I love a new character and with the arrival of Sister Catherine (played by Molly Vevers) we have a new postulant (a nun in training). She seems to be a bit of a workaholic, but I’m sure we will gain deeper insight into her character as the season rolls on. 

I found the theme of this episode to be belonging… Jill Trottwood lamenting how she didn’t fit in with the other children’s mothers, as a mother of a child with special needs. Her wheelchair-bound son, Andrew Trottwood, who longingly watched the other children on the playground, desperate to join them. Sister Catherine, as she struggled with balancing her desire for solitude with wanting to fit in with the other midwives at Nonnatus House. 

At the end of the day, we all just want to belong – somewhere, to a group of people who care about us. And we want to connect on a basic level, human to human. 

Of all the characters in the series, Sister Julienne (played by Jenny Agutter) and Sister Monica Joan (played by Judy Parfitt) are stunning examples of making human connections, yet in very different ways. 

Sister Julienne looks deep into people’s hearts, sees their needs, and facilitates filling their cups. I loved how she recognized in Sister Catherine her love of working with children and linked that to the Wrigley family to help them after the loss of Peggy Wrigley in surgery. And Sister Monica Joan, she may not directly solve issues by looking into a person’s soul like Sister Julienne, but she is able to see a person’s truth simmering just under the surface and calls it out. 

Her words to Sister Catherine in a moment of question, “What did he [meaning God] ask you to surrender? [Everything …] Everything is merely a word … a single suitcase into which we bundle all we are. What did your everything consist of? Indeed, what does it consist of now?” 

She sees Sister Catherine’s hesitancy and calls it to the forefront. That’s why I so love her character… she calls it like it is – and the fact that she thinks chocolate cookies constitute a meal. 

It’s also always amazing to me how these episodes mirror current times and issues. This season’s episodes began filming in April 2024, well before the current measles epidemic. Yet the storyline around the child Andrew Trotwood, permanently disabled after a measles infection, could not have been timelier.

Most of us have never seen someone with a measles infection, likely because measles was considered eradicated in the United States in 2000 due to effective vaccination practices. However, because it was not eradicated globally, the virus has still been seen in the US. With the vaccine hesitancy of the past few years, vaccination rates have dropped, which then opens the door of vulnerability to the virus taking hold in the population. 

For the latest news on vaccines and immunizations, visit PBS News.

Fast forward to West Texas in which the current outbreak began in a Mennonite community, where vaccination rates were low, spreading to New Mexico and several other states. Experts report that when community vaccination rates drop below 95%, protection of the community is endangered. Measles is one of the most contagious infections, spread through just breathing the same air of an infected person. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), measles can live for up to 2 hours in a space where an infected person has been.

One of the worst aftereffects of measles is encephalitis (swelling of the brain) which is what Andrew Trotwood suffered, leaving him wheelchair-bound with the inability to talk or walk. We have seen deaths from this current outbreak, and we will sadly see many more. 

I know I won’t change any reader’s mind who is staunchly against vaccination with my words, so I'm not going to try. The plain fact is vaccines save lives… period. For those of you on the fence, look to the science friends… look to the science.