In devastated North Carolina, I witnessed a master class of the most powerful force in the universe

When Father Richard Sutter, a former U.S. Army Airborne Ranger infantry officer, called together a handful of supportive parishioners at St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church for what he called a reconnaissance mission Swannanoa, North Carolinacommunity devastated by Hurricane Helen, we didn’t hesitate.

Once there, we were surprised to learn that the boots that had landed earlier were not boots at all, but sandals, and small ones at that. When we boys arrived in town, the Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity were already at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church, our designated meeting place.

I knew about the Missionaries of Charity and their service to the poorest of the poor. But I had never seen them in action, and certainly never expected to do so two hours from my home. Despite the force of the hurricane, their workshop demonstrated the most powerful force in the universe: love.

HURRICANE HELEN: NORTH CAROLINANISANS FEAR FOR THEIR SURVIVAL AS ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES BECOME SHORTAGES

The men came from Charlotte, five of us in two well-stocked trucks. Six sisters arrived in one van, coming from ChicagoSt. Louis and Memphis. We guys stayed hydrated throughout the sunny day; I never saw any of the peripatetic sisters take even a sip of water.

In the first neighborhood we visited, a trailer park on the banks of the Swannanoa River, the sisters scattered across flood-damaged homes like fireflies in the night sky of Montreux, North Carolina. Worried, I ran to catch up with them, not sure what they would see behind each damaged door during these surprise inspections.

They smiled at me with kind eyes that silently said, “Kid, this isn’t our first rodeo.” I soon learned that a smile is one of their most reliable weapons. Most adults have forgotten what all babies and Mother Teresa’s sisters know well – the most sincere smile begets a smile back. It happens before there is time to think.

Mother Teresa (1910-1997), an Albanian nun who dedicated her life to the poor, destitute and sick of Calcutta, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. (Keystone Features/Getty Images)

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These are joys holy women the radiation from their very souls is disarming even in places of great suffering like Swannanoa, where the receding river and omnipresent silt still give up their dead. I am sure it was no less nourishing than the food and water they supplied to the sufferers all day long without rest.

One sister let me take her hand to lead her through a section of particularly muddy terrain. Looking back, I think she only did it to continue her charitable work. On the evening drive over Black Mountain home to Charlotte, my friend Jay and I were taking stock of our most extraordinary day.

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We laughingly agreed that my concern for the sisters’ own well-being during their perilous welfare checks, while coming from a good place, was as necessary as providing Michael Jordan of the Tar Heel State unsolicited advice on how to stay hungry and finish intense basketball games. But we strong guys, committed to a more muscular Christianity in our lives, received an unforgettable lesson about true strength from the good sisters.

Western North Carolina’s road to recovery will be long. It will require great strength from many. But the presence of the Sisters of the Missionaries of Mercy in Swannanoa brought to mind the beautiful words of St. Francis de Sales: “Nothing is as strong as meekness, nothing is as gentle as true strength.”

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