Simple moments of connection and the support of life in a strong Catholic community during the volunteer experience have proven influential for former volunteers who moved on to pursuing a vocation with a religious order.

"Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter, but beautiful, struggle for a new world."

During this National Migration Week, I've been reflecting on these opportunities I've had to "migrate" out of my comfort zone and to be welcomed as "stranger" in other lands. I reverence those crucial parts of my life. They have made me a better Christian.

See for Yourself - I was beginning to wonder if anyone purchased replacement watch batteries anymore. It took me stopping at three stores and patrolling around the jewelry cases to find what I was looking for.

"Every child, every story, every face, are part of me now. I walk with them and through them, because they have become part of my own history of salvation and the story of the salvation of immigrant people."

Travelers have the chance to help rescue sex-trafficking victims via the TraffickCam app, which is creating a database of hotel room photos. It's a project of Exchange Initiative, which came into being after meeting planner Kimberly Ritter crossed paths with the Sisters of St. Joseph.

GSR Today - From Syria to Central America to the Pacific Islands, the forces of war, economics and nature carry the global refugee crisis into 2017 as relief workers, the United Nations and religious deal with this "new normal."

Vowed religious life will continue, and, yes, we will be smaller in number and we will "look different." But I do not want to watch the sisters I love age and die one by one while I wait around to see what "looks different" when they are gone. I want to actively create our future.

From A Nun's Life podcast - A listener wonders whether she needs a certificate or other credentials to know whether or not she is truly Catholic.

"Love is embedded in the fabric of the universe. It undergirds the deep connectivity that marks cosmic life, from quantum reality to the galaxies and conscious human life."