Dorothy Day wrote in the “Aims and Purposes of the Catholic Worker Movement,” (published in 1940 in The Catholic Worker) : “We cannot live alone. We cannot go to Heaven alone. Otherwise, as Péguy said, God will say to us, ‘Where are the others?’” This can be understood on several levels. For Péguy and Dorothy and… continue reading
Young Woman from Spain Visits Casa Juan Diego: An Unforgettable Month
October 1, 2007 by
Summer began again and I got on a plane to Houston, Texas, USA, to work with my father at Casa Juan Diego, a house of hospitality and part of the Catholic worker Movement, founded by Mark and Louise Zwick in 1980. It is dedicated to housing immigrants, mostly from Latin America. I decided to go… continue reading
The Bones of Immigrants Crushed on the Journey, in Attacks, or in Work Accidents Will Rise Again
October 1, 2007 by
“Them Bones,” the traditional spiritual based on the book of Ezekiel in the Bible about the Lord bringing dry bones to life, has a special meaning for Casa Juan Diego, the Houston Catholic Worker, because so many people come to us who have lost their limbs, whose bones were crushed on a terrible journey trying… continue reading
Irrational Animosity Towards Immigrants
October 1, 2007 by
This article was written after hearing very negative comments about immigrants from the media. The animosity and hostility towards immigrants in today’s world is very hard to fathom. It is as if the Ku Klux Klan is in charge of Public Relations, spitting out untruths and half-truths about immigrants as they did in 1927 ridiculing… continue reading
Death Sentence for Rafael and Other Immigrants
December 1, 2006 by
Rafael (not his real name), a construction worker, came to us a sick man. We went the usual procedure of trying to arrange help for him before his cancer became any worse. We tried to arrange an eligibility card—called a Gold Card—but were unsuccessful because he didn’t have a picture ID. We accompanied him to… continue reading
Bring Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Sick and Injured
October 1, 2006 by
Casa Juan Diego is a busy place.. A nurse called today from Ben Taub Hospital to tell us to be nice to Pedro—he had lost all of his fingers on one hand in an accident and wasn’t handling it too well. He was injured in an accident in southern Louisiana. No hospital there had the… continue reading
The MinuteMen are Coming to Houston – Another Violence for Immigrants to Face
October 1, 2005 by
They’re coming with guns. The Minute Men are coming to the corners of Casa Juan Diego armed to the teeth to confront the immigrants who come to earn money to support their children-something we never knew was treasonous. Violence, however, is not new to immigrants. The moment they hopped on a train to come North,… continue reading
The Love of Christ Towards Migrants through the Stories of Immigrants at Casa Juan Diego: How Did It Occur To You To Do Such a Thing?
August 1, 2005 by
The following is a talk given by Mark and Louise Zwick at the University of St. Thomas Summer Institute in Houston on Immigration. The talk was entitled “The Love of Christ Towards Migrants,” the same as the title of a document recently published by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant… continue reading
Abandonment of Injured Immigrant Workers: Appeal for Help
August 1, 2005 by
“The chicken comes home to roost” is a phrase that applies to the disaster that has attacked the immigrant community. The rejection of sick and injured immigrants by our society is among the sins that cry to heaven for vengeance. The marked increase of immigrants in recent decades has seen the employment of more and… continue reading
Train, Friend or Enemy for Central American Immigrants?
June 1, 2005 by
Jake was a Catholic Worker in Houston until very recently. He will be going to medical school in the fall. The hiring hall at Casa Juan Diego sits alongside a railroad line. Several times every morning a long freighter rumbles by, blaring its horn as a greeting and a warning, holding up traffic and waking… continue reading
