We live in an amazing cosmos with its countless numbers of galaxies, stars and planets. Try as we might, how could we ever understand why God would choose this place to become flesh and live among us?

GSR Today - While we love reflecting back on a year of hard work and sharing our favorite stories, we also find it useful to turn to your example to see what stories resonated in 2018. (It's no surprise that coverage of the clergy sex abuse crisis dominates the list.)

Horizons - My heart's interest was piqued by the description of the time of Diwali as a celebration of light overcoming darkness, good triumphing over evil, and knowledge usurping ignorance. And now as this new year begins, I can't help but again envision that darkness and light, forces tenderly and tenuously balanced at this time of year: a darkness never dark enough to overtake the light, but also a light that is beyond our knowing.

The Missionary Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church believe events in a small Ugandan village show it is truly being overtaken by social evils. They decided to challenge that with a monthly prayer procession around the town. When the decision was made, they informed the village authorities and embarked on the prayer.

From Where I Stand - Every day, we find ourselves in a new political quandary that threatens us, unsettles us, divides us rather than unifies us. And worse, the split emanates from the top down.

Sr. Joan Mumaw is president and chief administrative officer for Friends in Solidarity, a partner to Solidarity with South Sudan, an African ministry that trains nurses, midwives and future leaders in South Sudan.

"How do we heal as a community?" the rabbi asked in the wake of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. We come together, we stand together, we march together, knowing that our task is to "repair" the world.

From National Catholic Reporter: Amid today's hostility and incivility, reflect on the sanctity of words. They are the way that we invite others in, to give them some understanding of who we are. If our souls are holy, then so too are words.

GSR Today - This year was gut-wrenching, but we found inspiration in women religious who confronted suffering by welcoming the stranger, helping the poor and building peace.

Contemplate This - I offer this meditation adapted from this Franciscan expression of the Beatitudes written by Capuchin Br. John Francis Samsa, "The Beatitudes of Christ: Embrace the Challenge." I encourage you to take some time as the old year ends and reflect on these lives as well as others for whom you are grateful. Reflect on those people or situations that gratuitously offer you hope and whose lives made our world a better place.