"If we are to be artisans of peace, our social context is our canvas, and our actions, responses and choices are our brush strokes. I don't know about you, but most of my opportunities for growing in nonviolence present themselves close to home — friends, family, coworkers, you name it."

As Pope Francis reminds the world to pray for peace on Jan. 1, Sr. Rosemary Nyirumbe hopes the message of the women of northern Uganda will reach forgotten corners of the world where conflicts are just beginning to fade and wounds are still fresh. Nyirumbe is overseeing the creation of the Transformative Peace Education curriculum, part of a partnership with the University of Oklahoma that gives survivors, not academics, responsibility for designing the program.

For the last few years, I've spent the days leading up to the new year in the cozy confines of a retreat center in western Massachusetts. While friends send text messages about New Year's Eve, I share silence with a group taking a prayerful pause at year's end. In silent, guided reflection there is the invitation to reflect on all that has been, to pray for all that will be, and to bless the time we have.

See for Yourself - At a friend’s early New Year’s Eve party, I ended up in an enlightening conversation with another party-goer near the veggie dip. 

"All the world becomes the thin place, the cosmic body of Christ, where the Light is aching to break through and heal but needs our eyes to see, to look on all creation as gift, to look at all creation with dignity."

Sr. Carol Shinnick of the School Sisters of Notre Dame has been appointed to serve as interim director of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) by its board for a six-month term effective Jan. 1. The three-year term of Sr. Joan Marie Steadman, a Sister of the Holy Cross of Notre Dame, Indiana, ends Dec. 31.

Global Sisters Report followed up with women religious who have spent the last few months and this holiday season helping others and themselves recover from a string of natural disasters, including three hurricanes and two earthquakes. For example, the Daughters of Mary Immaculate, known as the Marianist Sisters, is a small congregation, with only 15 sisters in the United States. However, two natural disasters affected the small community in a span of a few weeks.

My prayer during this season is that we as individuals, families, and communities will become Lights to light up the paths of darkness, ignorance, avarice, and hatred. Let the Light within each human heart burst forth and radiate. 

"To contemplate the manger also means to contemplate this cry of pain, to open our eyes and ears to what is going on around us, and to let our hearts be attentive and open to the pain of our neighbours, especially where children are involved. ... Can we truly experience Christian joy if we turn our backs on these realities? Can Christian joy even exist if we ignore the cry of our brothers and sisters, the cry of the children?"

Notes from the Field - I try to be aware of how my life experiences affect how I understand the ways in which other people navigate the world. Since I mentor Lusila, I especially try to observe how she sees the world. Of course, I cannot know her exact perceptions, but I can use what I know to help her find comfort.