"Unless it extends the circle of its compassion to all living things, humanity will not itself find peace."

GSR Today - This week’s entry is all-Africa, and – as always – we’ve tried to find at least a little good news: Tunisian cooperation between Catholic sisters and the Muslim communities they serve; and South Sudan shelter upgrades for refugees thanks to Catholic Relief Services.

Sometimes it feels like I am pushing an enormous rock uphill on ever-shifting ground. Just when it seems I’m making headway, something happens and I have to redirect my efforts. Working for social change is slow-going and often feels like you’re going backwards. It is important to take the long view.

Little Sisters of the Poor Queen of Peace Residence is in a residential neighborhood at the eastern edge of the New York borough of Queens. The Little Sisters of the Poor opened the facility in 1970 and have cared for 1,240 elderly men and women there, including the 81 current residents. Twenty sisters and 95 employees serve the residents, with help from volunteers and young women in the Little Sisters' novitiate, which shares the compound.

"Because living a prophetic vocation requires strength from beyond ourselves, perhaps courage is a virtue more to be prayed for than cultivated, and certainly community support will be needed to nurture this virtue when it is given."

GSR Today - Every now and then the mainstream media gives more than just a passing glance at women religious. This is one of those weeks.

“Those who were in the dark are thankful for the sunlight . . .” I chuckled quietly as we sang this line from “Behold the Lamb of God” during Sunday’s liturgy at Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery in sunny Phoenix, Arizona. Twenty-one sisters under 40 years of age had escaped more wintry parts of the country and traveled here for the annual Giving Voice 20s/30s retreat.

Blessed Mother Teresa is well known for her service to the poorest of the poor, but she also touched the life of Fr. Robert D'Souza, who knew her in India where he learned an important lesson about prayer.

See for Yourself - I'm quite sure there must be a support group for persons who are voluntarily out and about at 6 a.m. on a Saturday. Having a lot to do one weekend, I ventured out early for several errands, crossing off each one on my list as I accomplished them, planning my route in advance for efficiency, and taking traffic short cuts to save time.

One aspect of the mission of Global Sisters Report is providing a place for sisters themselves to speak: about their challenges, success, dreams, hopes and fears. As in Nigeria, most of the sisters I met in Uganda politely declined when I asked them if they’d be interested in writing. Toward the end of my stay, I led another writing workshop to help the sisters put their stories on paper. Here are excerpts from the work of five sisters.