Liam, a student at the University of Notre Dame.spent eight weeks at Casa Juan Diego this summer. During my time at the men’s house of Casa Juan Diego, my family and friends often asked me to describe what I was doing or how I was feeling. This was one of the most difficult things to… continue reading
The Eighth Work of Mercy And Caring for Our Common Home to Prevent a Refugee Crisis
November 3, 2018 by
In his Message for the 2016 World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation entitled Show Mercy to our Common Home, Pope Francis unexpectedly announced an addition of two works of mercy to the original 14 – one corporal and one spiritual – compiled into a single phrase: “care for our common home.” We… continue reading
Homily of Archbishop Gómez at Closing Mass of the V Encuentro: You Are the Spiritual Heirs of Juan Diego.
October 28, 2018 by
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ: Our Gospel reading today begins with these words: “Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey.” This is our story, yours and mine. This is the story of the Church. We are his disciples. That means that at some point in our lives, each one… continue reading
All Are Invited: Mass in Honor of Mark Zwick
October 20, 2018 by
Special Mass on November 7, 2018, to name the Casa Juan Diego men’s House of Hospitality, Casa Don Marcos in honor of Mark Zwick, founder of Casa Juan Diego. In 1980, Mark founded Casa Juan Diego, a Catholic Worker House of Hospitality where thousands of refugees escaping to Houston during the civil wars in Central… continue reading
Catholic Worker Retreat – Encounter with Silence schedule 2021
October 20, 2018 by
Encounter with Silence Retreat “Encounter with Silence” is a six-day retreat, developed by Onesimus Lacouture, S.J., and formerly given by Father John Hugo. Perhaps the most famous lover of the retreat is the Servant of God, Dorothy Day. She made the retreat more than 20 times and wrote of it often. Day said it was… continue reading
Saint Oscar Romero, a Doctor of the Church?
August 20, 2018 by
At Casa Juan Diego we received with great joy the news from the Vatican that Blessed Oscar Rome will be canonized on October 14, 2018 in Rome, alongside Pope Paul VI, who gave Monseñor Romero unconditional support in a difficult time in El Salvador. In 2015 when Archbishop Romero was beatified, Pope Francis declared him… continue reading
Finding the “Tenderness of God” In Gang Intervention Work
August 10, 2018 by
Two literal books were the figurative bookends of my arriving to and exiting from Casa Juan Diego in the form of Father Gregory Boyle’s Tattoos on the Heart and Barking to the Choir. In the back of my copy of Tattoos on the Heart there are phone numbers of group leaders and outlines of a schedule. The… continue reading
Children Detained: Immigration and Jesus’ Story of the Rich Man and the Beggar
June 22, 2018 by
Those of us who work closely with immigrants, who share our lives with them at Casa Juan Diego, have had to come to terms with the increasingly cruel and aggressive policies of our government towards our guests. We have gotten accustomed to it, to be honest. I am not sure this is entirely a good… continue reading
Catholic Bishops Call Forced Separation of Migrant Families Immoral
June 19, 2018 by
Forced separation of children and parents at the United States’ southern border, as a tool of a new, harsher immigration policy, shocks the conscience with its brutal indifference to the enduring injury it causes children and its callous neglect for human dignity. As the count of children separated from their families has grown into the… continue reading
“When I Was Hungry”: A Reflection on Volunteering At Casa Juan Diego Men’s House
May 28, 2018 by
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
