The Aims and Means of the Catholic Worker

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Just Peacemaking, Subverting EmpireLeave a comment

Dorothy Day in the Soup KitchenReprinted from The Catholic Worker newspaper, May 2016

The aim of the Catholic Worker movement is to live in accordance with the justice and charity of Jesus Christ. Our sources are the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures as handed down in the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, with our inspiration coming from the lives of the saints, “men and women outstanding in holiness, living witnesses to Your unchanging love.” (Preface to the Eucharistic Prayer for holy men and women) Continue reading “The Aims and Means of the Catholic Worker” →

People and Prayers

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Race, Identity, and History, Uncategorized, Watershed DiscipleshipLeave a comment
laurel-dykstraBy Laurel Dykstra, Salal and Cedar
I am home again in Coast Salish Territory praying about how to be an accomplice to the work of Indigenous Water Protectors at Standing Rock, to speak only for myself but centre Indigenous and traditional voices. Greg, of the Cheyenne River Sioux was my host at Oceti Sakowin Camp. When I asked what I should tell people at home, he said, “Pray, keep praying.” And when I asked what they needed he said, “More people and more prayers.”
I am a priest but I have never been any place where they prayed so much—I averaged 5-6 hours per day in prayer and ceremony here doing things that most people think of as prayer—with special words, objects and actions. But prayer here includes healing dance on a critical river crossing that held off police and security, a sweat lodge on the pipeline path, sacred pipes in front of armored vehicles. Prayer is not a limp sending of good feelings that excuses your absence it is practical and concrete. So as Greg is calling for more prayers and you can send them from your wallet here http://www.ocetisakowincamp.org/donate you can bring them with bike locks to your financial institution that funds DAPL, you can head to your centres of government and law enforcement and invite them to sit down and pray with you and refuse to leave until they do.
Greg also called for more people, and to his call out I will add these words from Kelly Sherman, Oglala Lakota: “If you visit Oceti Sacowin please remember you are a guest. Please remember it is not about you. Please remember the traditions and ceremonies you are welcomed into are sacred. Please remember your visit is not a vacation. Please remember some moments are sacred and do not need your camera.Please remember that sacred moment, that sacred time, will be a picture embedded on your soul. Not on your phone. Donations are helpful, social media sharing is helpful. But what Standing Rock needs is your physical presence. However when you are there please remember if you do not know what to do first you listen. Secondly you listen. Thirdly you listen. And if you do not know how to do that…stay home.”
For more information on solidarity and allyship-
http://www.standingrocksolidaritynetwork.org/

Pâstâhowin: The Cosmic Consequences of Breaking Covenant

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Theological Animation1 Comment

aslongBy Ched Myers

Note: This is Ched’s last post in a series of weekly comments on the Lukan gospel readings from the Revised Common Lectionary during Year C, 2016. Thanks to RadicalDiscipleship.net for hosting these gospel commentaries over these last couple of years!

On the day after the election, we awake to an America dominated by what Van Jones (on election night) called “whitelash.”  How resonant, then, is Sunday’s gospel:

“The days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down….” (Lk 21:6); and

“By your endurance you will gain your souls.” (21:19)

Continue reading “Pâstâhowin: The Cosmic Consequences of Breaking Covenant” →

Tears

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Art as Resistance1 Comment

tears-paintingBy Tommy Airey

I’m about to tear this place up over
here—tear rhymes with dear, not
bear, got it? I’m ready for a
release, a timeout from counterfeit
masculinities, stripping my soul
away with a singular option for outlet:
anger. That’s a dangerous menu for white
male men going postal over years of
pent up pain and pressure to be part
lone ranger part method actor,
redacting our true selves, abusing the very
ones nurturing us back into humanity.
A spiritual discipline to unlearn
patriarchy: let it rain.

Change comes from actions, not votes

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Cloud of Witnesses, Subverting Empire, UncategorizedLeave a comment

dor-dayBy Brendan Walsh, Viva House Baltimore Catholic Worker. Reposted from The Baltimore Sun.

It is noteworthy that November 8 is Election Day and Dorothy Day’s 110th birthday. Dorothy was co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement and is currently on track for sainthood in the Catholic tradition.

Long before Dorothy was involved with the worker movement she was a journalist writing for The Call and The Masses in New York City. She was also a suffragette advocating for the right of all women to vote. She was arrested at the White House demanding that right and went on a bitter hunger strike while imprisoned in Occoquan, Va. Continue reading “Change comes from actions, not votes” →

Historical Response-Ability

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Just Peacemaking, Race2 Comments

elaineFrom Elaine Enns, the conclusion of “The Stories the Land Holds: Mennonites, Trauma and Indigenous Justice,” a talk given at Mennonites, Land and the Environment: A Global History Conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba on October 28, 2016:

Whether we are born here or recent immigrants, we Settlers arrived into a storied and traumatized landscape. Too often we Mennonites have held so tightly to our bloodlines of pain and survival that we ignore these landlines of Indigenous suffering and resiliency. I helped organize a gathering in Saskatoon two weeks ago on the TRC Calls to Action. Harry Lafond, Executive Director of the Treaty Commissioner in SK, told us simply and poignantly, “My loss, is your loss.” Cree elder A.J. Felix agreed: “We are here to talk about how we get well—you and me.” Indigenous leaders understand that our healing as Settlers depends on our willingness and ability to re-vise our stories, and re-member the stories of the land and its First Peoples. Continue reading “Historical Response-Ability” →

Solidarity at Standing Rock

On By RadicalDiscipleshipIn Race, Identity, and History, Subverting Empire, Uncategorized, Watershed DiscipleshipLeave a comment

Oil Pipeline Key PlayersOn Thursday, November 3rd, 2016, over 400 clergy will be in North Dakota, hosting a multi faith solidarity circle for Standing Rock. We all cannot be there physically, but we can be there spirituality. We urge everyone around the country to take a few minutes at 9am Central Time to pray with them.

We offer this prayer, written by Lyla June Johnson (a descendent of Diné (Navajo) and Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) lineages) to say:

We pray for our family at Standing Rock.
We pray for Our Sister Water who is our life.
We pray for the healing and safety of the Water Protectors. Continue reading “Solidarity at Standing Rock” →