“The debt crisis is over,” proclaim economic journals and government officials. Unlike a decade ago, when Mexico threw the financial world into a panic by declaring it could not meet its debt payments, the international banking system is no longer in danger of collapse from the possible default of Third World debtors. Small banks have… continue reading
Life at the Houston Catholic Worker
October 1, 1994 by
“And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.”– 1 Corinthians 13:13 In my two-month stay as a Catholic Worker at Casa Juan Diego, God taught me about faith, hope, and love. The Houston Catholic Worker House ran on faith. The apostle Paul tells us that faith is… continue reading
Transfiguration Spirituality CHRIST DID NOT DIE FOR GOLD
September 1, 1994 by
We write this on August 6. This day is indelibly branded and engraved on our souls. It is the day, August 6, 1945, that our father died (Mark’s father, Herman Sebastian Zwick, died when Mark was a young teenager, leaving a family of twelve children). This changed Mark’s life. It is also the day, August… continue reading
The Politics of Free Obedience: What is a Lay Catholic To Do?
August 1, 1994 by
How can liberals stay in the Church after the recent Papal letter against the ordination of women and that Catechism of the Catholic Church that may have beautiful concepts but has exclusive language? How can conservatives stay in the Church? Some have already left, saying that Pope John Paul II is much too liberal (followers of LeFebvre, for example)…. continue reading
Aims and Purposes of the Catholic Worker Movement
August 1, 1994 by
For the sake of new readers, for the sake of men on our breadlines, for the sake of the employed and unemployed, the organized and unorganized workers, and also for the sake of ourselves, we must reiterate again and again what are our aims and purposes. Together with the Works of Mercy, feeding, clothing and… continue reading
Who Will Inherit the Legacy of Dorothy Day? The Questions
May 1, 1994 by
Will the Catholic Worker movement survive without Dorothy Day? Who will inherit her legacy? Can the real spirit of Dorothy Day continue? Some wonder, “Where are the profound leaders who can take up the mantle of Dorothy Day?” Should the New York Catholic Worker (The Catholic Worker house that Dorothy founded, with Peter Maurin) become… continue reading
Clericalism Hurts Lay People
January 1, 1994 by
It was a tense situation. It could have been any church group, but all members of this group were active church members. They were very upset. A center of hospitality did not have a person immediately available to answer a question about accepting a battered woman in a dangerous situation, so the church group had to send this… continue reading
Virgil Michel, O.S.B., and the Benedictine Influence on the CW Movement: Benedictine Influence Prominent in Catholic Worker: The Guest is Christ
January 1, 1994 by
In chapter 53 of his Rule, Benedict addresed the reception which was to be accorded guests. He reminded his monks that everyone was to be received as Christ, for on the last day each monk would be told: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Mt. 25:35). All persons, without distinction, were to be… continue reading
Should We Dump Them on the Street?
December 1, 1993 by
Since 1980 Casa Juan Diego has received thousands of refugees, Spanish speaking battered women and children. It has been the Inn to many homeless pregnant women. It is Saturday morning. There is much to do. Martha, a battered woman, abruptly interrupts our work with a visiting volunteer youth group from a local parish to insist… continue reading
