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29 Nov 2015 - First Sunday of Advent, Cycle C

See, days are coming . . . when I will raise up a righteous branch for David; as king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land. —Jeremiah 23:5 No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There’s too much work to do. –Dorothy Day

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Bishops see the light of Day

09 Dec 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday’s second reading Saint Paul rejoices that the Philippians have become true partners in spreading the gospel, which gives him confidence that “the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it.” Dorothy Day, for years lauded by Catholic activists for her work with The Catholic Worker movement and progressive causes, has found an unlikely champion in New York’s conservative archbishop, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, who has added his voice to those calling for the completion of Day’s canonization process.Dolan has embraced her cause with striking zeal, observers said: speaking on the anniversaries of her birth and death, distributing Dorothy Day prayer cards to parishes, even buying roughly 100 copies of her biography to give out last year as Christmas gifts to civic officials including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. In supporting Day's cause, Dolan follows in the footsteps of one of his predecessors as archbishop of New York, the late Cardinal John O'Connor. Day's cause has already been opened and the officially considers her a "Servant of God."This month, at Dolan’s recommendation, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops voted unanimously to move forward with her canonization cause, even though, as some of the bishops noted, she had an abortion as a young woman and at one point flirted with joining the Communist Party. “I am convinced she is a saint for our time,” Dolan said at the bishops’ meeting. She exemplifies “what’s best in Catholic life, that ability we have to be ‘both-and’ not ‘either-or.’ ”In recent years Dolan and other conservative Catholics have come to embrace Day, finding inspiration in her decision to support the church’s opposition to abortion as well as her distrust of government and her overall religious orthodoxy. As someone who was both committed to social justice and loyal to church teachings, Day bridges wings of the contemporary church in a way few American Catholic figures can.“For quite a while, the church at the grass roots in the United States has been fairly badly splintered to a kind of peace-and-justice crowd on the left and pro-life crowd on the right,” said John L. Allen, Jr., senior correspondent for The National Catholic Reporter. “And Day is one of those few figures who has traction in both those groups.”Though she was traditional in her religious practices and strong in her love for the church, Day’s relationship with the church hierarchy in her lifetime was not always smooth. But bishops now say Day’s life resonates with the struggles that they are most engaged in today: the fight against abortion and their concern about government intrusion in their affairs.To be canonized as a saint Day will face several major hurdles, according to the Father Thomas J. Reese, S.J., senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center. First, the Vatican must determine that two miracles have occurred as a result of prayers to her since her death. Second, she needs organizational support to keep up a lobbying effort for her, and the Catholic Worker movement she helped found is often ambivalent about the canonization process, fearful that her message will become oversimplified. Day herself once said, “Don't call me a saint. I don't want to be dismissed so easily.”Homily hint: This Sunday’s gospel concerning the courageous prophet John the Baptist offers an opportunity to do a little awareness-raising about Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement. Here is a Dorothy Day quote from last week’s issue of Exploring the Word to get the conversation going: “No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There’s too much work to do.” Source: An article by Sharon Otterman for the New York Times

canonization thomas reese timothy dolan united states conference of catholic bishops dorothy day catholic worker john l allen

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Homily stories

22 Jan 2012 - Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

In her autobiography The Long Loneliness, Dorothy Day, the cofounder of the Catholic Worker movement, told many stories of how people came to be part of the Worker. One was Hazen Ordway. He had been the librarian at the seminary of the Marist order in Washington. He heard Dorothy speak there in 1937, and in her words, "left immediately to join us, associating himself with us ever since." Ordway heard something that persuaded him to stop what he was doing and follow a call. When Jesus called his apostles, he also came to them in the midst of their everyday work, and they literally dropped it and followed him. They recognized something so compelling and true and vital to them that they threw caution to the wind and changed the direction of their lives on a dime, much like the citizens of Nineveh who repented at the words of Jonah so immediately and completely that even God was impressed and changed God's mind--that is, repented. Repentance is much more than turning to God out of fear. It's being able, in every moment of our lives, to take a chance that answering God's call is always a risk worth taking.

Authors Joel Schorn

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Quote of the week

17 Apr 2016 - Preaching the News for Sunday

If I did not believe . . . that the works of mercy do lighten the sum total of suffering in the world, the problem of evil would indeed be overwhelming. –Dorothy Day, On Pilgrimage Exploring the Word for Sunday, April 17

corporal works of mercy dorothy day

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Homily stories

18 Jul 2010 - Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

One of my favorite stories about Dorothy Day was the time she was being interviewed by a young reporter at a Catholic Worker House. It seemed that every few minutes into the interview the doorbell would ring. Dorothy would politely excuse herself and give a sandwich or a pair of gloves or a token to the street person at the door. After a number of such interruptions, the reporter became frustrated and wondered out loud why it didn't seem to bother Dorothy. She was as calm and serene as ever. She smiled at him and told him that every time the doorbell rang it was an opportunity for her to serve Jesus, and what could be more important than that? Dorothy Day had her priorities straight. And we can all learn a lesson from that. Abraham and Sarah take the time to show genuine generosity to God's messengers. And so they reward the couple with the gift of a child. Mary chooses to sit with Jesus, and Martha who complains is told that her sister has made the better choice. Paul's suffering helps put his ministry to the Colossians in proper perspective. It's easy to lose that focus in our busy lives. Too many things become important that shouldn't be. We need to look at who we are and what we are doing and ask ourselves if we are using our time and energy as God would want us to. Then we may need to adjust accordingly.

