By Sister Constance Veit, l.s.p.
Early in our community’s history, a group of townspeople who witnessed the Sisters’ humble charity toward the elderly dubbed them the “Little” Sisters of the Poor. The name stuck. Recently, however, we have become known to some as “the HHS Sisters” due to our lawsuit against the federal government over the contraceptive mandate. This issue has been pursuing us for over three years – pushing us out of our quiet, hidden lives into the unwelcome glare of the public eye – and there is no end in sight as our case now heads to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Why us? When will this journey end? I recently wondered as I prepared for yet another media interview about the case. But then a prayer attributed to Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was martyred in El Salvador, came to mind: “It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view … We lay foundations that will need further development … It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest. We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.”
Stepping back to take the long view helped me to answer the question, “Why us?” Among religious communities serving in the U.S., we are uniquely qualified to face our nation’s current threats to religious liberty. Our foundress, St. Jeanne Jugan, was born at the height of the radically anti-Christian French Revolution and established our congregation in its tumultuous aftermath, with virtually no resources. By the time of her death, her young community had grown to over 2,000 Little Sisters serving the elderly in nearly a dozen countries. Today we are present in 31 nations. St. Jeanne Jugan was undoubtedly the prophet of a future not her own.
Based on our humble beginnings, we might say that the will to persevere in serving the poor and bearing witness to the Joy of the Gospel despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles has been written into the DNA of our Congregation. Generations of Little Sisters have soldiered on through two World Wars, civil wars and government persecution of religion in numerous countries around the globe, disregarding their own personal safety in order to stand by their residents.
Looking back over our history, I realize that I stand on the shoulders of humble giants. The witness of St. Jeanne Jugan and the thousands of Little Sisters who have gone before me gives me the courage to do one more interview – and to trust that tomorrow will take care of itself. As St. Jeanne Jugan often said when faced with challenges, “Give us the house; if God fills it, God will not abandon it … If God is with us, it will be accomplished.”
Taking the long view I’ve come to a new appreciation of the power of God’s Providence. He has never abandoned us and I am confident that He will not leave us orphans in this challenging moment of our history.
God uses the weak of this world to confound the learned and the strong. What weaker or more unlikely prophets could He have chosen to confuse the great and powerful of our contemporary culture than St. Jeanne Jugan, her Little Sisters of the Poor and the needy elderly?
Sister Constance Veit is communications director for the Little Sisters of the Poor.