Sisters of Mercy share the experience of being mercy for others, receiving mercy from others, and the new and surprising ways God is being revealed in the midst of the pandemic.

“Sister, we are hungry!” —Sister Angelina Mitre, El Dorado, Panama

I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. (Mark 8:2) You give them something to eat. (Mark 6:37).

I first became acquainted with the immigrants when they started coming for psychological care at the center where I work.

One day, we heard that the coronavirus was knocking at our doors. The government instituted a quarantine, making the situation very difficult. For people working in the informal sector, that means there is nothing to eat; 44 percent of the population makes a living through informal work, many of them immigrants.

I received a list of 234 families. I felt lost. So many people and I didn’t have enough money to offer relief. I said, Lord, what am I going to do? I cannot multiply loaves and fish like You.

We took money from the funds of the Family Education and Counseling Center, our place of ministry. It was insufficient. Where to turn? I sought help in the archdiocese, from well-known people and through our Facebook page. Fortunately, a donation came to the archdiocese. In cooperation with an organization of Nicaraguan immigrants, the bulk of the food and vouchers was distributed. The center is closed, so they came to our house: Nicaraguans, Venezuelans, Colombians and Dominicans, during the allotted time, since we are on quarantine and can only go out for two hours, three times a week. The word has spread, and I keep receiving messages asking for help.

I am still astounded by the people who have joined the effort to provide food to the hungry. I put myself in God’s hands and know that the miracle of multiplying loaves and fishes is possible, with the help of God and of people of good will.

“Into whatsoever houses I enter…” —Sister Karen Scheer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I took the Hippocratic Oath in 2001 and promised to “use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment ...” and “into whatsoever houses I enter, I will enter to help the sick.”

These words have taken on a poignancy for me, a family medicine physician, in the time of COVID-19. In 2013, I began the ministry of Holy Redeemer HouseCalls, driving all over northern Philadelphia and its suburbs to provide health care to the many people who are no longer able to leave their homes to get to a medical provider’s office.

My patients range in age from 32 to 104, with the great majority of them over 85. I accompany people who have had devastating ailments such as multiple sclerosis, stroke, Parkinson’s disease and cancer, as well as those who live with advanced dementia and are in the remaining days of their long and beautiful lives.

I have the privilege of visiting in their homes and hearing stories from their lives. I have witnessed the incredible sacrifices families make to care for their loved ones at home. I become part of the family. Now, coronavirus. My biggest fear is not for myself, but that I may “do harm” by bringing the contagion to my vulnerable patients. It keeps me up at night.

I know that God will always provide people who answer the call to serve God’s most vulnerable ones. I am honored and humbled to stand on the shoulders of all the Sisters of Mercy who have blazed this path ahead of me. I trust in the words of Catherine:

“We have one solid comfort amidst this little tripping about, our hearts can always be in the same place, centered in God, for whom alone we go forward or stay back.”