See for Yourself - As I was opening a can of vegetables the other day, I noticed information stenciled on the lid. Along with several numbers was the phrase, “Best by 2017.”

It was arguably the most notable request of a pope in modern times. In 1979, Mercy Sr. Theresa Kane, serving as president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, after consulting with a few friends, decided to ask Pope John Paul II, during his first visit to the United States, to open all church ministries to women.

Nuns on the Bus Blog - As we pulled up for our site visit to Thistle Farms in Nashville, it was hard to tell who was more excited — the Nuns on the Bus or the women of Magdalene and their community who greeted us. We stepped off the bus right into the arms of love.

I was sitting in my office watching a video on my computer screen — tears welling up in my eyes. The video hadn’t even really started yet. I was just watching the promo clips. It was the footage of the 20/20 special with Pope Francis that aired on ABC over Labor Day weekend ("Pope Francis and the People"). My reaction surprised me. I hadn’t seen or heard the pope say anything yet. But I was deeply touched. Why?

Three Stats and a Map - The Nuns on the Bus are in Nashville, so today’s Three Stats in a Map is all about the Music City.

In 40 short essays mixing the sociological, theological, and sometimes deeply personal, Catholic women raise a number of weighty concerns for the hotly anticipated worldwide meeting of prelates on family life — centered on the fact that extraordinarily few women are invited or involved in the synod on the family.

Calling himself "a bit feminist," Pope Francis praised women religious for always heading to the "front lines" to bring the church's tenderness and motherly love to those most in need. "The church thanks you for this, it is a beautiful witness. This is being close. Be close! Close to people's problems, real problems," he said during an audience Thursday with young consecrated women and men from around the world, including Iraq and Syria. He began the audience by directing attention to "our martyrs in Iraq and Syria, our martyrs of today," revealing that he now keeps on him a small cross that a priest held in his hand while he was being murdered for his faith.

"The boats bob waiting for those with the courage to set sail. Live the dreams."

Nuns on the Bus Blog in Nashville - We Nuns on the Bus are on the road to hear the stories of people we meet and take them with us to Washington. These encounters are opening us to new realities, new understandings and new possibilities.

If the Vatican were looking for someone who models the kind of church Pope Francis envisions, it would be difficult to do better than Mercy Sr. Mary Scullion, a North Philadelphia icon, founder of Project HOME and fierce, if jovial, advocate for the city’s poor and homeless for the past 40 years. The mention of Francis recently brought a huge smile to Scullion, who was asked by Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput to head up the Committee on Hunger and Homelessness for the Sept. 22-25 World Meeting of Families. Pope Francis speaks a language — about the margins, about the need for the church to get out of the sanctuary, about the art of accompaniment — that has defined Scullion’s life and ministry since 1976.