There will always be a purpose to monastic life, say the sisters of Mount St. Scholastica, as long as there is a need in the world for silence, prayer, simplicity, and balance.

"Breathing is one of the most basic prayers," says Liz Ellmann, who heads Spiritual Directors International. "We are so close to God we're as near as our breath."

Trinity Place is a shelter program for LGBT street youth operated by Pastor Heidi Neumark and Trinity Lutheran Church of Manhattan.

"For me Reiki is another form of prayer," says spiritual director Lauri Lumby Schmidt. But a member of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops says this holistic Japanese healing technique is "not of God."

Last year Pilgrim Church in Detroit celebrated the repair of its roof and the faith that makes its ministries possible.

Watch members of an Episcopal parish in Washington, DC talk about their long partnership with Haiti and listen to them share their thoughts about the suffering and destruction.

Faith-based groups are raising money, sending supplies, providing emergency medical help, and trying to locate staff, missionaries, and workers. In the US there are special prayer services and vigils for the victims.

The Redeemed Christian Church of God, founded in Nigeria, is expanding its missionary network in North America.

Those who feel lonely and sad at this time of year may also feel "that grief is permanent and hope is fleeting," says the University of Richmond's associate university chaplain, Kate O'Dwyer-Randall, "but it’s actually the other way around."

Some churches are struggling in these difficult economic times as they face layoffs, foreclosure, distress sales, and other signs of serious financial trouble. (Originally aired June 19, 2009)

For this Grammy-nominated singer and Seventh-day Adventist pastor, music is a ministry and "the most powerful way of impressing the human mind with hope."

In a new book about inspirational poet Mattie Stepanek, who died in 2004, his mother Jeni writes about his short life and lasting legacy.

Read and watch more of Kim Lawton's interview with Jeni Stepanek, who says her son, best-selling poet and speaker Mattie Stepanek, had "a universal message--give and you shall receive."

There will always be a purpose to monastic life, say the sisters of Mount St. Scholastica, as long as there is a need in the world for silence, prayer, simplicity, and balance.

Watch National Catholic Reporter senior correspondent John L. Allen Jr. and Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly managing editor Kim Lawton discuss the Roman Catholic Church's plan to absorb unhappy Anglicans wishing to become Catholics.

Doctors who pray with patients and family members "puts a sense of comfort in you," says Chris Barkley. "Normally, doctors don't do that, and it makes people feel closer to the doctor. You want them to care just as much as you do."

She started a support group for women with emotional problems and histories of sexual abuse, and she wants to earn degrees in social work and theological studies to help others like them.

An 11-year-old autistic girl writes poetry about her inner world.

Set in 1967, the story centers on a Jewish physics professor in the Midwest, Larry Gopnick, who looks to his faith to make sense of his personal and professional calamities.

Watch religion columnist Cathleen Falsani, author of “The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers,” discuss theological and moral themes in previous films by Joel and Ethan Coen, including “The Big Lebowski,” which has inspired its own religion.