The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?” He said to them in reply, “. . . This is why I speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand . . . “But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

On this ninth day of the Nuns on the Bus Tour, we encountered more of the heartbreak and hope that we enter more deeply into each day on this journey throughout U.S. cities and towns.

Today, we departed early from our overnight stay at the motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Rochester, New York and began our day as we always do with communal prayer. Followed by a long period of silent meditation and Mass scripture readings, many of our morning reflections were from our stops yesterday in Buffalo and Rochester, New York.

Some Sisters reflected on the radicalness of the healthcare provided at St. Joseph’s Neighborhood Center in Rochester, New York. Established in 1993 as a ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph by a former community organizer Sister, the center provides treatment for more than 1,000 walk in clients a year.  The Center is run by a small staff and more than 150 volunteer medical professionals who are able to fulfill their original purpose for studying or practicing medicine by serving the working poor and others in need. We heard directly from one patient who shared her story as the center provides wrap-around services by providing food, hygiene bags, voter registration, housing referrals, and legal services referrals.

Other Sisters shared about the stories heard from the more than 200 people gathered at the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School for our daily caucus events in each city. Sisters reflected on the stories heard from those whose voices are intentionally silenced by institutions because of racism, the challenges of our current democracy that doesn’t allow everyone to participate fully in society, problems faced by those who cannot afford insurance, and the countless issues faced by the homeless in their communities.

These stories, like the stories Jesus told, stretch our imaginations to envision a new society so we can work to make it happen. The last question we ask participants at our caucuses is what would our country look like if there were no barriers to healthcare, housing, living wages, family-friendly workplaces, full participation in democracy by all, and citizenship.  The responses to these questions are pondered and discussed at small tables and then shared with the larger group help all of us to tap into our creativity to dream it so we can build it.

Following prayer this morning, we then made our way to the New York State Capital Building steps where again we heard parables from those on the margins so that more people may hear, see, and understand what is called forth from us to be disciples of Christ in the world today. We heard the story of one woman of the Working Family Coalition and part of the Fight for $15 and a Union movement and how she struggles daily to support her infant and five-year-old son as a loyal hardworking fast-food worker and how she had to choose again between giving birth to her son and losing her job that supports her family. We heard from the local Amalgamated Transit Union president Cory Bixby about the importance of workers’ rights and from Reverend Emily McNeil, Director of the Labor-Religion Coalition of New York about the need for a living wage, fair share taxation, and a stronger democratic process. Sister Simone Campbell, SSS, Executive Director of Network proclaimed that “policies made a lot of these problems and policies can fix these problems.” Congressman Paul Tonko declared that the Bus is powered by the people and indeed it is. It is powered by the parables, the stories of heartbreak and hope, of all those we meet and who sign their name to the bus to commit to doing their part to bring justice and joy into the world for everyone.

“…so we, though many, we are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another.” Rom 12:3-8

So began Day 9 of Nuns on the Bus: Mend the Gaps: Reweave the Fabric of Society.

As we prayed with this scripture at the start of our day, we could not foresee how immersed we would be in the experience of being One Body. How it would unfold all around us, embrace us and touch us so deeply.

Each night we reflect on the day’s experience and on the previous evening, we talked about how some people are invisible to others; particularly people of color and those who have been marginalized by society. Perhaps the key to reweaving the fabric is connecting people, particularly with people who are the most impacted, we speculated.

On our schedule was a stop at the Homeless Jesus statue outside of St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Buffalo. Hmm, I thought. I had seen photos of it, but why stop here? By the time we stepped back on the bus, how grateful we would be for Rev. Will Mebane’s persistent invitation!

Buffalo is experiencing a type of rebirth, with lots of redevelopment, but not everyone was benefiting, Rev. Will told us. So he set about reconnecting the church with the homeless and others left out, left behind. It began simply by seeing and paying attention to those members of the Body of Christ. And it was apparent that the seeing and connecting keeps deepening, unfolding and expanding.

Rev. Bill invited us into a conversation with representatives of Concerned Clergy Coalition of Western New York, Gameliel of Western New York (a coalition of 85 congregations, labor unions and other organizations), the Coalition for Economic Justice, Catholic Charities and Friends of the Night People. And Congressman Brian Higgins joined in. They spoke of the abject poverty in the area—over 40%–and their efforts for racial and economic justice. “We are willing to lock arms with anyone and everyone,” Rev. Will explained. With tears at times, they told stories about how their relationships with “the least” had been transformative.

Details of what they said and even the words they spoke elude me now, but their passion and energy remain. And so do the lessons they taught about being members of the Body of Christ and about reweaving the fabric of society. It is about wholeness; of individuals and the entire body. Of reconnecting people, the personal with the systemic. Of seeing the whole and recognizing the connection to damaging policies and working to change them. Of ever expanding and inclusive relationships. Of being deliberate and intentional, grounded in deep faith and acting with courage.

We emerged from the conversation to the space outside the cathedral for a short public program and were greeted by a diverse crowd and buzz of activity. When I spotted the t-shirt “The church has left the building,” I thought “How true about what’s happening here, about Nuns on the Bus”. We hadn’t yet seen the Homeless Jesus a short distance away.

Then I saw it. Jesus sleeping on a bench, wounds in his feet exposed. Everything we had just heard and felt, depicted here. Calling us all to wholeness. Impelling us to go on.

Deeply moved, we boarded the bus and headed to Rochester to be surprised by another Body of Christ experience.

Sister of St. Joseph Chris Wagner invited us to tour and learn about St. Joseph’s Neighborhood Center, a primary integrated health care center. Fifty two percent of Rochester’s children live in poverty and 70% are trauma survivors and the center is located in the midst of a low-income neighborhood. Most of the people who come there are uninsured or unable to afford health care with the insurance they do have.

It was clear that the focus is the health and wholeness of both the people who are served and work there. Over time, they have developed an integrated system, with all under one roof: full primary care, specialties such as cardiology and oncology, mental health services, dental, x-ray and lab. There are even body rooms with chiropractic, massage and physical therapy services. The 18 staff and over 250 volunteers love working there; unconfined by time restraints, they are allowed to practice medicine in the way they were trained to and want to. Care is customized to the individual.

The broader issues of health care policy issues and structural racism are also being addressed, witnessing to the wholeness.

And we’re riding the Bus connecting what’s happening in local areas all across the country to advocate for just federal policies.

As we left, I noticed a sign on the wall that read “I pin my hopes to quiet processes and small circles, in which vital and transforming events take place.” (Rufus Jones).

A good reminder of day 9: living as a member of the Body of Christ; reconnecting, mending the gaps, reweaving the fabric of society and creating wholeness.