The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet are among the recipients of letters from the Vatican asking congregations to explain matters learned during the apostolic visitation.

Religious priests, brothers and sisters in Brazil are urging everyone attending the Olympic Games to report instances of exploitation of vulnerable people and to turn in suspected traffickers.

Each morning when I sit down to my desk at work, before I check voicemails or emails, I flip over a page on my de facto daily calendar. Just to the right of my computer and telephone sits this small, spiral-bound book containing all 100 Maxims of the Sisters of St. Joseph.

Notes from the Field - As a Good Shepherd Volunteer, I have heard the phrase "Just love" more times than I could possibly count. It is the epitome of what we as volunteers have set our hearts and minds on since day one of our year of service.

Sr. Mary Mundy has been a pastoral associate for 23 years of her 52 years in religious life and says she cries every time she leaves a ministry because "friends are precious."

If I have heard it said once, I have heard it said a million times: "I just do not know how to think about this presidential election cycle." If the truth be told, I have said this to myself. Yesterday an answer came to me, but it came in the form of another question: "Is this our Arab Spring?"

In recent years, cancer has been growing at an alarming rate in Vietnam, which has one of the highest fatality rates from the disease in the world. This is largely due to the lack of screenings; patients wait for care until their disease is in its late stages, pointing to the need for education.

Since Ecuador's April 16 earthquake, two Franciscan communities have had sisters on the ground here accompanying people through their grieving and recovery process. Sr. Carmen Isabel Faris is from the Ecuador-based Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Maria Auxiliadora, and Sr. Matilde Solis arrived in Ecuador two weeks after the natural disaster from the Panama-based Franciscan Sisters of Maria Inmaculada. Their congregations have been working together to support the people of Canoa, a town that suffered severe damage during the 7.8 magnitude earthquake.

"What diminishment or extinction do we grieve so deeply that we will change our consciousness, lives and actions to grapple with this enormous challenge that now filters like the sun through every part of our lives?"

From A Nun's Life podcasts - If one of the Glorious Mysteries of the rosary brings up painful memories, can I sub in a different one?