-- Association Maria Helen Drexel -- helping to improve the lives of street children in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

-- Slavutich, Ukraine -- working with survivors of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

-- Our Lady's Hospice -- caring for the dying in Zambia, mostly victims of AIDS.

In the United States more than 300 Oblate priests and brothers bring healing and hope to people in need every day. They care for the spiritual needs of people at shrines and retreat houses. They care for the material needs of the poor at hospitals, soup kitchens and other social service programs.

-- The National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, Belleville, Ill. -- more than one million pilgrims visit the largest Marian Shrine in the United States every year.

-- Our Lady of Lourdes of the Southwest, San Antonio, Texas -- a replica of the original Shrine in Lourdes, France, the Grotto is visited by pilgrims from around the world and serves as an eternal sign of hope.

-- St. Jude Shrine, New Orleans, La. -- provides programs to help poor people living in and around the French Quarter.

-- Tekakwitha Indian Missions, Minnesota and South Dakota -- Oblates work with Native Americans to preserve their cultural and spiritual heritage.

-- Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio, Texas -- a leader in the formation of religious and lay collaborators for the Church.

-- La Vista Ecological Learning Center, Godfrey, Ill. -- provides programs and retreats related to the integrity of creation, and a community-supported organic garden.

[The Year for Consecrated Life concludes on Feb. 2, 2016; and it will also bring to a conclusion the columns in this space which have, over the past several months, provided a snapshot of the thousands of women and men religious who have graced the life of our archdiocese and the Church universal and our own individual lives. We thank God for each and all of them. -- Ed.]