On Earth Day the sun seems to shine brighter. The songs of the finch, meadowlark and red winged black bird ring more boldly upon the air. All creation seems to celebrate Earth Day. But, Earth Day this year seems different. The joyful rays and songs are still there, however, they feel tempered. A bittersweetness rests upon my heart.

Founded in France in 1973 by two married couples, the Community of the Beatitudes has three branches, for brothers, sisters and the laity. Its members share a common vocation of prayer and fraternal communion, combining a marked contemplative dimension with numerous apostolic and missionary activities in places such as parishes, hospitals, Marian sanctuaries, and retreat centers.

"People can feel isolated and alone dealing with the big picture. . . . See this work as a great project of healing our relations with other living beings, with one another for the sake of future generations and to see us doing that together as communities."

A signing ceremony at the United Nations will mark this year's Earth Day, and religious leaders, including a number of prominent Catholic women religious, are urging leaders of nations not to renege on their promise to sign the landmark Paris Agreement.

Notes from the Field - The cornerstone of the Cristo Rey model is the Corporate Work Study Program. Since Cristo Rey schools are private but exclusively serve students from low-income families, the Corporate Work Study Program is a way for students to earn money to cover most of their tuition.

Three Stats and a Map - Police brutality in the United States is an ongoing issue that has been gaining more and more media attention, and media organizations have stepped in to keep record of the killings, in absence of an official record.

"When I see polluted waters, I hear, 'This is my blood, and it's your blood that's being given up here.'"

After International Women's Day in March, and with Earth Day approaching April 22, it is timely to shine a spotlight encircling activist Mercy Sr. Mary Pendergast, author and activist Margaret Swedish and Halifax Charity Sr. Maureen Wild, an international retreat presenter and ardent foe of the tar sands operations in Alberta, Canada, who is working on a book-writing project with Celina Harpe, a Cree-Chipewyan elder in northeastern Alberta.

In a country where rural areas are faltering economically, leaving for the big city is both an allure and a challenge, and women often have the starkest of choices to make, as options for them are often the narrowest. "For the women, it is either working as a domestic worker or in the garment industry," said Salesian Sr. Rita Zema, who works in the Chittagong Diocese as an advocate and ombudsman for indigenous people who have left rural areas and migrated into urban cities like Chittagong or the capital of Dhaka.

In 1985, the Adorers of the Blood of Christ in Ruma, Illinois, formed a committee to study the farm crisis, which led to a number of environmental stewardship initiatives. Today, the Ruma motherhouse is home to a beekeeping effort, a nature program for local children and a vegetable garden, among other things. In celebration of Earth Day, Srs. Mary Alan Wurth and Janis Yaekel shared with Global Sisters Report the story of the Adorers' relationship with Earth.