I learn so much from my sister Carol. She teaches me about being in the moment and listening. Carol, who was born with Down’s Syndrome, has limited communication skills. If she is in a group and feels left out and “can’t get a word in edgeways” – as my mother used to say – she taps me on the shoulder and says, “Excuse me, excuse me. You are not listening to me.” In the last few weeks there were a number of times when people and events tapped me on the shoulder insistently with “Excuse me, excuse me. You are not listening to me.”

GSR Today - As a member of Maryknoll Sisters, the first U.S.-based congregation of women religious dedicated to world mission, Seattle native Sr. Jean Fallon has spent decades working on peace and justice issues around the world. Last week she received the Sister Christine Mulready Peacemaker Award from Pax Christi Metro New York for her work.

". . . Fill the hearts of mankind with the fire of your love and with the desire to ensure justice for all. . . ."

Following the takeover of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul by Islamic extremists this week, an estimated 500,000 civilians poured out of the city, fleeing bullets and burning wreckage. Yet, in all the chaos, one group remains resolute in its determination to stay in Mosul: the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena, a congregation of Iraqi sisters that has witnessed generation upon generation of war and carnage.

We live a world that is widely divergent from the first-century world. It occurred to me to ask myself, “What image describes the core, the essence, the essential elements of the lived reality that is called ‘religious life’ from my own lived experience?” “What image do I carry around in my head, heart and gut?”

GSR Today - Pope Francis praying at the wall in Bethehem was a simple, yet profound gesture, touching deeply something within me, within us all: a desire for justice, freedom and peace. Written on the wall, just minutes before he arrived, was, “Pope we need some 1 go speak about justice.” His trip elicited memories and emotions from my own experience in Israel and Palestine in 2012.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. . . ."

Did you happen to read the Washington Post op-ed on Tuesday that seemed to incite the outrage of every major publication on the Internet? You know, the op-ed that argued that one way to end violence against women is for women to stop sleeping around and get married? The op-ed was originally titled, "One way to end violence against women? Stop taking lovers and get married," with the subhead, "The data show that #yesallwomen would be safer hitched to their baby daddies."

Dr. Doug Lindberg and his wife Dr. Ruth Farreles Lindberg met in medical school at Loyola University Chicago and from there, went on to spend four years in a 50-bed hospital in the Himalayan foothills of Nepal, where one of their many remarkable experiences included working with Dr. Sr. Marlene Long, a Franciscan Missionary of Mary and plastic surgeon from Kenya.