Some tear at the roots of violence by running schools, health clinics or social programs. Others do it in smaller ways, concentrating not on changing neighborhoods or even city blocks, but individual lives. "We're under no illusions," says Dominican Sr. Joanne Delehanty. "Our energy goes into being church and being good neighbors."

"The soil cannot produce endlessly. It must be nourished by careful cultivation, thoughtful crop rotation and, occasionally, total rest. Relentless production will exhaust it. Why should I expect my soul to be any different?"

LCWR 2017: Beyond some annual processes and business sessions, the three days in Orlando hosted profound conversations regarding grief and vulnerability, the presence of love, and communion.

LCWR 2017: It's high time for women religious to take ownership of the narrative that has dominated their vocation for the past half-century, said St. Joseph Sr. Mary Pellegrino. As president of the Leadership Conference for Women Religious, she made an emphatic call to almost 800 women religious Aug. 10 to begin shifting the focus from diminishment to communion. The address, which was both challenging and comforting, was part of LCWR's annual assembly, held Aug. 8-11 in Orlando.

The clash between my vision of gardening (however far-fetched) and my reality forces me to face, not for the first time, an unpleasant truth: I am far too prone to the self-serving workaholism so prized in our culture.

See for Yourself - I've seen 3 a.m. more nights than I care to admit. It reminds me of Psalm 57: "I will wake the dawn." Just think: This means being awake ahead of the sun, just sitting around waiting for the sun to come up.

LCWR 2017 - Switching between podium and piano, keynote speaker Pramuk, a Regis University theologian, tied together the concepts of music, grief and refuge: "We sing our way from fear and hesitation to courage and fresh hope."

Working under the Africa Faith & Justice Network in Nigeria, sisters from different congregations went on a five-day advocacy trip to educate and advocate on the local level for the closing of illegal brothels where girls are trafficked for commercial sex in rural communities.

"In laying ourselves open to one another, we become, as it were, who we already are in the eyes of God: resurrected beings, beloved community, a new creation."

Sr. Barbara Paleczny, a Canadian School Sister of Notre Dame, has lived in South Sudan for nine years. Based in Juba, she travels throughout the country, her work focused on healing through workshops that offer trauma/psychosocial support for those affected by the country's ongoing civil war, and on training others to lead these workshops.