Helplessness

"Jesus then said to the Twelve, 'Do you also want to leave?' Simon Peter answered him, 'Master, to whom shall we go?'" Jn 6:68

Many years ago while visiting a young missionary friar in Central America, I learned of a struggle many friars had with women to whom they were ministering in small mountain villages. Abused often by their heavy drinking husbands, the women would not leave their villages. Initially, the friars thought the women were staying because of the vows they took when they married. Only after many visits did they realize they were staying with their abusive husbands because they had no place to go. Penniless, they felt trapped. With three or four children, it seemed impossible to them to go anywhere. Instead, they endured the abuse for the sake of their children, and the friars stood by them as best they could.

For those who work in the developing world, situations like this arise regularly, and sometimes I wonder whether Peter was saying something similar to the women of Central America when he asked Jesus, "To whom shall we go?" Indeed, Peter was a fisherman with few options. He was probably illiterate and owned no property. To what could he return? While the gospel writers cast Peter's response as an act of faith, which it surely was, it might also reflect his powerlessness.

For many religious women in the United States, the situation is similar. Having given their entire lives to schools, hospitals, retreat centers, the poor, and so much more, they now have to wrestle with a challenge by the Congregation  for the Doctrine of Faith to the Leadership Conference of Women Religions (LCWR), the umbrella organization to which so many of their congregations belong. For those of us who were educated by sisters and supported by them in so many ways, whether there are matters to which the LCWR must attend is besides the point. Just like the women in Central America, they need us to stand beside them in faith until a just solution is reached. The LCWR has said as much in its prayerful, considered response on its website. (1)

Today ask yourself what you do when you feel powerlessness in the face of overwhelming problems?

How can we stand with the poor and the powerless in their everyday lives?