GSR Today - I have often in this space said I'm not the one with the answers. But this time, I know exactly what to do. I know how to change the game. I know how to ensure we never reach this point again.

Sr. Mary Carmela N. Cabactulan stepped outside the Sisters of Mercy convent in Tacloban November 8, 2013, to face the biggest crisis in her more than 40 years as a member and now leader of her community. The raging winds of Typhoon Haiyan had ripped off roofs, shattered walls and left the buildings of the school that had served 1,500 students in shambles under a thicket of fallen trees and debris. Damaged, too, was the adjacent 50-bed hospital the sisters ran.

Sacred Heart Church in McAllen, Texas, serves as a way station for those just released from Border Patrol processing centers. As the center reaches 200-plus visitors a day, Catholic Charities director Sr. Norma Pimental looks toward expansion.

What does it mean to be truly connected in this day and age? For one, it means being a part of a much more realistic worldwide web than the one on my phone or computer screen. It means connecting with real people and recognizing that those connections have implications and expectations.

Women religious are often the first people to discover problems emerging in society because they work directly with so many people in need, an anti-trafficking advocate said. However, because religious focus more on providing assistance than publicizing their efforts, the rest of the world is often slower to catch on to where there is trouble.

"Indigenous peoples have the collective right to live in freedom, peace and security as distinct peoples and shall not be subjected to any act of genocide or any other act of violence, including forcibly removing children of the group to another group."

See for Yourself - I shifted in the pew, fully expecting that the homilist was finally getting to the pith-y moment. You know the moment — when everything culminates in a zinger line to think about. The liturgy on this Sunday was no different.

The Ethiopian government closed almost all private orphanages starting in 2011, including dozens run by sisters. Now, sisters are ministering to children by running temporary group homes for them. These semi-orphanages are part of an effort to place children back within their communities.

Since 2010, Sr. Valorie Lordi has volunteered her time each summer ministering to children and youth in rural Haitian villages, and her connection to the Haitian people is "part of her daily life throughout the year." And in recent weeks, concern about Haiti has become a consuming worry.