GSR Today - The Congregation of Mother of Carmel Sisters are the first indigenous religious congregation for women in India, founded in Kerala in 1866 and now have nearly 7,000 members in five continents.

The study that Pope Francis commissioned on the history of women deacons is complete and on the pontiff's desk. But members of the commission aren't making any promises. 

Every day, Sr. Helen Nanzira wakes up to the sound of crying babies. Around 30 young children spend their first five years at the Nsambya Babies Home, run by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Reparatrix-Ggogonya in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The Nsambya Babies Home traces its origin back to the early days of Uganda's independence, and in the 60 years since Nsambya Baby Home opened its doors, attitudes about adoption in Uganda have dramatically changed. 

From Where I Stand: Governments go down. Churches, too, sinning as much as they save, lose their bearings. So how is it that we stand by while our institutions shrivel and our courage shrinks?

How old is too old to learn a musical instrument? That was the question I posed to the oboe master who was helping me find a used instrument to replace my beginner's rental oboe.

Notes from the Field - I ran into this experience as a Good Shepherd Volunteer in a zealous full sprint, but it did not take long to feel like I am struggling to crawl.

Two federal judges temporarily blocked the government from putting into effect new rules that would expand the exemption to the federal contraceptive mandate to the Little Sisters of the Poor and other religious employers.

Sr. Cynthia Mathew had battled India's oppressive caste system in Bihar state for years before going to New York to work in the United Nations. The member of the Congregation of Jesus continues her fight for justice for Dalit. Since 2017, Mathew has been working toward innovative thinking on sustainable development with the Loreto Sisters, who have U.N. Economic and Social Council accreditation. 

There may be more to learn from reading the same book a hundred times than by reading a hundred different books. After all, we read the Psalms a hundred times and the Gospels, as well. What is to be learned is the heart of Christ at the heart of the story. We may also discover people different from us and yet, remarkably similar. Words that at one time went unnoticed leap off the page the second or third time around. The words have not changed, but we have.