It's generally quiet in the Altar Bread Department at the Monastery of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Westfield as Benedictine nuns in their full habits covered with smocks produce thousands of hosts to be consecrated and distributed to Catholics at the Eucharist. In keeping with the contemplative lifestyle of their order, the Congregation of Solesmes, there is little talking.

Being Catholic means many things to different people — ritual, tradition, care for people who are poor and reading the signs of the times in light of the Gospel. We may choose to emphasize certain aspects of what it means to be Catholic, but they are each integral pieces of the whole. Our shared experience as people on the journey stretches over centuries, across continents and beyond divisions. God is bigger than it all, and we are invited to participate in that bigness as God’s people.

"If we live the Gospel and focus on building God’s reign through acts of service and love, we can hope for the bonus of heaven’s freedom when we die. Heaven can be a blessed bonus for life abundantly lived, but it is not the goal of living."

"I have always wanted to become a saint. Unfortunately, when I have compared myself with the saints, I have always found that there is the same difference between the saints and me as there is between a mountain whose summit is lost in the clouds and a humble grain of sand trodden underfoot by passers-by."

When Pope Francis released "Laudato Si', On Care for Our Common Home," the title of the encyclical emphasized a shared responsibility to protect the Earth, but Franciscan Sr. Mary Francis Wangare was already preaching this concept. As director of the Office of Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation Franciscan Africa, she recently coordinated a second annual interfaith environment conference for youth in Kenya. About 600 people participated, and Global Sisters Report shares reactions from six of them.

See for Yourself - Aunt Myrt had a unique outlook on many things. I was young when she passed away, so I was never sure if her comments were sincere or just for shock value.

Benedictine Srs. Carol Ann McLaughlin and Rita Groner take their 13-year-old miniature poodle, Rusty, to various places in Erie, Pennsylvania, to provide therapy. They visit nursing homes, schools, hospitals — wherever they are needed. McLaughlin and Groner adopted Rusty from a friend who had fostered him. When they visited the then-4-year-old dog, he jumped right into their laps, McLaughlin said.

Lovers of the Holy Cross of Thu Thiem sisters have challenged the government ownership of their former education facilities in a developing riverside district of Ho Chi Minh City after they staged a rare prayer protest Oct. 22-44 against destruction of their property.

I have done justice training with the project staff in Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of the Congo since 2013, so I was anticipating the release of the video "Maisha: A New Life Outside the Mines." I was told it was a documentary of the work of the Good Shepherd ministry being done there. And so it is — and quite a good documentary at that.

Notes from the Field - After graduating from college in the spring of 2015, my husband, Ian, and I moved from Michigan to Kermit, West Virginia, to live and work at the Big Laurel Learning Center where we both help Sr. Kathy O'Hagan and Sr. Gretchen Shaffer explore ways to make it more sustainable by helping to host various work groups throughout the year.