What We Do:
Our Ministry Today
Today there are more than 4000 followers of Father Theodosius and Mother Theresa living out the charism of the Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross in the world. One of the joys of the visits with these sisters is seeing how they look compassionately at the world and its needs. We experience how they consult with the people about the best way to help them, and then go forward in all simplicity working with the people and empowering them to help themselves.
There was a time when the sisters could completely staff schools, catechetical centers, hospitals, clinics or nursing homes. Now we collaborate much more with lay people, priests, and sisters and brothers from other congregations. This collaboration can be an informal one, such as joining together with others in a support group, a human rights organization or a volunteer group; or it can be formalized such as with Holy Cross Associates, or in an institutional working relationship.
Perhaps an example can best tell the story of our ministry in the world today. Our sisters were no working exactly in the area where the tsunami hit in southern India in December 2004. Already on the day after, however, two of them were already in the affected area. As educated social workers, they assessed the situation and the needs of the people for immediate help and began seeing how they could provide food, water and shelter. They wrote: “As we saw the tragedy we couldn’t go back home. It was like an inner strength which forced us to stay with the people who lost everything.”
International presence
Thanks to our international presence and networking, our sisters around the world could be informed of the situation immediately. This released a wave of solidarity. Through donations and messages of interest and empathy, sisters who had gone to the areas affected experienced active support in their mission. In collaboration with the local and national government, the sisters could adopt a village for reconstruction.
Through the direct involvement of the sisters in the village, the affected people experienced material help, know-how, and solidarity which said to them: “We are with you, this situation is not hopeless.” Just an example of the sisters’ solidarity: After the tsunami, some fisher people were afraid to go out fishing again. It was only when the sisters said that they would go along the first time, that the people found the courage to continue their work.
Challenges that we meet
As a worldwide community, we stand with each other. It is our way of Living in Hope today, 150 years after the founding of our community.
Of course there are many more examples: in Taiwan, the USA, Brazil, Uganda, west and east Europe, and in Russia. We find challenging situations all over the world and often ask ourselves how we can find hope and help others to do so. The spirit of our founders, Father Theodosius and Mother Theresa, lives on today through us.
Without claiming to be complete, the following are social challenges that we see repeatedly and therefore see as places of ministry:
Grandparents who are raising their grandchildren because the parents have died from AIDS look for help because they have no money for school fees.
Families of the handicapped look for support groups, counseling, day care or total care for their family members because they just do not have the needed resources.
The homeless look for a place where they can bathe, wash their clothes, talk with someone and have something to eat.
People who have lived through the recent wars look for counseling to work through their fears and anxieties.
Prisoners look forward to visits, reading materials, retreats, and simply someone who cares about them.
Immigrants or those seeking asylum look for someone to help them with the language and culture of a new country.
AIDS patients look for someone who understands and for a place to live or to die in dignity.
Poor families look for good schools to assure that their children will have a better future and those who have trouble studying look for extra help in learning.
Young people look for help in organizing their lives to give them more meaning.
Women in need, especially those with children, look for protected places, help and support. They need a place where their rights are respected, where they are challenged to be independent and they can find new orientation.
The elderly look for a place they can call home when they are not able to take care of themselves anymore.
People see quiet places where they can pray, reflect on their lives, give sense to their existence and find new starting points.
Give a compassionate answer
Some people find themselves in situations which cannot be changed. Exactly because of this, they need someone to stand by them and let them know that they are not alone.
There are many people who write to or call us and request prayer. They know that prayer times are a part of the sisters’ daily lives, and that our retired sisters have prayer as their main ministry, providing a power source for the many needs of the world.
In the past 150 years, thousands of sisters have reached out and responded to the needs of the times and, through their being and their works, given an empathetic, compassionate answer.
Sister Carol Crosby
S. Carol Crosby from the USA is a member of the International Leadership Team. Earlier she worked in the health care system in the USA as a nurse and teacher of nursing. From 1987 – 1994 she was Provincial of the USA Province.