 Stillwater, MN Catholic Pacifism written by Dr. Thomas Loome and reprinted by permission of the author |
My Catholic Worker Story
Back in the 80s, just out of college, I spent about six months at St. Joseph Catholic Worker House in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It was a soup kitchen, mostly serving men, because there was another Catholic Worker house just for women, Mary House, a few blocks away. I lived in the house with other volunteers and some long-time residents who probably would have been homeless otherwise. This experience helped to bring me into the Catholic Church and I have a continuing fondness for the Catholic Worker Movement in general because of it.
Being at one of the first houses established by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin was an amazing experience! I thought it was funny that during my stay there, several years after Dorothy Day's death (November 29, 1980), a tradition continued of not putting onions in the salad because she didn't like that. I also liked how, when it was your turn to be "on the house" you were really in charge. I always envisioned that when you were on the house you could paint all the walls pink if you wanted, but the person after you could come along and re-paint them blue. CW houses usually aren't big on boards and authority structures.
Peter Maurin talked about CW houses making it easier to be good. I felt that in three ways. First, living in community gave me support and accountability. Second, voluntary poverty made me feel much safer on the intimidating streets of New York. Because I didn't have anything to steal I didn't feel like much of a target. Actually knowing the homeless in the area and not putting myself above them was very freeing and made it possible to live without too much fear in an otherwise very scary environment. Third, the Catholic nature of the community gave me lots of opportunities to worship and find my strength in God (even though I wasn't yet Catholic myself).
Evening vespers in the dining hall of St. Joseph House are a wonderful memory for me. There was the official lighting of the candle when it was time to start. And I was proud of myself for memorizing the Magnificat prayer, which is said daily during vespers. You know, "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior . . ." Good stuff.
A few blocks away was a Catholic church that I would visit for daily Mass sometimes. I couldn't receive Eucharist but I still loved daily Mass back then. It was there that I really came to see the Catholic Church as the church of the poor. Inner city Catholic churches are amazing! The beggars hit you up for money on your way in and out. The poor and the homeless sleep in the pews, kiss the feet of the statues and pray like it makes a difference.
Among other things, it was that inner city church experience and that incredibly powerful combination of Catholic Worker dedication to the poor and obedience to church authority that caused my conversion.
But CW houses and CW volunteers around the country are a mixed bag. Since there is no national organization or committee to keep everyone who calls themselves a Catholic Worker true to the original intents or even the Catholicism of the Movement I didn't know what I would find when I started visiting CW houses in the West Central Wisconsin area.
Interestingly, the two local communities I have visited so far look VERY different from each other on the surface. Gilbert House, in Glenwood City, is basically two gals trying to live small-town agrarian life in community and in voluntary poverty, helping their neighbors as best they can. The Stillwater, MN Catholic Worker houses the needy in beautiful, rich homes any of us would be very content in. Large amounts of money and time from the people of Stillwater give those selected to receive long-term mentoring and help real hope of making a better future for themselves.
Below the surface, however, the two communities are the same. A deep love for . . . perhaps obsession with . . . the Catholic Church at its most orthodox, from the pope in Rome to the local parish, is the common thread. Also, the lives of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, as guides, unite them.
In addition, this area can boast of not one, but TWO major archives of the CW Movement. The Dorothy Day - Catholic Worker Collection is housed at Marquette University in Milwaukee. The Ade Bethune Collection is housed at The College of St. Catherine in the Twin Cities. Ade was very involved in the CW Movement, a good friend of Dorothy and Peter, and she was one of the artists for the Movement. You can view her extensive works on-line at the collection website.
For a movement that has been accused of being radical (it is), even communist (it isn't) and sometimes, in some places, drifting off into some rather unCatholic and unCatholic Worker-y sorts of thought and action, I am struck by how faithful these two CW communities are to the Church and to the original philosophy of the movement. There are some really well-read locals with a lot of expertise on this subject. In terms of the world-wide Catholic Worker Movement, Wisconsin and Minnesota are truly special places.