"If we know that we're all in this together, it becomes something beautiful."

More than a year after Pope Francis issued new guidelines for contemplative women religious, leaders of those communities are still working to figure out what changes will be required. Benedictine Sr. Nancy Bauer told attendees at the Resource Center for Religious Institutes' National Conference Nov. 1 the new norms will not take effect until the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life delivers instructions on how to implement them.

A native of Chad, St. Joseph Sr. Jeannette Londadjim was forced to flee her homeland with her family because of the bloody civil war that broke out in the mid-1960s. Her work has taken her throughout Africa, educating young people, working with migrants and refugees, and helping bishops' conferences deal with issues of development, the environment and racism. 

Rani Maria Vattalil, a member of the indigenous Franciscan Clarist Congregation who was knifed to death in 1995, is to be beatified Nov. 4 in India's Indore Diocese. As she gets closer to sainthood, the people for whom she sacrificed her life remember how she inspired transformation. "She taught us to stand on our legs. Our village, with hope, has truly become a place of joy."

"It is our faith that calls us to see each other as members of God's family. It is our faith that calls us to confront and overcome racism."

Notes from the Field - Understanding with whom we are working, we can then use that wisdom to employ methods that are more relevant and personal to them. Collecting more self-knowledge will help us constructively criticize how we respond to those we serve.

Daisy is in her early 20s and is studying to be a nurse. She doesn't have her papers. She is a Dreamer, and she told me her story on the M60 bus from LaGuardia to Manhattan's West Side.

"We are all called to be saints. There is nothing extraordinary about this call. We all have been created in the image of God to love and to be loved."

Sr. Joan Dawber is the founder and executive director of LifeWay Network, an organization in the New York City metropolitan area that provides secure housing for survivors of both labor and sex trafficking. She spoke to GSR about the importance of community living in LifeWay Network's work.

In this stage of the evolution of consecrated life, we women religious have found encouragement and challenge in a variety of metaphors and images that help us make meaning of the experience.