, March 9, 2016 | Global Sisters Report

One sister was recognized by Pope Francis on national television for her work on the U.S.-Mexico border. Another works with a parish in Cincinnati with a large Guatemalan population. One is an immigration attorney and has helped prepare asylum claims. Others assist in providing housing, training and jobs for immigrants; hold prayer vigils and rallies; and speak out to raise public awareness and urge policy changes.

Catholic women religious are on the front lines of immigration issues in the United States. Global Sisters Report held a video roundtable discussion March 4 with seven sisters who are leaders on immigration issues. They were part of a larger group of sisters participating in a leadership forum in Washington, D.C., sponsored by Faith in Public Life and NETWORK, the national Catholic social justice lobby, and in partnership with the Sisters of Mercy and the Adrian Dominican Sisters.

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Don Stockman, March 3, 2016, Global Sisters Report

You don’t have to go to a convent to celebrate National Catholic Sisters Week this year, but if you do, expect to find open doors, smiling faces, and sometimes even cookies.

National Catholic Sisters Week, held this year March 8-14, is an annual celebration honoring women religious with an eye toward encouraging young women to consider a vocation for themselves.

In a major change from NCSW’s first two years, when the vast majority of events were held at or near St. Catherine University in Minnesota, organizers are encouraging and supporting events around the nation through mini-grants of up to $1,000. That means NCSW could be in a convent, church — or even on a computer — near you.

https://lifeasasister.org/events/

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Thomas Gumbleton,  National Catholic Reporter, March 3, 2016

Probably most of us have heard that Pope Francis has published another book. I don’t know how he does all this when he travels all around the world and is meeting with people all the time. He has this book called The Name of God is Mercy. It’s a very small book. You could read it in a couple of hours, but it would be worth taking a number of hours to read it and reflect on it because I think in a marvelous way, this book The Name of God is Mercy is really a long reflection on today’s readings.   (more…)

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Chris Herlinger, Global Sisters Report| February 17, 2016

For women religious working within the United Nations, 2016 is shaping up as a year to press forward to achieve the hard-fought goals set out in 2015.

Last year was marked by vision and good intentions. The 193 U.N.-member states agreed to a new set of development goals to reduce poverty and protect the environment, and also shepherded a climate change agreement to help reduce the levels of global greenhouse emissions.

“I thought we ended the year on a high,” said Sr. Jean Stoner, the sisters of Notre Dame de Namur’s NGO representative at the United Nations. “It was an excellent year.”

It certainly was a year that brought the Catholic church a lot of attention. Pope Francis’ address on global poverty is still being talked about throughout the halls of the U.N. “He blew everybody out of the water,” Stoner said in a recent interview with GSR, and she credits the pontiff for lifting up Catholic concepts like “the common good” at a critical moment.

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PUBLISHED BY UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS

The theme for Pope Francis’s  Lenten message for 2016. . . is “The Works of Mercy on the Road of the Jubilee.”  We address that theme in our printable 40 Days of Mercy2016 Lent calendar which offers ideas for prayer, reflection and action during the Lenten season.

As he asked in the Bull of Indiction. . . of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis asks that “the season of Lent in this Jubilee Year be lived more intensely as a privileged moment to celebrate and experience God’s mercy.”  Lent begins February 10 for Latin-rite Catholics.

In a particular way during this Lent, we are asked to devote ourselves to the spiritual and corporal works of mercy that “remind us that faith finds expression in concrete everyday actions meant to help our neighbors in body and spirit.

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President Barack Obama, February 6, 2016| Religion News Service,NCR

This past week, I had the privilege of visiting the Islamic Society of Baltimore, a mosque that serves thousands of Muslim American families, as well as neighbors of different faiths. Like houses of worship across our country, it’s a place where families come together to pray, but also a school where students learn and a health clinic that serves those in need. My visit was a chance to celebrate the contributions that Muslim Americans make to our country every day and to reaffirm our commitment to freedom of religion.

Our Founders knew that religious liberty is essential not only to protect religion, but because religion helps strengthen our nation. From our Revolution to the abolition of slavery, from women’s rights to civil rights, men and women of faith have often helped move our nation closer to our founding ideals. This progress is part of what makes us a beacon to the world. (more…)

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February 1, 2016

Simone Orendain, February 1, 2016 |Catholic News Service

CEBU, Philippines — Row after row of fidgety children, mostly flanked by their parents, filled the track infield of the Cebu Sports Complex. A few children were eating snacks, some were walking quickly with their parents, perhaps to find the nearest bathroom. Others sang hymns, and many chattered away.

The children’s first Communion Mass at the 51st International Eucharistic Congress included about 400 extremely poor children, some of whom live on the streets.

I don’t know what I was thinking when I expected children at the Mass to quiet down and take on some sort of serene quality once they received the Eucharist.  (more…)

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Nancy Linenkugel, January 21, 2016 | Global Sisters Report

I was leaving a store recently, an older man who had been out in the cold for a while approached and held in front of me this green pen with a paper attached.

It took me a minute to read the paper and to grasp the situation. I looked at the man’s face and he was smiling, nodding a hopeful, “Yes?,” and focused on me despite other shoppers swirling around us. The man had a rugged, leathery look to his skin, as though he was used to being outdoors in all types of weather, sun, rain or snow.  (more…)

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