Throughout our Scriptures, we are aware of incredible women who responded to the call of God. Each of them stood in her own truth before God and each had an intimate and unique relationship with God.
Martha and Mary are two Scriptural women who walked a journey of hope, of faith, of love- two women who embraced a belief in God’s promise, and were witnesses that God’s promises come true.
Martha and Mary teach us about responding with integrity, responding from the truth of who they were: they brought that truth and set it before Jesus. We know Martha and we know Mary, because they are us. We are both Martha and Mary. In our ministry, we often are Martha, and in our soul, we are Mary. God needed women, who would face the difficult challenge of balancing the demands of ministry and contemplation. God wanted women who would unabashedly speak their minds and respond with courage to the contradictions that life brings. God chose Martha and God chose Mary. They stood up and embraced their call! They shared the light and compassion of God and witnessed to Hope.
If we were to reflect on Martha and Mary in a slightly different perspective, we are also keenly aware that God calls women, like Mary, who had the courage to dare to study, to dare to preach, to dare to speak truth to power.
Like Martha and Mary, we must stand up and embrace our call, to dare to stand in HOPE, in faith and in love, dare to stand against violence, dare to stand for compassionate justice, all rooted in contemplative prayer and listening.
At 3 pm on July 20, 1995 the Dominican Sisters of Hope were founded. On July 20, 2019, we began our 25th year since our founding. We declare a YEAR OF HOPE! In celebration, we will share a reflection on the 20th of every month. This is the first reflection in this series. Read all reflections here.
This post was written by Dominican Sister of Hope Debbie Blow, OP. As the Executive Director of the North Country Mission of Hope, a spiritually based humanitarian organization committed to fostering hope and empowering relationships with the people of Nicaragua. Sister Debbie has led over seventy trips to Nicaragua since co-founding the organization.
Learn more about Sister Debbie’s ministry.