Even in the aura of the mind-boggling technology which purports to enhance our ‘quality of life’, pessimism pervades. Violence, addiction, civil and international unrest, the decline of the family, moral decadence all contribute to the sense that our way of life is deteriorating. Some wonder if, like ancient Rome, the civilization we know is falling. These folk can take heart and learn about something that is rising.
Scripture is replete with imagery of ‘rising’. God tells Abram: “Arise, walk through the land”; Proverbs states: “A righteous man fall seven times and rises again”; Isaiah says: “Arise, shine, for your light has come”; the Book of Numbers predicts: “A star rising out of Jacob”. Of course, our Lord rises from the dead. Interestingly, the verb ‘to orient’ – as in ‘to face toward’ – comes from the Latin oriens meaning ‘rising’. (The sun rises in the east, hence the root for ‘oriental’). How curious that ‘orientation’ is linked to ‘rising’.
Sister Irene O’Neill, a Sister of Saint Joseph of Carondelet, is the Founder and President of Sisters Rising Worldwide (SWR.org). Using the evolving technology in communications, SWR connects donors with 650,000 Catholic sisters of various religious communities around the world. As its website states, its mission is: “To connect and support Catholic Sisters addressing the root causes of injustice, empowering them through storytelling and resources to create lasting change”.
The site further explains: “Sisters carry hope to the world’s frontlines -healing the sick, educating children, empowering the marginalized, and defending human dignity. Sisters Rising Worldwide strengthens that hope by connecting their work, sharing their stories, and linking them to the resources they need . Together we are building a global network of compassion and solutions – proof that when love is organize it can change the world”.
The array of services offered by the thousands of sisters around the globe who are part of SWR’s network include ministries of health, education, human trafficking, job training, women empowerment, and domestic violence. Readers who would like to know more should visit SWR’s website and study the geographical map – called ‘the Peace Room’ – which displays the locations of the nuns. As of this writing, 346,000 people in 43 countries have been helped by the implementation of 227 projects.
The Peace Room is not fully accessible on the website. Internally, SRW is able to use it as an interactive platform which enables participants to provide and to view much more detail about the identity and location of the siters, and the nature of their work and needs. It also provides instant translation. Imagine having 360,000 nuns in the same room!
Today, polarization is much on the minds of all of us. An especially pressing example is the tension between nationalism and globalism. In an effective and universally acceptable way SRW resolves the latter. By harnessing ever developing communications technology, it brings into balance the two Catholic principles of subsidiarity and solidarity. Local sisters who respond to local needs are linked to international support.
“And they said, ‘Let us rise up and build’. So they strengthened their hands for this good work” (Neh. 2:18). Sisters Rising Worldwide manifests the same commitment, unity and active obedience to God’s purpose the post-exilic Israelites did when called on by Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem.