Commentary - A popular current topic regarding religious life in the U.S. is the “middle space.” In fact, LCWR dedicated its Winter 2015 volume of The Occasional Papers to this particular theme. The middle space – which can also be called the “in-between space” or “the borderland” – signifies adaptability, ingenuity and mobility in the midst of uncertainty. In the early history of immigrant women religious in the U.S. (1727-1917), I clearly see the border crossing spirit regarding adaptability. Many religious communities’ chronicles show that the first group of sisters came to the U.S. to launch their apostolic work, becoming immigrants serving immigrants. How can the border-crossing spirit be applied to today’s society?

In Vietnam where parents abandon children when a spouse dies or they otherwise cannot afford to care for them, the Austrian-based SOS Children's Villages network offers a way for the children to have a stable life. There are 17 such "orphan villages" in this country of about 9.5 million people, where women who have committed themselves to remaining single provide maternal care. Often they are Catholic and have the help of women religious in educating their children.

See for Yourself - “Aren’t you listening? She can’t keep her life together. You don’t have to have a lot of possessions or be wealthy or have the fancy things. Just take care of what you have. So my friend is one big fat frustration to me because I truly don’t understand why she can’t even.”

"The sun, the earth, love, friends, our very breath are part of the bouquet."

Three Stats and a Map - Earlier this week, the World Health Organization announced that Ethiopia was finally polio free. Yet, polio, not to mention other preventable diseases, are still found in other countries around the world.

From A Nun's Life podcasts - No time to spare for prayer? Road-tested ideas to rev up your prayer life!

Notes from the Field - Reading this blog, you may be sitting and relaxing after a long day or week at work or you may still be at work wishing you were sitting and relaxing at home. Either way, I want you to stop for a moment, close your eyes and think, “Is this a big world we live in or a small world?”

"Can we even know what ripples our lives make? Can we help each other see?"

GSR Today - Through the use of nonviolence, women religious throughout history have resisted injustice, which has made some of them iconoclasts - even if that wasn't the intended purpose. 

Sr. Georgette Marjorie Kabong belongs to the Institute of Sisters Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. She has a master's degree in socio-anthropology and management.  For 10 years she worked as coordinator of local projects with the Pensar Institute for Jesuits and as director of the Women's School in Orito, Colombia. From 2008 to 2011, she was part of the provincial counsel in Kinshasa, coordinating the young religious program. Now she works with women who are victims of sexual violence in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo.