Nuns on the Bus: Approaching the Trip's Conclusion

I am including two videos here. The first is one made at the St Augustine's "Hunger Center" --- one of the stops on the Nuns on the Bus tour. Here a man who is part of the "working poor" eats regularly and speaks about how he gauges the effect of economic legislation by looking at the lives of those around him. Here also we see Sister Corita who "loves every one of these people and they know it." The second is a video of Sister Simone Campbell speaking on the importance of this last congressional-office-stop on the tour, the nature of authentic governance and the place of ongoing engagement on the part of the populace, as well as the host of stories now carried in the hearts of those on the bus and a sense that the Holy Spirit is at work and doing something new here.



In both videos we see the heart and face of ministerial religious who pour out their lives for the poor and marginalized and have done so throughout the history of the United States. This IS what they are commissioned to do. This is what their vows and lives of prayer make possible. The credibility which has been commented throughout the last two weeks of the trip by those who sometimes travel great distances to meet the Bus and the nuns is one of the most significant elements remarked on. My sense is it points to an expression of holiness, of the fire of the Holy Spirit alive in these Sisters, which attests to who they are more fundamentally.



I personally am very grateful to Sister Simone and all those other Sisters who contributed to the success of this tour. Not only has the Nuns on the Bus trip highlighted the plight of the (often hard-working) poor and marginalized who are impacted by budgets that privilege the rich and called us all to a more responsible, compassionate, and engaged citizenship, but it has given a new visibility to the nature and place of ministerial women Religious in the Roman Catholic Church and the life of the US. Especially Sister Simone et al have shone a light onto the profound commitment to a wide spectrum of life issues which define these women's mission.

The tour ends tomorrow at 12:00 EDT in Washington DC with a prayer service and chance to lift up some of the stories heard throughout the trip. "The Lord hears the cry of the poor! Blessed be the Lord!" is a refrain we sometimes proclaim; let us pray that this trip bears abundant fruit in affecting our own hearing!