Sister Constance is one of the nuns in the middle age range at her convent, which is also a college. When Sister Jude, the bursar, returns from the bank one day with plastic piggy banks to place around the college, Sister Constance is skeptical. The community needs a new chapel, as more sisters join the convent; daily Mass and prayer become more of a struggle as the chairs get moved closer together, and the youngest sisters sit only a yard from the priest as he says the Mass. Sister Constance joins in on the daily novenas to pray for intercession for their chapel, but she does so more out of obedience than out of hope.

The nuns raise some money with the plastic piggy banks, totaling a few hundred dollars, but they need $50,000 to begin building the new chapel. They have a model built of the chapel, which they hope will inspire donations, but the beautiful little model does nothing more than bring excitement to the nuns. They attempt to ask Mrs. McKinstry to donate the money, offering to name the chapel after her deceased husband who was a good friend of the convent, but to no avail. When the priest at the local parish decides that the church needs a new $80,000 community center, the sisters hope they can tack on their chapel as an extra expense for the parishioners to fundraise, but Father Morgan says that parish funds cannot go to the convent. When he finds out about the plastic piggy banks, he has those removed.

One day, Otto, one of the custodial workers at the convent, offers a sweepstakes ticket; if they win, they will have enough money to build the chapel. The sisters debate whether this is an ethical means of getting money, but, in the end, they do not win the sweepstakes. The novenas continue to little success. Finally, Sister Superior and Sister Jude announce what they deem to be good news: their current chapel is not up to fire code and will have to be remodeled in order to expand seating capacity. The news, however, is actually disheartening— the chapel will be expanded very little, and until the work, which costs $300 is done, the younger sisters will have to attend Mass half an hour earlier at five in the morning. The remaining sixty dollars that they raised for the chapel will be put towards a statue of the Infant of Prague, which Sister Constance thinks is ugly and cheap. Sister Constance thinks about how none of their problems are really solved, but she knows that her community will keep praying, even if it takes decades to get the new chapel. What is important, she thinks, is that they keep on wanting and hoping for one.