Williams, the company building the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline extension, had sued the Adorers of the Blood of Christ sisters for immediate seizure of their land to prevent construction of a chapel in the path of the planned pipeline.

"We are the church, the hands of Christ, a group of disciples who take up their crosses daily and head off into the world to continue Christ's mission."

As the Lebanese army wages an offensive against an Islamic State enclave near the border of Syria, Lebanese civilians — Christian and Muslim — are working side by side, not far from the frontlines, to feed some 5,000 soldiers.

Notes from the Field - My heart was called to the Nong Khai community in a way that I still can't explain. It was as if a part of me had to be claimed here for me to be whole.

Our sister now has a newly discovered half brother with whom she shares the same father. A Gospel story reminds us that we share the same father, our God, with all people throughout the world.

"Sustainability also links us to ancient traditions of earth and agriculture, food and ritual. It takes the flat out of the moment and makes time dense, at the very tables of our ordinary life."

Mary Immaculate Sr. Licia Puthuparambil, a member of the Canon Law Council of the International Union of Superiors General, lends her expertise to its mission to provide canonical guidance to leaders of religious institutes of women in Africa, Asia and elsewhere.

Small Christian communities provide an environment in which members read and wrestle with the meaning of Scripture, church teaching and faith in order to find the truth of what God speaks to them. The wrestling is important, because Catholics don't generally question enough to make Scripture or church teaching their own.

"We are encountering hatred and an evil that cannot be measured by our own understanding. We must, therefore, put all of our trust in God like never before and build on a faith that cannot be shattered. Hatred is powerful, but God is greater!"