"After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it."

Good Friday — the day we commemorate the execution of Jesus. This year our commemoration reminds me of a quote from Meister Eckert about Christmas. In essence, Eckert asked what good it is for us that Jesus was born 2,000 years ago if he is not also born in us each day — for the Son of God always needs to be born.

See for Yourself - "The Lord turned his head and looked straight at Peter, into whose mind flashed the words that the Lord had said to him …'You will disown me three times before the cock crows today.' And he went outside and wept bitterly."

After decades doing peace work, seeking truth and reconciliation for Canada's indigenous people, and in short-term healing work with communities in Africa, Service Sr. Mary Ellen Francoeur says her goal is to love in a selfless way.

Last year, Pope Francis issued a decree revising the rules for the traditional foot-washing ritual on Holy Thursday, saying the rite should no longer be limited to men and boys but also include women and girls. A rash of headlines was received with mixed reactions by the Catholic community across the globe. While some individual priests in Kenya long ago adapted the ritual of foot washing to women, others adamantly cling to tradition.

When Sr. Madeleine Miller tried to substitute teach two years ago at Norfolk Public Schools, she was told they'd love to have her — but she couldn't wear her habit.

"Really?" the Missionary Benedictine sister replied. "Tell me more."

A 1919 state law backed by the Ku Klux Klan and other anti-Catholic groups barred teachers from "religious garb" in public schools. It had never been challenged.

But it didn't sit right with Miller, whose religious community in Norfolk encouraged her to try to change the law.

"I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do."

Notes from the Field - My favorite weekend during service with the Good Shepherd Sisters in Thailand involved dance. The Thai language does not always come easily to me, and having the opportunity to use dance, one of my favorite mediums of communication, gave me a new sense of freedom.

"Isn't it amazing that we are all made in God's image, and yet there is so much diversity among his people? Does God love his dark- or his light-skinned children less? The brave more than the timid? And does any of us know the mind of God so well that we can decide for him who is included, and who is excluded, from the circle of his love?"