If anyone was prepared for this current moment, in many ways, I’d think it would be the Little Sisters of the Poor. They care for some extremely vulnerable people. They have clean, dignified, even beautiful, facilities. They do their best to keep hope always in view, even as there is painful suffering. They love well. And they know this life isn’t everything. And that there is a promise of something so much more.


And my exposure to some of their residents (in D.C.) is they are some prayerful, mystical souls. Many of them hold in their hearts the heartache of knowing loved ones do not share their faith, maybe a faith those loved ones were baptized and even raised and schooled in.

Anyway, that’s all a long way of saying that there has been a Coronavirus death of one of their residents in their Newark, Delaware home. You know that has to break so many hearts. May all souls who die from this wretched plague rest in peace, and certainly souls loved by the Little Sisters.

Please pray for the Sisters and their staff and residents. Some of us firmly believe God writes through crooked lines and doesn’t waste suffering. The residents of the D.C. residents told me that in many ways when I spent some time talking with them about A Year with the Mystics: Visionary Wisdom for Mystical Living. Of course, they had a lot to teach me. Maybe one of the reasons God allowed the ridiculous religious-liberty fight they’ve had to found themselves in was so that we would pay more attention now.


God bless our elderly. Let them know how much we cherish them.


Some Little Sisters links about what’s going on and what they need:

Little Sisters of the Poor Dedicated to Care and Protection of the Elderly Following Death of First Resident from Coronavirus

Little Sisters need disposable food trays, thermometers, cash to help protect residents at Jeanne Jugan in Newark

Little Sisters in San Pedro is in need of food, other supplies during coronavirus pandemic