Lead with Your HeartNovember 17, 2025

Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities wrote: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”

It is interesting isn’t it that there are parallels to the present time? France during the French Revolution, the setting for Dicken’s novel, demonstrated unbelievable cruelty. It was the answer to getting rid of the royal system by cutting off the heads of anyone connected to that system. Human beings made decisions over the life or death of people and it spidered out to loose connections to royalty like the French Ursuline martyrs. They had fled to Brussels for protection but returned to the area of France where they previously lived to catechize because it had been seized by Belgium and they thought they were safe. Unbeknownst to them, it had been won back by the French. They were arrested and interrogated as to what they were doing. Their admittance that they were teaching the Catholic catechism sealed their fate. The revolutionaries saw the Catholic Church aligned with the royalty and they were swept off to the guillotine. Their bravery in the face of death inspired many and was a key factor in the Ursulines refounding the order in France after the Revolution and after the churches’ opening again.

Today we witness an administration which is also wanting to get rid of a system. Most agree that the system needs updating but not by harming people while fixing the system. For most of us, this system has worked especially in the area of healthcare with workable paid premiums for health insurance.

For many years we have seen ourselves as a welcoming country helping people both at home and for those who faced danger and death in their countries. This system needs to be fixed, too, but separating families and throwing people into inhumane prisons is the antithesis of Emma Lazarus words written at the foot of the Statue of Liberty:

“Give me your tired, your poor,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

We need to remind ourselves that unless we are indigent native peoples, we are all from other shores.

I compare those in Washington who have made cruel decisions to the French revolutionaries of the 18thcentury. Their shock and awe methods have left the neediest people in our country: the poor, the immigrant and elderly unsupported without help in getting food, housing and health care.

In Dicken’s book he refers to the best of times because of the heroism of one man who took the place of another at the guillotine because of his compassion for a married man with children and one who looked like him.

Today the outrage of downright meanness has brought feelings of compassion to the fore by many. People who never wrote a letter to their representative or senator in Washington or marched in a protest against new policies that deeply hurt people are emerging. People are contributing to food banks and clothing distribution centers and even volunteering at such sites. People who have stayed in the background and were happy with their anonymity are judging how to put themselves forward and speak for those unable to speak for themselves.

Very often I have heard people say that Jesus came to save us. I had the opportunity when someone said that to me to counter their statement. I said that was not Jesus’ purpose for being born. He came to speak the truth, and his words and actions led to his death, even though he could have stopped, knowing he was provoking the Jewish hierarchy. Jesus’s truth came from his knowing the all encompassing and unconditional Love of God. Jesus’ compassion was foreign to many and his audience needed to hear about the good Samaritan who was not Jewish but aided a Jewish man. They needed to hear about the father of the prodigal son who in his words to his other faithful son were: “Your brother was lost but now is found.” [Luke15:32]

Speaking counter to the power in authority can be dangerous and make many uncomfortable. That is what we see happening with Jesus in the Gospels. Many of us are asking ourselves what do we really believe on a soul level? Does courage come when it becomes clear that our actions can lead to uncomfortable consequences or even our death?

Sr. Dorothy Kazel, Jean Donovan, Ita Ford and Maura Clark all asked themselves that question in El Salvador. Many encouraged them to come back to the States. They all, however, chose to stand with the people whom they had come to know and love. It led to their death on December 2, 1980.

As we celebrate the 45th anniversary of their martyrdom and the martyrdom of many, we are reminded, like the character in A Tale of Two Cities, that leading with the heart assures us of a firmer and truer path. No one goes into a situation with the plan of giving up their life. But while we may not be called to give our lives for our beliefs, we can stand with conviction—believing and acting with the compassion of Christ, speaking for those who have no voice, and extending a helping hand to those in need.

Sister Mary Eileen Boyle