Hello everyone, this is the latest news and wisdom from Sr Rita, who is on a journey with cancer. You will find the twelve previous “Wisdom Companion” pieces from Sr. Rita by searching this site.

This essay speaks to me in many ways. I’ve been unsettled for a long time by attacks and accusations of being ‘woke,’ not to mention the rebranding of the word itself from meaning (according to the Miriam-Webster Dictionary) of being”aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)” to this, according to NBC News: “Among conservatives, “woke” has been adopted as term of derision for those who hold progressive social justice views. In particular, the word’s right-wing connotation implies a ‘woke’ person or entity is being performative or phony. It’s directly linked to language like “political correctness” and “cancellation” — which are also at the forefront of conservative messaging.”

In other words, to be ‘woke’ is a term that’s been perverted and coopted by cynical politicians attempting to crush social justice and equality for their own gain. Yuck.

How refreshing and inspiring, therefore, to hear someone I love and respect speak out for not only the term, but for the concept as originally intended. Sr. Rita reminds me of my obligation to the world and ALL its creatures to be engaged, to bear witness, to listen, to advocate, to attempt to alleviate the suffering of all sentient beings and it reminds me all beings are suffering beings.

Some people have been less than kind to me recently concerning my respect for people of sincere faith. Well, it’s my relationship with people like Sr. Rita (and other people I have met through her), that reminds me to be ‘woke’ and to behave accordingly.

And yeah, being ‘woke’ is work.

From Sister Rita:

Many thanks for your prayers, healing energy, and good wishes! On paper the news is good. The CAT scan shows my condition is stable, except for a pesky liver spot that remains inconclusive. The doctors have decided to change the treatment regime to every other week, prolonging my ability to use Taxol and at the same time reducing the stress on other organs, and reducing the neuropathy. Day to day I find my balance more precarious and am using a walking stick and of course, fatigue remains my constant companion.

Even as I live the circumscribed journey of a stage IV cancer patient, I feel deeply the suffering of our world. I am exasperated by the politicization of the profound spiritual tenet of awareness held by so many religious traditions, including my own. To demonize “woke” desecrates a huge swath of the Judeo-Christian spiritual heritage.

The Hebrew scripture abounds in invocations to awaken. Psalm 57:8-11, “Awake my soul,” and Psalm 108:2-5, “Awake lyre and harp, I will awaken the dawn,” are two examples. The Hebrew prophets were always trying to wake the people and leaders from the mesmerizing lure of riches at the expense of the poor, from alliances that would weaken covenant values and lead to destruction, not the prosperity they dreamed.

Jeremiah 5:21 says:

‘Hear this now, O foolish people,
Without understanding,
Who have eyes and see not,
And who have ears and hear not:

God says, unequivocally, to Ezekiel:

“Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which has eyes to see but does not see, and ears to hear but does not hear; for they are a rebellious house. Ezekiel 12:2

Jesus bemoans the state of the people:

For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.’ Matthew 13:15

Jesus has whole parables on being alert and awake, and the Pauline letters are full of wake-up calls. For Catholics, the season of renewal—Advent and Lent—echo the call to awareness. “Living woke” is a holy pursuit, not a throwaway political talking point.

What if we really saw all people as equally human, equally worthy of our love and care? What if we really felt the scorching heat, the ever more tumultuous weather patterns? What if we wept and grieved as species after species dies out?

For me, the scandal and personal agony are that so many who profess the Jesus I love with their lips cannot live that love or refuse to see and hear the suffering of others; those who, in short, refuse to be “woke.”

As a Sister of St. Joseph, the poem below captures what I am called to live, which means awareness or ‘wokeness’ is not an end in itself, it is a catalyst for caring for the dear neighbor (which always includes our beloved earth and all creatures) without distinction from whom we do not separate ourselves, and thereby choose to be agents of healing rather than division, living the great Jewish tradition of Tikkun Olam.

Portrait of a Daughter of St. Joseph

Eyes open to the world both miserable and sinful,
but a world worked on by the Holy Spirit;
Eyes open and ears attentive to the sufferings of the world;
Eyes open, ears attentive and spirit alert.. . .
never settled down, always in a holy disquietude, searching. . .
in order to understand,
to divine what God and the dear neighbor
await from her today, now, for the body and for the soul;
Eyes open, ears attentive, spirit alert. . .sleeves rolled up for ministry,
without excluding the more humble, the less pleasing,
the less noticeable;
Finally, in her face the reflection of a virtue proper to our Congregation,
– continual joy of spirit..
This is the quiet inner glow of the Sister whose life
in the service of Jesus Christ has been successful.
– Marius Nepper, S.J.

Please join me according to your own tradition and spiritual path.