Columns

Horizons - We ask for gifts from God, but we know exactly how we want them to come to us. Nicely. Neatly. Without any pain or suffering or difficulty or effort. Just a heavenly infusion, please. But that's not at all the way it works, is it? 

When I used to think about my own journey of trying to stop the evil effects of human trafficking, often I felt I was only a drop in the ocean, especially since I am getting on in years.

I recently spent a week at the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas. I went primarily to meet and serve the migrant families, but also in hope of returning as a credible eyewitness to what is happening at our border. My week left me heart broken, but "The wound is where the light enters." 

We Dominican Sisters of Bethany have lived Riga, Latvia, since 1995. It was our practice to offer short-term housing for women. We took in a trafficking victim named "Baiba." Little by little, she told her story.

Horizons - It was November of 2007 when I first met Sister of Charity of Cincinnati Janet Gildea. She would have been 63 years old September 11. The world just feels different without her.

The Gospel life was never meant to be lived enclosed, but on the edge of a new future in God. Francis of Assisi was a materialist in the best sense of the word, realizing that divine love incarnated all reality. 

Being faithful to anything requires much generosity. It is the behind-the-scenes activities that might not seem glamorous or important.

In this 21st century, as many ponder the future of religious life, the challenge to "be the change" encourages possibilities, such as a place where "be the change" becomes a daily conscious choice.

Horizons - I find it so hard to comprehend that we can treat children and families so inhumanely today. We know that it is happening in our name, and yet, collectively, we stand by.