The Mass will also be livestreamed at  http:// saintpatrickscathedral.org/ live Starting on Monday, November 29 (the anniversary of Dorothy Day's death), please join us in praying a  Novena in Gratitude  which will culminate on December 8. Each day's meditation will be posted on the Guild's website ( www.dorothydayguild.org ) and FB. 

  We're expecting to house refugees, people fleeing from Afghanistan. The roots of our effort is nourished in prayer as a community with these principle passages from Scripture:  “You shall treat the alien who resides among you no differently than the natives born among you; have the same love for him as for yourself, for you too were aliens in the land of Egypt.” (Lev. 19:5) “What you have done to the least of these, you have done to me.” (Matthew 25) “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” (Hebrews 13:2) In light of the Paulist Center Immigration Advocacy Group, and considering Pope Francis's invocation of a synod on the theme of synodality in the life of the Church, I've endeavored to compile sources of Catholic Social Teaching. It could be a working t heory of change, as I've written on this blog, in a time of listening . Overview: Sources of Catholic Social Teaching include but are not limited to Biblica...

Arts , On Campus Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz made a replica of the 3.8-ton, 20-foot long sculpture “Angels Unawares.” Pictured here at Boston College which housed this piece of art for the month of November, 2020. Depicting a crowd pressing together seeking a step forward, some of the figures depicted include Jesus, Mary, and Joseph fleeing to Egypt, a Cherokee walking the Trail of Tears, an Irish man leaving the potato famine, a Jew fleeing Nazi Germany, a Polish woman fleeing communism, a Muslim escaping civil war in Syria. Mother Cabrini, the patron saint of immigrants is depicted, as well as an angel assembled in following, showing God’s presence amidst people's movement toward better lives for themselves and their families. A current event Oct 24, 2021 that invites papal reaction: “Don’t Send Migrants Back to Libya and ‘Inhumane’ Camps.” https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-middle-east-religion-europe-mediterranean-sea-b140b99f28c238596a294f0614ffe080   Pope Francis’ en...

A Time of Listening Listening. The ancient expect us to listen. The seven generations who will come expect us to listen. Prayer with the Early Church emphasized the twofold path of prayer and love as a conversation. Abba Poemen said, “Not understanding what has happened prevents us from going on to something better.” ( The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection, trans. Benedicta Ward, S.L.G., rev. ed (London and Oxford: Mowbray, 1981), p200. If we listen to the injuries of our neighbor, if we listen to the injuries of generations of trauma, we can begin to make change. And in this way, as I've written, we can become a church in the streets . We come to our advocacy for immigrants informed by outrage, lament, and renewed conviction. Charged to confront structural violence, police murder of George Floyd, endemic inequity, we carry in penance as a community a great task of moral import. For months, absorbed, allowing our advocacy to pause, we took up the scriptures...

    Fight the plight   Come to the catechism of the poor.   The age of conviction may as well be now. We were former persons. Veterans, we work, were former union members. We got degrees in college. You call us homeless, forget we are persons, a misnomer that goes about solving nothing. Who we are matters because you are dealing with a person. A broken down reality, who all the time must wipe your tears, who must wait on you. Patience, come quick, one paycheck away, one health care crisis away and another joins us on the front lines. “Every major ill in this country is embedded in the person that is homeless,” as Willie Baptist says. The antibodies are right here—we are survivors who just couldn’t afford a place to stay.   Should you be in doubt, rest not. Should you want to shed a tear, go not to your sister or your brother. For we are a family denying the cry of the poor. Like wolves “shedding blood and destroying lives to get unjust gain” says the prophet Ez...

In the theme song of  The Wizard of Oz,  "Somewhere under the rainbow," the idea of our treasure is surprisingly closer than we think. While it's a truism we can overlook "the rainbow." We risk impoverished lives, persuade ourselves our head is on straight, ignore neighbors, neglect friends. We take for granted the people with us on our journey who accompany us.  Since Covid many new possibilities, these neighbors, have come alive. Our block, some 70 multi-family houses, began to recognize each other. Then school began and as we form a stream heading to the local school, the four families with pre-school kids become a set. This past Halloween rainbows poured over the block as Emily and I opened our home for a pre-Trick-or-Treat gathering, mixing neighbors and old friends. When a community meeting around a backyard cottage was called last January, on a list gathered by our City Councilor, one single respondent raised a hack. This past week on the same email chain...

Rev. Savina Martin has a spark. I'm reminded of a certain friend when the Poor People's Campaign asked attendees in its orientation to describe themselves as either an impacter / an activist / or a change agent. Then Rev. Savina adds to the prompts, asking whether a new comer had gone to jail for justice. Many responded they admired and conceived of such an ambition. For these I offer the fruit of my own prayer. Prayerful discernment raises questions such as, "What do you aspire to accomplish in the name of God? What consequences do you foresee hazarded by our society? How would you mitigate against repercussions?"   This past election week 5.2 million incarcerated people were denied the vote due to Federal Disenfranchisement laws . While elections say something about power, many disregard the importance of the vote, or worse, discount their own voice, saying to themselves, "I have nothing to contribute, no opinion to give. How can my vote make a difference?...