Andy and Blossom Wright were Catholic Workers in Houston for eight years. They now live in Wisconsin and recently visited with their four children. We asked Andy’s help in getting Daniel to the bus station. “Ella se murió de tristeza.” She died of sadness. This was the analysis of Danielʼs housemate here in Houston, the… continue reading
How It All Began
June 18, 2013 by
We debated about calling the new/old section in the Archives, “What Were You Thinking?” or “The Early Years” or “Our Kids Think This Is Normal?” or “Giving It All Away” or “The Fire Years,” or “Youthful Energy,” but we chose “How It All Began.” In 1980 something very profound was happening in our community. Homeless refugees… continue reading
Casa Juan Diego, New Catholic Worker House, Opens to Serve the Poor
June 16, 2013 by
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 St. Theresa’s social service office. We had been readers of Dorothy Day’s Catholic Worker paper… continue reading
End Forced Medical Deportations with Houses of Hospitality
June 12, 2013 by
Robby Caceres was a young, undocumented day laborer who was cut down by a heat stroke while working on a roof last summer. Dazed with grief and fear, his brother and a cousin, also young 20-somethings, came to Casa Juan Diego with a plea for help. It turned out Robby’s heat stroke was no ordinary… continue reading
Why Are Cuban Refugees Coming to Casa Juan Diego and Catholic Charities in Houston?
April 9, 2013 by
For more and more new Cuban refugees, the perilous journey to the U.S. is coming to an official end at Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. Over the past ten months, the agency’s midtown office has brimmed with scores of bedraggled immigrants, many having just made the 2,400-mile journey from Ecuador by any means… continue reading
Immigration, the Invisible Hand of Agribusiness, and Farm Workers
March 31, 2013 by
Mark Muller is the Food and Community Fellows Program of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy About a year ago, Don Lassus reviewed the book Tomatoland in the Houston Catholic Worker. This article takes the perspective of the campaign to address the mistreatment of the agricultural workers in Immokalee, Florida, in the larger context… continue reading
Habemus Papam – We Have a New Pope Francis – What Does This Mean For the Catholic Worker?
March 18, 2013 by
Not only do we have a new Pope, we have a new, new Pope. Everything about him is unique. He is the first non-European Pope since the 8th century. He is the first Jesuit Pope Even more significantly, however – he is the first Pope Francis. The very first thing the new Pope did was… continue reading
A Just Immigration Reform Will Suspend Deportations While Applicants Wait
March 9, 2013 by
Hope has emerged from the first steps toward immigration reform under discussion in the U. S. Congress. There seemed to be a new bipartisan willingness to tackle the issue of the millions of undocumented people already in the United States. We hope and pray that this effort does not get bogged down in political concerns… continue reading
“Take Away My Heart Of Stone and Give Me a Heart Of Flesh”
February 21, 2013 by
I picked up Thomas Merton’s last book, Contemplative Prayer, which I am starting to read, and the foreword by our good Quaker friend Douglas Steere brought back to my memory a strange incident in my life. He quotes William Blake: “We are put on earth for a little space that we may learn to bear… continue reading
Pope Benedict XVI Praises Dorothy Day
February 13, 2013 by
In one of his last general audiences before leaving his Petrine ministry (February 13, 2013), Pope Benedict XVI spoke about how difficult it often is to live one’s faith in God in the midst of modern secular society, as it has been in other periods of history. He emphasized the great conversions that… continue reading
