by Judith Best
Contributor
The Purgatorio is a lens to explore leadership in a time of chaos, as Dante the pilgrim observed how others remained faithful even as they struggled to climb one more circle of self-knowledge, hoping to grow in compassion.
When it comes out that vowed religious have committed a crime and brought scandal to themselves, their order and the Catholic Church, not only do community members at issue need healing, but the relationships within the community do, as well. Issues can even become a call for renewal and commitment to the value of religious life for the whole community.
by Colleen Gibson
Columnist
The Lenten season is as much about repentance as it is about renewal. It is more about light than darkness, about lightening our load and reprioritizing our lives. Lent is about being real. And perhaps, that is exactly where we need to be.
by Maxine Kollasch
Contributor
From A Nun's Life podcasts - In this Random Nun Clip, the sisters talk about the Felicians' new ministry in Detroit. They are starting with listening to what people's needs are — and starting with hospitality and food.
by Saji Thomas
Contributor
As the Vatican grapples to devise stronger protocols and responses following a historic summit focused on clergy sex abuse of minors, five nuns in India complain of church repression for their support of a former superior general who was allegedly raped by a bishop.
by Valarie Lee James
Contributor
Give kids paper and crayons, and they will give you their hearts. At Tucson's Casa Alitas, a Catholic Community Services short-term shelter for immigrant families released from detention, kid's artwork covers the largest wall in the house. Guileless and profound, art by immigrant children puts the border rhetoric of adults to shame.
Valarie Lee James, devotional artist, writer, and resident of the Arizona-Mexico borderlands, has been a Benedictine oblate of the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Tucson since 2010. A former art therapist, James is grateful for the universal language of art in her volunteer work with immigrants and asylum seekers. She is currently writing a book on art and faith on the border.
by Samantha Wirth
Notes from the Field - I was shocked when I realized one of the largest cities in the world could be lacking in quality food sources. In fact, the majority of the populations Good Shepherd Services ministers to live within New York's food deserts.
From Where I Stand: Learning to listen, to take seriously, those who were entrusted with the development of our lives had more to do with growth than it did with repression. Learning to consider the insights and understanding of others is not the end of autonomy. It is the beginning of humility.
