Mother Teresa once said that poverty in the west is "so much more difficult to remove" than that of other societies because our poverty is "loneliness, unwantedness, and not being loved." She said, "A person that is shut out, that feels unwanted, unloved, terrified, the person that has been thrown out from society... that poverty is so much." A walk down the streets of any American city highlights this poverty: the hungry and homeless, poor and hopeless, begging on street corners, side by side with society's well-off and elite: the spiritually impoverished who move blindly and unceasingly from workday to workday without giving a thought to a deeper meaning in their lives. These men and women from all walks of life are out of touch with the role God plays in their lives each day, in all matters, large and small.

By contrast, in these very same communities, women in religious vocations such as the Missionaries of Charity, the Sisters of Life and the Congregation of Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal in the Bronx, New York, embody the mystery, beauty, joy and peace of a life devoted to God and their fellow man. In a world of emptiness, anxiety and isolation, they play the role of sister and mother to all those they encounter – not only the materially poor, but also the spiritually lost.

In our 5-minute film, Women of Mystery, Women of Hope, we will show the sisters in an ordinary day as they live out their extraordinary call from God. Following each of the orders as they live out their unique charism, we will depict three tangible ways these women touch those they serve: through evangelization and outreach to the poor and homeless with food, shelter, and companionship; with support and resources for young pregnant women overwhelmed with the struggles of motherhood; and through a community of love and support for the volunteers who work with them.

“Women of Mystery, Women of Hope” will poetically and gracefully capture a multitude of beautiful and stirring moments of the Sisters' ministries as they serve all of us – the poor, the lost, the unloved and the unwanted. Viewers will come to appreciate the Sister’s ability to transform lives and mend souls through their actions and prayers. This is the calling that each of these women has, fulfilling the role of the nun, as mother and sister in each of our lives, whether we have met her or not.