At our recent convocation, we Ursuline sisters, associates and friends heard from Sister of Charity of the Incarnate Word Teresa Maya, who gave us a new way of thinking about charism. For each congregation, she said, there is a founding call. Then, as need finds us, there is an apostolic response to that call. Charism happens in the present moment of the dialog between the two.

On a recent oceanside retreat, I was kissed, found sweetness and learned to carry pearls.

Concealed behind tall brick walls and strong iron gates in a struggling Memphis neighborhood, nuns have been quietly praying for the city and its people since 1932.

Drawing from her own battle with major depressive disorder, Cenacle Sr. Maria Cecilia "Cecille" Tuble now advocates for greater mental health awareness and help for people who are depressed and suicidal.

Aberdeen, South Dakota, never boasted a taste for diversity of culture or color. But if the city was to grow, it was time for the town to move into the 21st century, and education in diversity would be needed to help this transition.

A Catholic nun accused the military of being behind the shooting of a human rights defender Aug. 6 in the northern Philippines. "It's the military," said Good Shepherd Sr. Genoveva Dumay, who works with farmers and political prisoners in the northern region of the country.

It's one thing to speak truth to power. But sometimes, it's much more daunting to speak truth to each other. Do we know how to create inclusive processes of truthful illumination and contemplative discernment in parish councils, church-reform conferences and beyond?

After serving five years in leadership for my congregation, the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart in Philadelphia, I wanted a ministry experience in an underserved area, helping in whatever way I could. In March, I traveled to Ghana, West Africa, expecting to find God. I was not disappointed.