Making A Difference

Sister Maria Rosa Leggol is a nun in Honduras who sounds like she ought to be the next Mother Teresa. Here is one story among many others. She was trying to line up funds to buy ten houses for a new orphanage. In fact, she had already bought the houses before she went looking for money. The U.S. government offered partial funding:

To finalize the grant, Leggol had to secure commitments from sponsors to fund the rest of the cost of the homes. She eventually lined up enough wealthy Hondurans willing to help. When the day came to turn in the paperwork to the U.S. embassy, however, she was missing one signature from a sponsor, so she asked a taxi driver to take her to this Honduran businessman's home, even though she couldn't afford the fare. Once there, however, she was told that the businessman had gone to the airport to leave for a business trip. In a panic, Leggol begged the taxi driver to take her to the airport, and he agreed. Leggol sped to the ticket counter, where she was informed that the plane had already boarded and was taking off.

For most people the story would end there, a tale of what might have been.

Leggol, however, refused to surrender. In full habit, her blood coursing with adrenaline, she promptly ran onto the runaway. (This was the early 1960s, before today's security measures at airports). Waving her arms like a banshee, she forced the plane to stop and demanded that they lower a staircase. She then marched back to the flabbergasted businessman's seat, and extracted his signature. At that moment, she laughed, he probably would have signed anything she put in front of him.

Naturally, she got the grant, bought the 10 homes, and the rest is history. MORE

What amazing faith. The Catholic church is often accused of oppressing and ignoring women. Nothing could be further from the truth - women like Sister Maria are critical to everything the church does. They are its heart and without them it would crumble quickly.