Prompted by a comment in another thread, and with Crazyheart's Women in the Bible Study fresh in my mind, I stumbled across this link -

 A Call to Care: The Women Who Built Catholic Healthcare In America

It briefly describes the lives of 7 women, I doubt any of us have ever heard of but their selfless acts of compassion should be a reminder to us all.

I'm not sure which is my favourite hero (or for the traditionalists, heroine)

Sister Amata Mackett, who stood 6 feet tall and weighed more than 200 pounds and fended off a robber with her umbrella.  She and her Sisters of St Joseph developed one of the first health insurance systems for cowboys and lumberjacks.  Sister Amata became known as Sister Lumberjack.

Or Henriette DeLille who started the first African American sisterhood in the US and a home for the aged that operates to this day.  Even though she could have legally qualified to be declared "white", a declaration that would have opened many doors for her even within her faith, she chose not to.

Or Mother Joseph, honoured as the "Architect of the Pacific Northwest" who was responsible for the design and construction of schools and hospitals.  Another tough old bird (who also happened to have been born in St. Elzear near Montreal) she rebricked a chimney herself after the crew ignored her request to do it.

I do know that what resonated with me was a line from the obituary for Henriette:  Last Monday died one of these women whose obscure and retired life was nothing remarkable in the eyes of the world but is full of merit before God. . . . Without ever having heard speak of philanthropy, this poor maid had done more good than the great philanthropists with their systems so brilliant yet so vain.

There are many obscure people who toil at making the world a better place.  Who ask for no recognition but deserve to be recognized.  We should remember to acknowledge and document these people, if not for them but for our own sakes.

LB

We can work together for a better world with men and women of goodwill, those who radiate the intrinsic goodness of humankind. Wangari Maathai,  first African woman Nobel Peace Prize Winner