If thousands of years from now (about 5,000 A.D.), researchers studied Catholic and Christian publications of today to find out what they really believed, they would be in for a surprise. In this dream (or nightmare), our researchers did exactly that. Having read a little about Jesus of Nazareth, who ate with the poor and outcasts, who gave up… continue reading
Dorothy Day: Driven by Love (Fr. John Hugo)
I met Dorothy when she came to Pittsburgh to make a retreat that I was conducting at St. Anthony Village, Oakmont, then an orphanage under the direction of a colleague, Father Louis Farina. These retreats had been planned, during the summer vacation, for small groups including some local Catholic Workers. This was some time after… continue reading
The Catholic Worker Retreat of Father John Hugo changed my Life
When I made the retreat, I was not a practicing Catholic. I had left the Church as a teen, and had been associated for the previous two years with an eastern mystic sect. With no intentions of returning to my faith, I came to the retreat for silence. I left fully committed to Christ. Father… continue reading
Fr. John Hugo, Spiritual Director to Dorothy Day, calls us to follow Jesus
This is the eighth article in a series on the philosophers, saints and spiritual guides who inspired Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in founding and living out the vision of the Catholic Worker. This issue features Fr. John Hugo, who developed the famous retreat that became also the Catholic Worker retreat. Fr. John J. Hugo,… continue reading
Reflections of a Guilty Bystander
Justin Vorbach was a teacher in Seattle for two years before coming to live at Casa Juan Diego as a Catholic Worker. I came to work at Casa Juan Diego in August. The past six months have been challenging but ultimately very rewarding. One rewarding experience has been studying U.S. history with Jacobo, a sixteen-year-old… continue reading
St. Teresa of Avila inspired Dorothy Day – Saint Teresa of Avila and Dorothy Day rebelled against Mediocrity
This is the seventh article in a series on the philosophers and spiritual guides who inspired Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in founding and living out the vision of the Catholic Worker. In this issue we feature St. Teresa of Avila. When she came into the Catholic Church soon after the birth of her child,… continue reading
Room for Christ
It is no use saying that we are born two thousand years too late to give room to Christ. Nor will those who live at the end of the world have been born too late. Christ is always with us, always asking for room in our hearts. But now it is with the voice of our contemporaries that… continue reading
Christian Contemplation not for Privileged Few, but for All (Jacques Maritain)
As a child I was brought up in “liberal Protestantism.” Later on I became acquainted with the different phases of secularistic thought. The scientist and phenomenist philosophy of my teachers at the Sorbonne at last made me despair of reason. At one time I thought I might be able to find complete certitude in the… continue reading