Sister Marie-Louise Wolfington RSCJ of LaBelle, Fla., was honored in late November for her work to establish Habitat for Humanity in Hendry County, Florida. Millard Fuller, co-founder of Habitat for Humanity International, presented the award at a breakfast at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church in LaBelle.

Sister Anne Montgomery has accepted on behalf of Christian Peacemaker Teams the 40th annual Peace Award of the War Resisters League. David McReynolds presented the League’s award at a dinner in New York City in June.

At the invitation of the US Justice and Peace Committee, 156 RSCJ and Associates of the USA Province, alarmed at the prospect of war with Iraq, gathered on Monday, November 4th, in local (Area) groupings to pray together for world peace. We spent the first half hour in reflection and prayer, and we surfaced hopes, fears, and concerns about our global community. At the teleconference that followed, each group shared a summary of its reflections. An "Open Conversation" revealed a remarkable energy to respond in a variety of ways, including having a Society day of prayer for peace.

Have you ever thought of Advent as “work” time? The priest who gave the homily in the parish where I celebrated the first Sunday of Advent gave a simple but helpful homily about Advent waiting, which he called “work waiting.” He reminded us that this special time of the church year is full of anticipation, of hopeful waiting. It is a time of promise, but according to him it is a time of work-waiting, not idle waiting. The words jarred me as I usually think of Advent as a time of silence, of restful waiting, of emptying, the goal of which is less activity so as to be more ready and open for God’s coming.