Finding the Samaritans…
by Teresa Maya, CCVI -- LCWR President
We need to find the Samaritans. They are all around us, anchored in a faith that brings them into communion with God’s most vulnerable people. I have been blessed with meeting some of them recently. Always intrigued by their witness, I cannot help asking “why” -- why do you feel compelled to be here? And their answer is always the same: these are human beings. They remind me that our call as apostolic women religious -- responding to critical human need -- is the heart of who we are.
LCWR has taken me to the border twice in the past six months. My first trip was with LCWR Region 12 to the Rio Grande Valley where we visited the community-based program ARISE[i] and also met with Norma Pimentel, MJ who shared her story. She explained that, early on, when the wave of migrant women and children reached a human rights emergency, an officer came into the hall where she and other volunteers where serving meals and helping families asking, “Sister, what are you doing here?” and her reply “we are restoring human dignity,” moved the officer to go and get more help.More recently, the newly elected LCWR national board met in Tucson for the very first time, miles from the border. The conversations about the horizon for our conference and how to bring our core values and contemplative dialogue learnings into this new moment for our governance all took place with the saguaro cactus and the Arizona desert crossed by hundreds of desperate migrants on foot as a backdrop. Our board had the opportunity to meet the leaders of the conferences of our continent -- north and south. (To read more, download the newsletter below)
