No. 65 | It's A Wonderful Life

101 Reasons Why Now Is The Best Time In History To Be Catholic

May 11, 2025

Like Clarence the angel in "It's a Wonderful Life," Catholic sisters operate a celestial customer service department that most of us never see but desperately need. While the rest of us are doom-scrolling through social media and complaining about traffic, contemplative sisters are pulling spiritual all-nighters, interceding for everyone from world leaders who can't agree on anything to teenagers who think TikTok fame is a viable career path. It’s like spiritual IT support—keeping the divine connection running 24/7 while everyone else is trying to turn it off and on again.

The scale and specificity of these prayer operations would impress even Gmail's logistics team. The Dominican Nuns of Summit, New Jersey maintain a prayer request database that receives over 10,000 intentions monthly, ranging from "world peace" to "please help my son pass his driving test—third time's the charm." The Carmelite Sisters of Los Angeles have designated prayer shifts covering different time zones, ensuring someone is always on spiritual duty. "We divide up the intentions like a divine call center." Imagine something like this… Sister Agnes handles politicians—she has the patience of Job. Sister Lucia takes teenagers—she taught high school for twenty years, so she's battle-tested. And Mother Superior prays for church leaders, because sometimes they need the most help. One can only think the chaos if these women decided to go on strike—world leaders might actually have to rely solely on their own wisdom, a thought terrifying enough to drive anyone to prayer.

In the last decade, these orders have embraced technology with the enthusiasm of Silicon Valley startups, though with considerably more prayer and fewer IPOs. Benedictine Sisters in Minnesota launched "Zoom Matins" during the pandemic, creating international prayer groups that span continents. "We went from twelve sisters praying in our chapel to 200 people joining us from their kitchens in Seoul, São Paulo, and Stockholm." Though they had to mute everyone after Mrs. O'Brien's parrot started squawking during the Magnificat. The Poor Clares of Galway, Ireland established a "Prayer Hotline" WhatsApp group that operates like a spiritual emergency response system. When Jesus said 'Go forth to all nations.' He didn't specify that they had to leave the convent to do it.

Without these dedicated intercessors, one shudders to imagine our current reality—like George Bailey's nightmarish glimpse of Bedford Falls without him, but on a cosmic scale. Perhaps without the Trappistine Nuns in Virginia praying for technological innovators, they'd still be using dial-up internet and flip phones. Maybe without the Visitation Sisters' prayers for medical researchers, they'd still be treating headaches with leeches and questionable herbs. As a sister who spent over 70 years in contemplative prayer said — "People think we're just sitting around doing nothing, but we're actually running interference between humanity and its own stupidity." The fact that we haven't yet started World War III, despite numerous opportunities, might be less about diplomatic skill and more about Sister Margareta's 3 AM rosary sessions for world leaders.

The quiet revolution of these praying women reveals itself in unexpected ways. When a teenager chooses kindness over cruelty on social media, thank the School Sisters of Notre Dame who have a special prayer for "digital natives navigating moral complexities." When Congress manages to pass any legislation without complete meltdown, somewhere a Benedictine is wiping her brow and reaching for another rosary. These women have created an invisible infrastructure of grace that holds our fractured world together better than duct tape and good intentions. In an age when everyone's looking for influencers, these sisters have mastered the ultimate influence—moving heaven itself on our behalf. As one sister recently posted, (yes, contemplative nuns have social media now): "You think your WiFi is important? We're maintaining humanity's connection to the Divine. No password required, but humility helps."

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