"Human work, and especially manual labor, receive special prominence in the Gospel. Along with the humanity of the Son of God, work too has been taken up in the mystery of the Incarnation, and has also been redeemed in a special way. At the workbench where he plied his trade together with Jesus, Joseph brought human work closer to the mystery of the Redemption."

"We want to test the resurrection in our bones. To see if we might live in hope, instead of in the silva oscura, the thicket of cultural despair, nuclear despair, a world of perpetual war. We want to taste the resurrection. May I say we have not been disappointed."

- Fr. Daniel Berrigan, as quoted in Redeem the times! A remembrance of Dan Berrigan, published on NCRonline.org

See for Yourself - I had a great conversation recently about nuns and those proverbial "good old days" when nuns ruled Catholic schools, and we're all better people today because of that.

I have a confession to make. I believe in the positive power of government to promote the common good. Yes, that's right, 100 days into the new administration, amid an ongoing toxic political debate with drastic budget cuts on the horizon that will negatively impact people on the margins who are already struggling, I still believe in we the people. 

"The monarch caterpillar focuses on what feeds its growth. What feeds our growth?"

While on retreat at St. Mary's by the Sea in Cape May Point, New Jersey, I love to visit the nature center near the lighthouse and to engage in one of my favorite forms of prayer — bird watching.

GSR Today - Inspiration, signs of "evolutionary changes," and ideas for living out mercy were found April 18-20 at the National Catholic Educational Association meeting of more than 8,000 teachers, administrators, superintendents, librarians and archivists.

When you think about women religious, the word "science" may not be the first to spring to mind, but for many if not most Catholic sisters, what has shaped climate study and other scientific disciplines also bolsters their conviction that all life on Earth is interdependent, and that the time to intervene on behalf of a struggling planet is now. Sisters, volunteers and other community associates are traveling to Washington, D.C., for the People's Climate March on April 29 to make that point.

The work of Religious of Jesus and Mary Sr. Yudith Pereira has taken her from her native Madrid to an office in Rome and villages throughout South Sudan. As project manager of the initiative Solidarity with South Sudan, Pereira helps run the program that includes projects in education, health training and pastoral initiatives.