Faith Communities Creating Change Together

Written on: August 13, 2025

From a Faith Perspective column from the Bucks County Courier Times and The Intelligencer
by Sister Eileen White, GNSH

Published August 10, 2025

How can people of faith respond to the challenges facing us in our country today? Sometimes, it feels hopeless to change anything. Let me tell you about something Catholic Sisters are doing.

Recently, the national office of the Leadership Council of Women Religious (LCWR), initiated 100 Days of Prayer, Fasting, and Advocacy, from Memorial Day weekend until Labor Day. The LCWR is a group of about 700 vowed leaders of Catholic women religious congregations (Sisters or Nuns) in the United States, who support each other as leaders through meetings, webinars, and the sharing of information and experiences.

The idea of 100 Days of Prayer is certainly not new. What is unique about this initiative is that it acknowledges a commitment to promote social justice as integral to Christian spirituality. This was not always well recognized nor articulated by the Catholic Church, but in the late 19^th century, Pope Leo XIII strongly asserted the rights of workers and called for major changes to alleviate their suffering. Since then, leaders of the Catholic Church have continued to emphasize the importance of charitable work as essential to following Jesus but have also taught that working for justice complements that obligation. These are the “two feet of justice and charity”. We are called to feed the child who is starving and also to seek a systemic solution to hunger.

For the 100 Days of Prayer, Fasting, and Advocacy, each religious community chose at least one day out of the 100 days to dedicate themselves in a special way to those three elements. So, for every one of the 100 days, at least one, and usually several religious communities are praying, fasting, and advocating for justice. There are more than 15,000 Sisters represented by the LCWR.

My Grey Nun congregation chose Tuesday, July 29^th, the feast day of three gospel friends of Jesus: Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. We chose that day because this family is a family that welcomed Jesus into their home. We chose it because Jesus brought his dear friend Lazarus back to life. We chose it because Mary and Martha combine in their respective roles the vocation of every Christian – to listen intently to Jesus’ teaching and to serve others generously. The story of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus embodies the greatest hope of the followers of Jesus – that love is stronger than death, the door to eternal life.

On July 29^th, the Grey Nuns prayed with the stories of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus (John 11:19-27 and Luke 10:38-42). We also fasted – not necessarily from food. Rather, we did some virtual fasting – e.g. from negativity, from wasting time on our cell phones, Facebook or X, from avoiding people we find challenging. Every Sister decided for herself how she would fast.

On the 29^th, and, in many cases, for several days near that date, in solidarity with other Catholic women religious and laypeople who advocate for social justice, we called or wrote e-mails or letters to our legislators. Some Sisters, Associates and Colleagues advocated for a clean and healthy environment and the elimination of single use plastic bags. Many advocated for a peace settlement between Israel and Gaza and for urgent humanitarian aid for starving Palestinians. Others supported religious organizations who aid immigrants and refugees or objected to the treatment of those detained as caged prisoners.

Prayer and fasting are sometimes seen as ways to get God to change things. I believe it is more accurate to recognize that prayer and fasting are paths to BE changed ourselves. Becoming steady-as-she-goes advocates for justice can be a way of getting the answer to prayer that we long for. As a member of a religious community of Catholic Sisters, I need and I have the support of my small community of Grey Nuns, as well as the support of the thousands of women and men who have consecrated themselves in community with others to a special relationship with God and neighbor. Even though there is so much injustice in today’s world, I do not lose hope in the possibility of creating a better world. We do help to create that more compassionate world in the places where we live and work, as well as in distant places we will never visit – through our prayer, fasting, and advocacy, and, too, through our love for one another and all whom our lives touch.

Where do you find support as you advocate for justice in response to the challenges facing us today?

From a Faith Perspective appears in the Bucks County Courier Times and The Intelligencer, and we are grateful for their permission to share it here. Sr. Eileen White, GNSH is a frequent contributor. It was published in the Sunday, August 10, 2025 edition.

This entry was posted in Matters of Faith and tagged: Bucks County Courier Times, From a Faith Perspective, LCWR 100 Days of Prayer Fasting and Advocacy, Sister Eileen White GNSH, The Intelligencer