Ladies and gentlemen: holy hoops!
As the note on YouTube puts it:
Check-out these nuns hooping at a monastery in Sevilla, Spain — while sheltered in place for the coronavirus. Basketball , y’all
Someone who saw the original on Twitter today writes:
According to the man who took a video of the nuns and posted it on Twitter, the sisters typically make a special kind of nouget candy, which they have been crafting in the convent for four centuries, but they have now started sewing masks due to the coronavirus pandemic. So we can imagine that casually balling gives them a much-needed break from their mask-making, a chance to break a sweat and practice their dribbling.
Can I hear an “Amen!”?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK4m-xg_dj8
UPDATE: But wait — there’s more.
A sister thoughtfully directed me to their website, which details some of the wonderful (less athletically inclined) work the nuns in North America are doing during this challenging time:
As the Coronavirus epidemic spreads all over the world, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians of St. Joseph Province of the United States and Canada (SEC) respond to the needs of local realities with generosity and creativity.
School activity continues through online platforms such as Google Classroom, Showbie, and Zoom for meetings. The FMA upload lessons, videos, and activities daily to engage students and continue with programs. School principals send frequent video messages to their school communities and schools such as Mary Help of Christians Academy (North Haledon, NJ), organize virtual oratory evenings with live streaming Eucharistic adoration and games to keep young people united in faith. Catechesis and youth center groups keep in touch through messaging and video resources.
All the communities that receive donations of food and other useful goods, share resources with each other and with other religious communities, such as the Little Sisters of the Poor. At the provincial headquarters, the FMA produced hundreds of handmade protective masks and delivered them to local hospitals that have a shortage of supply. Production will continue as long as necessary.
The FMA who are aware of past pupils who serve in the medical sector or those who are at high risk of transmission, the elderly or people who live alone, reach them with prayer and encouragement.
And check out their mask-making staff, below.
