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."

Notes from the Field:  My year with Franciscan Mission Service gave me gifts of simplicity. Adding simple prayers to my day strengthened my connection to God, and backing off social media was incredibly freeing.

"Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested."

Along Midwestern highways and interstates, with their hundreds of truck stops and rest stops, hubs for sex trafficking thrive. Sisters throughout the region are educating people to recognize the signs of victimization and are helping survivors recover.

Sr. Joan Marie Brandner, a Sister of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Aberdeen, S.D., has traveled to many places in the world to teach and share the Personality and Human Relationships program, which promotes the well-being and growth of individuals and communities.

Thinking about the experience of sharing my life with immigrant children in detention in the United States deeply touches my heart. My time with them was short, only three years, but very profound. Through them, God gave me so much, changed me so much.

"We will never reach the end of exploring, having figured it all out. It is something like parallel train tracks that appear to meet at a point in the distance, but when you get to that point the tracks have opened up to another distant point."