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Synods and Roundtables

Peter Maurin must be smiling. Pope Francis has announced a startling new way forward for the whole church. When we think of big changes in the church, we think of shifts in theology like Vatican II or in terms of stances on major issues. But Francis’ dream of a church is ultimately transformation, and his… continue reading

The Cause of Dorothy Day

“The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us? When we begin to take the lowest place, to wash the feet of others, to love our brothers with that burning love, that passion, which led to the… continue reading

PROGRAM ON HOLD: Peter Maurin’s Agricultural Ideal: Now There is Help for Minority Farmers

This is what Black farmers feared when they heard the good news: U.S. Farmers Of Color Were About To Get Loan Forgiveness. Now The Program Is On Hold https://www.npr.org/2021/06/11/1005560226/u-s-farmers-of-color-were-about-to-get-loan-forgiveness-now-the-program-is-on-ho     A key part of Peter Maurin’s practical program for implementing Catholic tradition was family or community farms. In the U.S., smaller farms have been… continue reading

Dorothy Day: Dissenting Voice of the American Century

Book Review John Loughery & Blythe Randolph, Dorothy Day: Dissenting Voice of the American Century. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2020. Can any single work capture and convey the story of Dorothy Day’s endlessly fascinating and significant life?  Religiously precocious child born to nominally Christian parents.  Radical journalist and activist in her teens.   Bold bohemian in… continue reading

Dorothy Day at Koinonia Farm

  “I have not yet resisted unto blood,” Dorothy Day commented, after surviving a drive-by shooting at Koinonia Farm. She had endured many hardships–jeers, threats, and insults, being shoved into paddy wagons and jailed–but her acts of protest against war and social injustice had never put her life at risk. She had never been shot… continue reading

La Révolution du Coeur: Le Café Dorothy and The Catholic Worker in France

More French-speaking guests have been arriving at Casa Juan Diego from Africa. We have been fortunate to have volunteers who speak French and some of our Catholic Workers who have never studied French have begun a study of the language. Last spring we also had a visit from Pierre from Paris, who told us about… continue reading

“When I Was Hungry”:  A Reflection on Volunteering At Casa Juan Diego Men’s House

My wife, Blossom, our 2 children (at the time), and I left Houston in 2003.  In 2010, we began returning each year for one week.  These have been rich experiences, both in the privilege to encounter Christ in the poor and in the camaraderie and fellowship we share with Mark, Louise, their family and the… continue reading

How Mark Zwick Met Dorothy Day and the Seeds Were Planted For the Houston Catholic Worker/Casa Juan Diego

Mark visited Dorothy Day’s Catholic Worker on several occasions. One visit was with his mother Florence to Peter Maurin Farm on Staten Island in 1956, when they spent the better part of a day with Dorothy. Mark sometimes accompanied his mother to New York when she went on buying trips for her family department store… continue reading

Communion of Saints, Cornerstone of the Catholic Worker: The Heart Is Made for Heroism

The day after Mark’s funeral (Mark Zwick, December 22, 1927-November 18, 2016) Father Rafael Dávila mentioned that our Wednesday night liturgy on that day would be the first time that Mark accompanied us at Mass from heaven. His comment brought to us a new level of awareness of the Communion of Saints, enshrined in Church… continue reading

Sarah Maples, miraculously recovered from a brain tumor, later diagnosed with another one

Sarah Maples, a friend of Casa Juan Diego and an advocate for the canonization of Dorothy Day, died at her home near Athens, Oklahoma on March 11, 2017.  She was 67. In 2009, when Sarah was suffering from a brain tumor and had been given a terminal diagnosis, her friend Dr. Richard Fossey began to… continue reading