It is perhaps easier to feel discouraged and hopeless than to accept that life comes with both suffering and joy. Advent calls us to a deeper faith in Jesus' power to reconcile these lion-lamb opposites.
Nominees of every ilk went on telling us they could save our lives and our government and our future. How? By doing absolutely nothing to change the new tone of division. Of meanness. Such bold and brave leaders.
It is easy to dismiss Donald Trump as either a politician or a democratic leader. What can't be so quickly dismissed is the fact that, however weak the character he brought to the position, he was elected.
National synodal documents from around the world call for more lay inclusion in church decision-making, reports Sr. Christine Schenk. But will the process itself include laypeople in the deliberations?
The looming death of our religious communities may be the heart of sisters' fear of losing their home. Is that why some of us hang on with desperate hope of reviving the former number of vocations?
Two days at the Clinton Global Initiative 2022 highlighted the importance of encounter and action. This is the anchor of hope and the roots of the Gospel in our time.
The question this column purports to answer is a clear one: Will religious life rise again? Yes? But is it sensible in this day and age to even think of such a thing?
The trouble with today's world is that it acts as if there were only one kind of love. And so, we are inclined to overlook the other two. Whether we know it or not, that can leave a lot of life very empty.
Joan Chittister: The sense of "community" in the U.S. is broken in two. How can a nation, an institution, a people, a family function well without the sense of community that carries us through dark and dangerous times?
While moral considerations are important in making individual decisions, a rigid moral approach has significant limitations. When considering legislation on abortion, there are additional facts to consider.
Joan Chittister: I came to understand that I am simply "this kind of person." The magnet in me pointed to the prayer life, the life of prophetic witness, the life of the conscious spiritual relationship with God.
Soul Seeing: Our community's archives hold stories of the life-giving spirits of dedicated women who are symbols of the love and inspiration I knew and the legacies they leave behind.
Joan Chittister: Too often, it is the desire to be perfect that traps us from becoming everything — anything — we might possibly become. Fear of failure is particularly toxic where the spiritual life is concerned.
Soul Seeing: We are invited to see the invisible in the visible, to notice and celebrate every miracle of life, whether a tiny twig, a small flower, or a burly human, because everything is bursting with divine life.
My efforts to connect with those who think differently have taught me that the judgments on both sides build walls of division and rancor. The call of Jesus in the Gospel to love one another is very difficult.
Commentary: Since the 1970s, sisters have been influenced by bishops' statements, scientific publications and theological works about the environment. Today, sisters worldwide prioritize care for creation as integral to their work.
Joan Chittister: The orders of sisters are dwindling in number. Can the church as we know it function as widely as it has without a body of sisters who model the faith and give their hearts to the world around them?
Christine Schenk: "The rich Biblical resources about the role of women in the Old Testament, and especially in the early Christian communities, are still simply unknown," Ursuline Sr. Eileen Schuller said. She's right.
Joan Chittister: We are all interconnected. When some of us stand up to the bully, we may all be persecuted in the name of God's righteousness. But to do so willingly is the heart of the eighth beatitude.
The mission of a new center in India is to promote a more harmonious living with all of creation in the spirit of coexistence. That will help people experience healing, health and wholeness.
