Words From the Wise

Yesterday I spoke with Sr. Joyce Meyers about her recent trip to Philadelphia, where she was honored as one of the nation’s top ten exceptional elders by LeadingAge, a nonprofit organization that supports nursing homes and focuses on education, advocacy, and research related to aging.

As part of its “Words From the Wise” campaign, LeadingAge sought nominations nationwide for persons who, after the age of 65 years, had exemplary accomplishments that resulted in a positive effect on their local community. Sister Joyce certainly qualifies because of her service to the underprivileged and underserved in her psychology practice and her volunteer work at Keeler Women’s Center—all that after her previous career as a math, physics, and English teacher and as a principal for 15 years.

Of all the places she visited in Philadelphia, Sr. Joyce was most impressed with the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, where St. Katharine Drexel is buried. Sister Joyce noted, “I was so thrilled that, in the midst of all these other glamorous buildings, they put so much into the building for God. Sometimes we forget who gave it all to us.”

Words from the wise, indeed!