Emily TeKolste is a temporary professed Sister of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. Originally from the Indianapolis area, she developed a passion for justice during her time as a student at Xavier University in Cincinnati and lived in the Indianapolis Catholic Worker community for three years before entering her community. She ministers (remotely) as grassroots mobilization coordinator for Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice in Washington, D.C. Her other passions include soil carbon capture, growing things, and soccer.
Horizons - I've been reflecting on the interplay between federal and local governments. In many ways, it resembles the interplay between solidarity and subsidiarity in Catholic social teaching.
Horizons - What could our society look like if everyone had access to resources to put food on the table, live in decent housing, and have the security to work toward their dreams? There is enough to go around.
Horizons - Recently I reached out to the nurse and executive director of a senior center, to find out about experiences of food insecurity that their members might be facing. The stories they shared were profound.
Horizons - My work, where I live in Terre Haute, Indiana, is to build cross-racial solidarity so that we can build a world where all can thrive. Where is your work? Where does your community hurt?
Those of us who are both white and Christian must begin to atone for the ways these intersecting identities build upon each other to create spaces where we can dominate the narrative and the expectations.
Horizons - Are we listening? Are we shining our light into the darkness? Are we bringing attention to that which the powers-that-be would prefer remained hidden?
Horizons - When both a billionaire and a minimum wage worker have to rent an apartment for $3,000 a month, that's equality of opportunity, but it leaves the worker homeless. Equity says that is not enough.
"Sisters, is your life easy?" an acquaintance asked. It was relatively easy for me to answer: "Easy? No. Good? Yes." Still, the question has stayed with me.
