As part of an Ursuline Jubilee celebration, Sister Eileen Finnerty, an Ursuline nun and pastoral associate at St. Ann’s Church in Ossining, N.Y., invited seven women from the parish to a lecture by Father James Hug, S.J., and the showing of a video, “A Contemporary Meditation on the Cross.” The video uses a combination of black and white photography, blunt statistics, meditative music, and reflections on the Spirit to present a powerful motivational message about caring for the poor. Click here for more information about the video. Seeing the video was “a graced moment” for the women, Eileen Sammon says. They came back to their parish knowing they wanted to get involved in caring for the poor.

They chose to create a Rainbow of Hope that assists St. Ann’s Orphanage for Girls in Guyana, a mission of the Ursuline Sisters. Girls at the orphanage range in age from two to eighteen. The original seven women reached out to all of their parishioners by individual letters, by ongoing notices in the parish bulletin, by a display at the back of the church.

After Eileen Sammon spoke about Rainbow of Hope at Sunday Masses, several women volunteered to help. Betty Boyle makes tote bags that her daughter, a teacher, sells to friends and co-workers. In each bag, a note says, “For the benefit of the students in St. Ann’s Orphanage in Guyana.” Mary Lanni writes birthday cards to the girls in the orphanage; Joanna DiDomenico organizes the letters to go out to parishioners, asking for their financial support.

In its first year, Rainbow of Hope raised more than $9000 for the Orphanage. The effort has helped send two girls from the Orphanage on to higher education. This year, the women say, they are on target to raise a good deal more money.

As important as the money, however, is the ongoing contact between the children in Guyana and the parishioners in Ossining. As part of the display at the back of the church, Rainbow of Hope keeps an “open book” that contains lists of the needs of the orphanage, thank-you notes from the children, photographs, and an accounting of all funds raised and how they were spent. The original seven women who started Rainbow of Hope, together with their newer volunteers and the other St. Ann’s parishioners who participate, believe they are doing what they have been called to do—care for the poor. Joanna DiDomenico says, “This activity brings us closer to God.”

Click here for five steps for encouraging members of your parish to paint your own Rainbow of Hope.

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