Nuns on the Bus Blog - “Vote people first! Vote people first!” shouted the folks gathered at Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement as our bus pulled up Wednesday. Stepping off the bus to cheers was both humbling and energizing. The moment captured what we’re really about. Joining together, encouraging one another, to do what we really care about: putting people first.

Nuns on the Bus Blog - Heading east on U.S. Highway 20 near Sac City, Iowa: As we travel along, seeing the corn and soy bean fields, farms, small towns, and larger ones rolling by, bumping along with the tires humming, I suppose it’s natural that road images start coming to mind. Journeys take us to unexpected places. At times it’s smooth sailing. We hit rough spots. Sometimes the road narrows or takes a detour. We may even get lost. Surprises can turn into unexpected joy.

A coalition of progressive Catholic organizations has delivered nearly 18,000 petitions to Pope Francis, asking him to remove the orders for the largest leadership group of American women religious to reform. Nun Justice Project, a coalition of 15 progressive Catholic organizations in the United States, hand delivered more than 17,500 petitions to the pontiff via the Swiss Guard. Also in the package were Spanish translations of Sr. Elizabeth Johnson’s books, Consider Jesus and Quest for the Living God.

See for Yourself - Some jokes get into your head and stay there. Of course, we all know persons who say, “I’m terrible at telling jokes. I can’t remember the punch line. When I do tell a joke, it’s not funny.” I’ve never been that person. Some jokes just stay with me and emerge at the worst times. Take yesterday, for example.

Nuns on the Bus Blog - Social Service Sr. Simone Campbell, executive director of NETWORK, kicked off the third Nuns on the Bus tour this morning at the Iowa State Capitol, with her team and guest speaker, Vice President Joe Biden. Titled “We the People, We the Voters,” this year’s bus tour focuses on civic engagement and voter registration in 36 cities. Global Sisters Report had live tweets and updates throughout. Now, our U.S. sisters liaison, Franciscan Sr. Jan Cebula, will be blogging daily from the Iowa leg of the tour, so be sure to check back for her updates from the road.

"The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more."

Nuns on the Bus Blog - Last night the sisters boarding Nuns on the Bus gathered for our orientation, in preparation for the kick off rally today. Ten of us from six different communities of women religious in Iowa greeted old friends and met new ones. Whenever sisters gather there is an immediate bond. We’re all in this together. 

On the first warm and sunny Iowa day in about a week, somewhere around 300 people came to the steps of the State Capitol to hear from the executive director of  NETWORK Sr. Simone Campbell about her vision for democracy and 100 percent civic engagement. "Friends don't let friends vote alone," the Sister of Social Service said to a cheering crowd. (Includes video.)
Follow the Nuns on the Bus Blog; new Thursday: Vote People First!
 

Three stats and a map - In 1990, only 76 percent of the world’s adults could read and write. But with concerted efforts, global literacy has been on the upward swing. In 2013, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics published its literacy projections for 2015 based on data from 151 countries in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

". . . .The more unpropitious the situation in which we demonstrate hope, the deeper the hope is. . . ."