GSR Today - I didn’t grow up in the same world as my mother and grandmother. I’ve been thinking about that a lot in these last two weeks since my grandmother died.

Because the law of belief (lex credendi) is the law of life (lex vivendi), there is a deep connection between ancient religious prayers, beliefs and rituals at the heart of our ecological disconnectedness. What we profess in faith, the language used to express those beliefs, and the structure of worship that ritualizes those beliefs, are all wired into our religious DNA. We are programmed for heaven above not an earth in evolution; God up above not God up ahead.

Jesus often has a crowd around him interested in what he is saying and doing. As we read the Gospels, we become like the crowds who follow Jesus, and we are deeply affected by observing and hearing his words. In this Gospel account, the crowd is walking with Jesus on his way to heal the daughter of Jarius. Suddenly Jesus says he is aware of power leaving him.

She's in her 30s ‒ only 1 percent of women religious are. And she's an elementary school teacher. Fewer than 2,000 women religious ‒ 2 percent of all sisters ‒ teach in U.S. Catholic grade schools. Yet she said she's joyfully where she needs to be and is not discouraged by the few number women choosing religious life. "I wouldn't necessarily say there's a drop in vocations as much as there is a drop in the 'yes' ‒ you know, the response to the call," she told Catholic News Service during a recent interview at St. Peter Indian Mission School in Bapchule. "I think God is calling and calling and calling."

GSR Today - It took a radical notion about serving the marginalized to encourage Sr. Eileen Reilly to accept a job at the United Nations.

Much has already been written about Laudato Si’, the encyclical released last week by Pope Francis on the care for our common home. Initial reactions range from the celebratory to the critical and come from all corners of church and society. Even my 81-year-old father asked me on the phone the other day if I was excited about the encyclical. To be truthful, excited is a mild descriptor.

Notes from the Field - When I applied to be a VIDES volunteer, living in community with the sisters was a strategic move. One, I wanted to be living in a safe environment; I trusted that a community of nuns would be able to provide that. Two, I wanted to grow in my faith. Three, I particularly like structure and order, which life in community promises.

GSR Today - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today 5-4 that same-sex marriage is constitutional and that states must recognize such marriages performed in other states. National Catholic Reporter has reaction from Catholic bishops and others here.

See for Yourself - At a national professional association meeting recently, I found myself sitting at a luncheon table next to a healthcare software developer from California.