"Wow, he's hot!" I exclaimed recently as I gazed at a good-looking guy in a television commercial.

The young woman standing next to me looked at me in shock.

"You can't like guys, you're a nun!" she said indignantly.

My immediate reaction was: "Yes, I can!" I proceeded to explain to her that a woman does not shut off her sex drive when she joins a monastery or convent, even if that might make life a bit easier.

A Zambian village's two-week ceremony welcomed young women to adulthood, culminating in a prayerful, joyful gathering of family, friends and neighbors. Truly, God was in this place, and I and came away with a heart full of gratitude.

GSR Today - There are 2.4 million trafficking victims globally. With regional and national organizations that provide support for smaller groups and ministries, sisters around the world are working together to save victims, operating safe houses, rehabilitation programs, educational programs, and public campaigns.

"When we strive to engage one another in honest, open and often uncomfortable conversations, we emerge the better for having done so. I've given my life to a Love that's greater than myself, and that gift calls me to live my life in defense of all of God's creation. I believe in a world where we engage one another's voices and, in so doing, engage in one another's lives."

See for Yourself - I'm very much like nature in the winter. Instead of blooming today, I'm always thinking ahead: What am I teaching next week? Am I ready for the meeting on Friday?

On television this week, I watched the footage of startled and scared travelers from the seven countries banned by President Donald Trump's executive order, finally free after hours of being detained, questioned and, in some case,s even handcuffed by immigration officials, pushing their luggage carts past large crowds of people in baggage claim.

"The women have no rights in this community. They cannot decide anything for themselves without the approval of the men. The elders who are men make all the decisions. They decide who marries their daughters, they decide if they go to school or not, they marry off the girls at a very early age even if the women think it's not right."

Many years ago, a friend gave me a decorative plaque that said, "Well-behaved women rarely make history." I thought in many ways that this suited me; however — and paradoxically — in my mind, I have always been fairly well-behaved.

The Sisters of Our Lady of Sion in San Jose, Costa Rica, focus on education and dialogue as a means to achieve peace. They run a school, youth and women's social programs, and their Center for Biblical Studies and Judeo-Christian Relations at their congregation's headquarters in Moravia, in the northeastern outskirts of San José.