Listening to others out of love: Age is no barrier for religious sisters

Although many religious congregations in Europe face the challenge of aging members, the heart of their vocation remains unchanged: to serve those in need with love and dedication. In Matera, in southern Italy, 93-year-old Sister Angela Sinopoli continues to do so on the streets of her city, living out her pastoral ministry of closeness.

“No one is so poor as to have nothing to give, and no one is so rich as not to need something to receive,” said the late Pope Francis, citing Fr. Oreste Benzi (Pope Francis’ Message for the 61st World Day of Prayer for Vocations).

Sr Angela (bottom right) with her community of the Sisters Helpers of the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and with friends, in Matera

Looking at Sister Angela’s full life, one would say that this is indeed the case. Regardless of age, experience, or where one is, there is always something to give and to receive out of love. A retired nurse, she is 93 years old and has lived 70 years of religious life with joy.

Sr. Angela Sinopoli, a religious sister of the Helpers of the Holy Souls in Purgatory, has been living in Matera since 2001, carrying out her pastoral ministry of closeness.

This mission leads her to go out into the streets to welcome those whom she meets on her way, visiting those who are alone, sick or looking for someone they can trust and with whom they can share the burdens of life.

Her energy is inexhaustible because it is rooted in the awareness of giving: despite her 93 years, the nun faces the challenges of everyday life with determination and humour, animated by the love she first received, which keeps her from being discouraged by anything.

Sr. Angela’s approach can be characterised by three key words: strength, energy and courage. She draws on the wisdom of Ignatian spirituality—the pillar of the Society of Helpers—to live out her accompaniment as a presence among and alongside the people.

Therefore, it is not age that stops the desire to share the joy and mercy of the Lord with others. Even if the body may have limitations, the heart transcends all boundaries.

Sr. Angela listens to the problems that people entrust to her and becomes a companion in life, using their stories as a therapeutic moment for them. By calling things by their name, they come out into the open so as to be faced in the light of hope rather than in the darkness of despair.

“Every time people tell me about their problems and fears,” explains Sr. Angela. “I try to encourage them to move forward. Sometimes we say a prayer together, other times we exchange smiles.”

When she returns home, she brings everything into her personal and community prayer. She continues: “It is a way of witnessing God’s love for them.”

Listening in crisis of presence

Sr. Angela does not wear a watch when she leaves her house early in the morning to begin her rounds in the city. She is well-versed in the art of “wasting time” with people and welcoming the unexpected in her encounters.

In the morning, she plans which families to visit during the day; other times, she makes a list of the people she knows are in difficulty and carries out her pastoral work “by telephone.”

Calling someone just to say hello can be like a caress for that person, a way of communicating to the other person that they are important, that there is someone who thinks of them, and this instils confidence and hope.

Often the encounter is not planned; it happens on the street and allows Sr. Angela to say, like Peter, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you” (Acts 3:6). Being present in that pain, so that no one is left alone with their problems, is a way the sisters share the people’s pain.

Sr. Angela sees closeness as a way of addressing a contemporary problem that anthropologist Ernesto De Martino called the “crisis of presence,” i.e. the loss of meaning, the inability to control one’s own existence and role in life.

In this era of multiple crises, Sister Angela feels the urgent need to restore value to people simply by being there for them.

“It is mainly mothers who tell me about problems with their children,” she emphasises. “Parents feel alone, they face many challenges in raising their children, job insecurity in the south is another cause for concern, and there is a fear of not having a future.”

Listening with care, to hope together

When listening to these situations, the temptation may be to want to offer a solution that sometimes does not exist, or to give answers that may not be appropriate.

But in her toolbox Sister Angela carries with her: listening without judging, keeping silent, keeping the other person’s words in her heart and “accompanying the person so that they do not become depressed but, rather, hopeful”, she points out, “but I don’t have a recipe for what to say, I let myself be guided by the words that the Lord suggests to me.”

And with humility, she entrusts herself to Providence.

Learning from Christ to go out to the peripheries

Leaving home and visiting people, what Pope Francis called “going to the peripheries,” is an evangelical style that Sister Angela adopts, taking Jesus as her model.

Attracted by the way Jesus looks at others, that is, as beloved creatures, the way He cares for the poor and brings them hope, Sr. Angela is driven to seek encounters to see God at work in this world, with certainty, despite conflicts and problems.

Sr. Angela is one of many religious women who continue to serve people long after retiring from their professions and responsibilities.

“Ours is a life of service to others,” she concludes. “The life we have chosen and our charism are gifts to be shared with joy!” And one never stops receiving and sharing.

Sr. Ilaria de Lillo
Source: vaticannews.va/en