GSR

Pope Francis calls us to become aware of and dare to turn what is happening to the world into our own personal suffering and, in so doing, discover what each of us can do about it. Like the young boy in the story, we have dared to let the pain of our Mother Earth penetrate our hearts.

"Go out into nature and breathe, because creation is a soothing balm for anxious bodies." The noisy worlds in which we coexist with nature too often drown out the sounds and music of nature.

A religious community, like every baptized Christian, is a partaker in God's mission. The mission of God is to proclaim the kingdom of love, justice and peace to humanity and the whole of creation. We religious need to be prophets who read the signs of the times and make a bold decision to side with the poor, the oppressed, the weak and the needy, no matter what religion they practice.

But little sparks flicker in the dark and are bringers of feeble hope to a troubled land. Hope provides strength in responding to violence with nonviolence, to untruth by exposing the truth, injustice with justice, and unbelief with faith.

General Chapters create a process for conversation, listening, growing, and deepening in the ways religious women live vowed life. Chapter Directives no longer focus on the nitty-gritty of daily life but call each sister to respond to the voice of God in prayer.