From A Nun's Life podcasts - What does it mean to stand at the foot of the cross with people who are suffering?

As we approach the first anniversary of our displacement, we look back and recall the past 12 months. We undertake this recollection to call to mind what the Lord has done for us, and how he accompanied us throughout the night of Aug. 6, 2014, as we were displaced with his people. Now, as IDPs, and with the rest of our people, we do face everyday challenges. We wonder how long this will last. Our hearts are filled with sadness and overwhelming grief. We wait but we get nothing; we think but do not understand.

GSR Today - Three hundred and sixty-four days ago, in the deep dark of night, the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena fled their home in Qaraqosh, Iraq. The sisters were some of the last Christians to leave this region.

This summer, Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary have made national headlines over their conflict with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles about who had the right to sell the sisters’ villa-style convent in the city’s hip Los Feliz neighborhood. The conflict centers on who officially controls the property, and, therefore, who has a right to sell it, but speaks to larger issues: What are the property rights of women religious, and what can happen when conflicts over property arise? Whether it is a school, hospital, thrift store or herd of livestock, property ownership has been a central component to most religious institutions throughout history, especially in the United States.

Three Stats and a Map - With fewer and fewer parishes and a growing Catholic population, are we about to witness the rise of the Catholic megaparish?

Released with nowhere to go, dozens of undocumented immigrants flooded a church respite center in McAllen, Texas, after the Border Patrol set them free without bus tickets in July. The facility added an extra tent to accommodate the numbers. “We have had upwards of 60 to 65 people spending the night over the last few weeks,” said Deb Boyce, volunteer group coordinator for Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley. “Our numbers have almost doubled because they were being released without bus tickets. They had to stay overnight.”

Patrick Morgan, 57, serves as an ESL teacher at the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Dorothy Bennett Mercy Center, which empowers families to overcome negative influences that impact their well-being and self-sufficiency.

"The daily unfolding has a beauty of its own as time slowly blossoms into full flower."

Jesus and Buddha, it has been said, discovered the same spiritual landscape. With that wisdom tucked away in my heart I have taken myself twice a week for the last two years to zazen, otherwise known as Buddhist sitting meditation, with an interfaith prayer group that meets close to my home.

Notes from the Field - “Live and Learn,” the saying goes, so I try to learn from where I live and observe my surroundings to gain knowledge from them. That said, there are a few things I have learned from living in a developing country that I didn’t know before I came to Ethiopia. For one, it's not easy to run a mission.