The extraordinary witness of Sister Karen is a grand act of mercy – we can think of other grand gestures of mercy, like a stay of execution for a death row inmate or the courage of a murder victim’s family member who develops a relationship with the offender in a restorative justice program. In reality, most moments of mercy are smaller, less newsworthy, and more daily.

Despite the intensity and magnitude of this disease, the pulpit has remained silent.

In Lake Superior Magnificat, a flurry of the Holy Spirit (made alive in seagulls, owls, and hawks) rises as Black Mary and her Holy Son refuse to stand down but rather hold a nest that is letting fly new possibilities, and the words of the Meeting of the Mothers are heard on their wings.

Women–key members of families–won’t be included in a significant way in the Synod on the Family. An anthology of essays called Catholic Women Speak has been published in response to this omission.

Imagine with me a church that celebrates within a flourish of native and indigenous plants, communion that is transformed in the lap of food that will go to feed folks experiencing food insecurity in the community.