Authors Father Dominic Grassi

dorothy day serve Abraham

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Quotes

22 Jan 2017 - Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

You will know your vocation by the joy that it brings you. —Dorothy Day The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge . . . is itself a frightful despotism. –George Washington

dorothy day Vocation george washington
Quotes

05 Feb 2017 - Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

Our acts make or mar us, we are the children of our own deeds. —Victor Hugo As for the destitute, we can only reach them with love and the works of mercy, performed personally, at a sacrifice. –Dorothy Day

dorothy day victor hugo works of mercy

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Quotes

26 Nov 2017 - Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, Cycle A

Jesus shares the life of the poor, from the cradle to the cross; he experiences hunger, thirst, and privation. Jesus identifies himself with the poor of every kind and makes active love toward them the condition for entering the Kingdom. —Catechism of the Catholic Church (no. 544) It is by the works of mercy that we shall be judged. —Dorothy Day

corporal works of mercy dorothy day

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Exploring the word

04 Feb 2018 - Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

As a young priest, Oscar Romero was passionate about books and the education of the mind. But when he was unexpectedly named the bishop of El Salvador, he turned from the world of academic learning and felt a growing passion for the oppression of the poor in his country. As a young woman, Dorothy Day gave her heart to the bohemian lifestyle of the smart, successful, popular people of her generation. But through a series of losses, she began to look deeper for meaning and purpose in her life, first by becoming a Catholic, and later by surrendering her heart to the needs of the homeless. All of us go through a gradual transformation of the heart as we pass through the years, moving from childish ways, as Saint Paul says, to the concerns of mature and thoughtful people. We who once were crazy for motorcycles or detective stories or the latest band, are now parents, teachers, and business leaders. We may still keep a copy of Tony Hillerman at the bedside, and consider ourselves “weekend warriors” on the cycle. We may remember all the words to Abbey Road or Purple Rain. But the genuine passion of our life is now surrendered to greater and more enduring things. The gospel, free of charge Saint Paul gave over his passion early to religion, as many idealistic young people do. He was born a Jew of Tarsus, whose Hellenized population had been granted Roman citizenship from Marc Antony—hence the dual citizenship that spared his life on more than one occasion. But he was not divided at all in matters of the heart. He was a Pharisee, of the strictest order of observant Jews. He studied under Gamaliel, a noteworthy rabbi, and had connections with the Sanhedrin of Jerusalem. Paul of Tarsus was, by his own account, morally spotless when it came to obeying religious law. In modern terms, he was a religious fanatic! And because he was so fierce in his determination to obey the will of God as he understood it, he set out to discover, arrest, and see to the extermination of as many Christians as possible. He saw the Jesus movement as an affront to the laws of God. He saw the church as the enemy of the synagogue. He gave his passion over completely to the mission of stopping Christianity in its tracks. What happened to Paul to cause his transformation? What reoriented his heart from a resolute passion for the law to a wholesale embrace of the gospel? The two could not be more distinct. People don’t switch sides so wholeheartedly without a darn good reason. Paul’s reason, as he describes it, is a powerful encounter with the Jesus he was intent on persecuting. And so Paul surrendered his passion to Christ and him crucified. He gave over the rest of his life and offered his death to the task of proclaiming the gospel, free of charge. Not before or since has such an evangelist passed through this world. His words are part of our scripture. His perception of Jesus has shaped our theology for 20 centuries. Paul’s passion proves what he taught us in his most famous passage: that love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. And it never fails. A singular purpose Passion takes us to some very strange places. We get a sense of this in a day in the life of Jesus. He came to town and accepted someone’s hospitality, if it were offered. Generally, there was work to do at once—in every family, someone is sick, or suffering from disability, mental illness, ignorance, or poverty. Jesus offered his compassion, as he did with Peter’s sick mother-in-law. Then the whole town got in the act, bringing their sick and demon-possessed. We can imagine this included the genuinely feverish and the leprous; as well as kids who drove their parents to distraction; the shoemaker’s son who wanted to be a poet, of all things; those who doubted their religion; those generally unhappy with their marriages, lives, and choices. Jesus cured “many” who were sick and drove out “many” demons. It does not say “all.” Some of the sick, we can imagine, did not want to be cured, and some possessed of certain ideas did not care to be dispossessed of them. Jesus did not come to force. As Jesus says clearly when the disciples urge him to spend another day in Peter’s village: “Let us go on to the nearby villages, so that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come” (Mark 1:38). Jesus comes to proclaim the freedom of the kingdom to all who will listen. He hasn’t come to replace the medical profession, set up psychiatric care, or hear confessions. He has come to liberate God’s people—if freedom is what they truly want. It was this message that Paul, bound all his life to observance of the law, heard and embraced with all his heart. Related scripture links The child vs. the mature person: 1 Cor. 13:11 Paul’s moral perfection under the law: Phil. 3:4–6 The conversion of Paul: Acts 9:1–9; 22:3–11; 26:12–18 Preaching Christ and him crucified: 1 Cor. 2:2 The meaning of love: 1 Cor. 13:1–13 Catechism links Sickness and healing: CCC 164;14991510; 1521 Sin: CCC 385390; 396412; 601618; 654; 705; 953; 18651869 Salvation: CCC 55; 161

Authors Alice Camille

oscar romero dorothy day transformation of the heart Passion Saint Paul Healing

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Quotes

02 Dec 2018 - First Sunday of Advent, Cycle C

See, days are coming . . . when I will raise up a righteous branch for David; as king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land. —Jeremiah 23:5 No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There’s too much work to do. –Dorothy Day

righteousness King David dorothy day

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