Much talk in the Catholic blogosphere about the announcement of an apostolic visitation to religious communities, and of one snippy Sister's response. For some crazy reason, I can't help thinking that Sister Snippy's community hasn't welcomed any novices in a while.
Then there are all the other stories about Sisters of a Certain Age who abandoned their habits and their community life. Some of them left teaching or nursing behind; they felt called to Be Prophetic, which meant talking about how Prophetic they were, and maybe beating on railroad tracks with ball-peen hammers. Others might have stayed and are now school principals or hospital administrators, but their sisters are either also in administration or are retired. None of their sisters are still in the classroom or at the bedside. Some of these Sisters of a Certain Age have been reflecting on how Their Mission is Complete or Our Order is Moving Into a New Phase, which to the cynical might sound like happy-talk for We Have Had No Vocations Since The Ford Administration and We Need To Sell Our Land to Pay For Our Retirement.
Yet, strangely, there are still sick people that need nursing care, and children that need schoolteachers. There are still poor people. And, for whatever reason, the orders of Sisters that used to serve them have withered away.
President Obama, in one of those huge soggy blobs of legislation, killed a scholarship program that enabled some Washington D.C. students to attend private schools. So now those students are forced back into the D.C. public systems (motto: "Not good enough for Chelsea, Malia, and Sasha... but good enough for you!") Even if their parents could afford Catholic schools, where would they go? The Archdiocese had to close seven schools recently for lack of funds.
What would our country look like if the teaching and nursing orders hadn't collapsed? What if children in poor school districts had a choice, because the sisters were there to offer an alternative that families of modest means could afford? What if hospitals were well staffed with nurses who treated every patient as he were Christ Himself, sisters who were supported in their difficult work by their community life and their lives of prayer?
Imagine the good work that nursing orders could do by opening small, walk-in clinics -- especially ones open after hours, for hourly workers who can't afford to take time off work. Would our health care system be in such a mess?
I'm sure the sisters who ditched their habits and decided that they'd rather Be Prophetic than get their hands dirty are as convinced as ever that they are doing the right thing. But I can't help thinking that a better way to be prophetic would have been to keep doing the "woman's work" scorned by society -- teaching the children and caring for the weak and ill.
Amen.