Our hearts break open…

The heart that breaks open can contain the whole universe.

Joanna Macy

All the children in our time who are starving or dying from pneumonia, or any disease, belong to God and not to economic dictators from a country that bears responsibility for withholding medicine, water or food. What country do you think that is?

From the cross, the woman inherits a son and the son a mother. Jesus leaves people to one another. He leaves them for care and comfort. He leaves them for safety and love. Each of us is responsible to pick up where Jesus left off, reaching out to those who need help. Read from James 5:4, “The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of God.”

Yes, they have. The response to these negative governmental actions is not just from Christians. What do our Jewish sisters and brothers believe? Read from Isaiah 3:12, “O my people, your leaders mislead you, and confuse the course of your paths.” What does the Muslim community say? God is “Rahman ir Rahim,” they tell us. “God is all compassion and all mercy.”

Elie Wiesel writes, “I swore to never be silent whenever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victims. Silence encourages the tormentor.” According to the World Health Organization, “Poverty is the world’s greatest killer. It wields its destructive influence at every stage of life.” This type of suffering demands that we take sides as we hear the recent news from Washington. But how to take sides? Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. says, “It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence. It’s nonviolence or nonexistence.” How did the mess we are in happen? What are we going to do? How will things ever change? Is there any common ground? Are there any shared values with this administration? Shared value-making is a process we must pursue. Offices and programs, the FBI, CIA, treasury departments are illegally being dismantled before our eyes. Is American democracy too big to fail? We will see. Where is Congress? Why are career civil servants being dismissed? The president and his new partners are counting on the fact that most Americans don’t know the law and don’t know how to respond to this illegal takeover.

This Jubilee Year proclaimed by Pope Francis charges us to be Pilgrims of Hope. Congregations of women and men and their partners in ministry must urge local, state and Congressional legislators to be courageous in the face of the extraordinary, derogatory challenges being experienced today. What are the president and Congress doing? You know the answers: closing the border, cutting off U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) services and closing federal offices that assist delivery of medicine and food to millions. Mass deportation is happening. The list is getting long. It is time to focus energy and put pressure on the House and Senate members to do the right thing.

One strategic action we can take is to contact the legislators in our states asking them to protect people in poor countries, and ours, so they can thrive and be healthy. We can urge legislators to protect essential programs and those that direct them — programs that help the poor, the homeless, healthcare for transgender people, women who are pregnant and lifesaving programs in the U.S. like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and Medicaid. U.S.-funded programs across the globe are life-saving for millions.

How did your House or Senate member do this past year? How did they help people thrive in our country and abroad? Here are just a few results shared with readers of Network Magazine (advocates for justice supported by Catholic sisters). Results are from the recent session of the Senate/House. Look at these votes as you consider the future of the global community. Are Loretto’s values present? How did your members of Congress do?

Senate Votes

Border Act of 2024 (S.4361) This bill gutted any asylum program, focused on getting people out of the U.S. without screening, ignored claims and rushed people to deportation. The final bill eliminated reference to immigration!
Texas, Missouri and Colorado Senators voted with Network. The bill failed in the full Senate.

Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act (H.R.7024) This bill focused on the bipartisan Child Tax Credit, helping low-income families. The House passed it; the Senate did not. The bill failed.
Kentucky: McConnell and Paul voted no.
Colorado: Both senators voted for it.
Missouri: Hawley voted for it; Schmitt did not.
Texas: Both Senators voted against it.

House Votes

Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act (H.R. 7909) This bill demonized immigrant communities and worked to expand removability reasons and any exceptions. Vote passed 266-158. The Senate did not take this bill up.
Voting with Network:
Colorado: Crow, DeGette, Neguse and Peterson
Kentucky: McGarvey
Missouri: Bush and Cleaver
Texas: Casar, Castro, Crockett, Doggett, Escobar, Fletcher, Garcia, Green and Veasey

Note: Other House votes split as you might expect along party lines. Network reported, “The Senate did not take up any bills from the House and was the least productive legislative body in the modern era.”

Remind your legislators that the next elections are in 2026 … not far away. Remind them of the oath they took to protect the Constitution. Remind them that you are a voter. Network covers all states; feel free to contact me for your state’s report.

LCWR Resources

Preparation for next steps

• Contact your member of Congress; check their committees and their responsibilities.
• Check the religious affiliation of your member and describe what impact their religious affiliation might have for them.
• Get contact information for religious leadership in your diocese and what resources are available through local organizations.

Engaging

• Sign up for CLINIC – Catholic Legal Immigration Network – get their updates.
• Sign up for updates from Catholic Charities USA.
• Get updates from Justice for Immigrants and Interfaith Immigrant Coalition. It is the 10th Anniversary of Laudato Si’ — get Laudato Si’ Action Platform updates.

Mobilizing Our Moral Authority

• Make Black history visible every day … what are we doing to dismantle systemic racism?
• Send prayer services to partner organizations.
• Stay informed … don’t look away, follow stories in your local areas.

Sustaining Our Mission

• Read the signs of the times — be informed of events happening in the world and your area.
• Live from a contemplative stance and practice contemplative dialogue — be with others with whom we differ — open thinking and steeping ourselves in the Gospel.

Feb. 5, 2025 Leadership Conference of Women Religious