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Celebrating 25 Years: Casa Juan Diego Opens to Help Poor Immigrants and Refugees in Houston

This article appeared in the first edition of the Houston Catholic Worker, May 5, 1981. Casa Juan Diego is the result of allowing ourselves to dream. The vision of a Catholic Worker house on Washington Avenue in Houston established to serve the poor and Spanish speaking first came to us in 1979 while working in… continue reading

Searching Through the Mountains in Guatemala for the Family of an Immigrant

Miguel, originally from Guatemala, is a seminarian for the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, studying at the seminary in Hales Corners, Wisconsin. He spent several months at Casa Juan Diego this summer. We have no idea how he managed to get to Houston from Guatemala, but one day Epimelio was at Casa Juan Diego’s door and the… continue reading

Are the Immigrants Terrorists? What I Learned at Casa Juan Diego, the Houston Catholic Worker

“No man really knows about other human beings. The best he can do is to suppose that they are like himself.” – John Steinbeck Ricardo is a seminarian with the Scalabrini Fathers and Brothers, studying at the Catholic Theological Union. He spent several months at Casa Juan Diego this summer. Ricardo is studying to be… continue reading

Why We Will Not Vote for Bush or Kerry

Many of us are struggling with the issue of how to promote a culture of life and a civilization of love. It is an issue that is of special concern during this season of election. The ancient question of how Catholics can participate in the political process and remain committed to the truth seems especially… continue reading

On Helping People at Casa Juan Diego: Unsuccessful Love

Jonathan is a Catholic Worker who will be studying journalism at Columbia University in the fall. Jonathan came to us through his uncle, Ken Cooper, who shares the Houston Catholic Worker with the students in his classes in a Catholic high school in Washington, D.C. In my first month as a volunteer at Casa Juan… continue reading

Reflections after One Year at Casa Juan Diego, the Houston Catholic Worker

Randy, a Catholic Worker in Houston, is a graduate of Texas A&M. It’s getting cold again, and I can’t help but be reminded of my first few weeks here at Casa Juan Diego. I arrived in late fall; and shortly after, the temperature dropped. I was relieved, though, because I was just plain sick of… continue reading

On not being “Dismissed So Easily”

The Editors of the Houston Catholic Worker lost an opportunity to promote the Catholic Worker movement at a recent presentation where they were invited to speak about faith and economics. The Editors failed to make it abundantly clear that founding a Catholic Worker center and living the Catholic Worker lifestyle or the Gospel is open to… continue reading

The Catholic Worker, Model for Church and World for the Civilization of Love

Mark and Louise Zwick recently gave talks at the Univ. of Notre Dame at the conference on Formation and Renewal sponsored by the Center for Ethics and Culture and at a discussion group on economics sponsored by Fr. Nesti at the Institute for Faith and Culture at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. A… continue reading

Is Casa Juan Diego a Smuggling Operation? No, Just the Works of Mercy for Immigrants and Refugees

With the discovery of the deceased who had suffocated in a trailer truck jammed with living and the dead, local reporters besieged Casa Juan Diego with questions. They wanted to know-and the public was demanding to know-about the life of the immigrants. Since Casa Juan Diego provides hospitality to 125 to 150 each night, they… continue reading

Seminarian Discovers Dorothy Day

Jose Rueda is a graduate from the Angelicum in Rome and Texas Tech University, and a seminarian in Denver who spent a month this winter as a Catholic Worker in Houston. He grew up in Spain and Mexico, lived in Ireland, and speaks English with a charming Irish accent. My first contact with the life… continue reading