Here is an excerpt from Fr. James Martin’s guest column on the Washington Post’s “On Faith” page. Like so many others, Fr. Martin has been reflecting on his gratitude for women religious in his life and has been encouraging others to do likewise. You can read more inspirational reflections on twitter by following this new hashtag of gratitude. He acknowledges how some very negative critics — who consider themselves Catholics in good standing, including one notoriously vitriolic and oftentimes disrespectful priest who has a rather loyal following online — have attempted to hijack the hashtag of gratitude to harass the LCWR and others in support of the more-than 80% of United States women religious who are affected by the latest news. Read the entire column below to learn more.
Last week, on the day when the Vatican released the results of its investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents 80 percent of women’s religious orders in this country, I received emails from several Catholic sisters. All described themselves as saddened, stunned or demoralized by the Vatican document, which severely criticized the LWCR in a number of areas.
Catholic sisters are my heroes. They have been my teachers, spiritual directors, mentors, bosses and friends. I can barely begin to describe the admiration I have for these women, many of them now in their 70s and 80s, and for what that they have done for God, for the church, for what Catholics call the “people of God,” and for me.
When I was a young Jesuit working in Nairobi, Kenya, for example, two elderly Maryknoll sisters patiently listened to my worries about living in the developing world, shared some of their own experiences of years in ministry in remote villages, and encouraged me to “push on,” as they say in East Africa. When my father was dying of cancer ten years ago, one Religious of Jesus and Mary sister took a four-hour train ride to visit him in the hospital for an hour, stayed overnight at a nearby convent, and the next morning took the train home, for another four-hour journey. When I thanked her, she thanked me for the “honor” of letting her come. And during a difficult spiritual crisis, one Sister of St. Joseph helped me to find God in the midst of my doubts, and was even able to get me to smile. “God did all the work,” she said, when I thanked her, “not me.”
In the wake of the Vatican document, my sister friends, some nearing the end of their lives, seemed to need a word of gratitude. The very least I could do was to show some support in a small way–on Twitter. (Of course I had written about my admiration for them before, but it seemed that it was a particularly good time for praise.) Besides, gratitude is always in season…
To Read more, go to: “What Sisters Mean to Me.”
For an earlier story from the Huffington Post on the same topic, go to: “Rev. James Martin…“
