"Colors paint the marsh, and I, like the heron, was lucky enough to see it."

GSR Today - Between Columbus Day and Haloween, October might possibly be the most racist month in the United States. Racism, after all, is not simply the overt hatred of minorities. Racism includes the institutional structures that keep minorities from being equal players in our society.

The swirl that I found myself in when I visited Washington, D.C. during the Pope Francis’ visit to the United States brought to mind Jesuit Fr. Bill Callahan, who in the early 1980s coined the phrase “noisy contemplation." It was a clear call that we can all pray all the time no matter how hectic our lives become. It is taking the time to really see what is before us, no matter how fast we might be going.

Sr. Mary Joseph Ritter, general superior of the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy in Charleston, S.C., always wanted to be involved in a ministry of direct service. But in her more than 50 years of religious life, she's learned not only the power of serving others, but the increased power that comes from forming partnerships to serve others. The congregation sponsors a nonprofit, Our Lady of Mercy Community Outreach. The agency has a $2.7 million operating budget and serves more than 11,000 people a year with a soup kitchen, health clinics, food pantries and education efforts.

A woman religious who teaches a course at the Philadelphia prison Pope Francis visited Sept. 27 believes the pope's outreach to prisoners will have an impact on the criminal justice system in America. "He'll be aware of the injustices that may occur in the prison system," and his presence will raise public awareness about prison systems around the country, said Mercy Sr. Elizabeth Linehan, a professor of philosophy at Jesuit-run St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia.

The Missionaries of Charity will close their adoption centers in India, citing new regulations that would allow nontraditional families to adopt children, reported ucanews.com. Founded by Blessed Teresa of Kolkata, the congregation runs orphanages across India, with 18 of them government-recognized centers that offer children for adoption. But the nuns do not want to run adoption centers in India now, said Sr. Mary Prema, the congregation's current superior general.

"To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour."

GSR Today - "Difficult as it is to imagine, the situation has in recent months deteriorated even further. Fighting — barrel bombs, shells, rocket and mortar attacks — has intensified in almost every governorate."

Year by year we experienced a decline of religious sisters on the staff of Good Shepherd Services, the congregationally sponsored child care agency where I worked. At the same time, professional non-sister staff has grown exponentially as the organization has grown, with new programs developed and departments expanded; managing them has required evermore specialized and complex skills.

Evangelizing Sisters of Mary in Zanzibar, a Muslim-majority island off the coast of Tanzania, minister to Muslims and Christians, with an emphasis on the importance of educating girls and recognizing human trafficking. Sr. Yusta Tesha spoke with Global Sisters Report about their pastoral work on an island precariously balanced between a tourism destination and a radical group advocating for secession and Sharia law, three years after their own church was burned.