HOUSE NEWS: Easter People

This past week, the addiction issues at the house came to a head again, and sadly we had to ask two people to leave.  We will truly miss them; we already do.  But facing the truth and its consequences are part of living responsibly as a community together. We hope with all our hearts that [...]

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HOUSE NEWS: Way of the Cross

Today is the the Gainesville Catholic Worker/Pax Christi Gainesville’s annual Good Friday Way of the Cross at 4pm. We will walk the ”Way of the Cross” through downtown Gainesville, praying at sites where Christ continues to be crucified today in the most oppressed, suffering and impoverished amongst us. This is often a powerful experience of “public prayer and witness,” recognizing that our faith is [...]

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SCRIPTURE: Almsgiving as a Social Corrective

Matthew 6:1-4 
The sixth chapter of Matthew’s gospel opens with Jesus addressing what have become the three hallmarks of Lenten observance in the Roman Catholic and other Christian traditions: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Interestingly, the first of these that Jesus addresses is almsgiving.  
The first thing that strikes me about the passage is the assumption Jesus makes [...]

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ROUNDTABLE: Immigration

Last Thursday Joan Prado, who has worked for many years for the Department of Labor, led a discussion on immigration. She described the current political atmosphere and attitude toward undocumented migrant workers and also the harsher penalties being considered for “illegal aliens” and those who employ them. The conversation around the issue was particularly interesting because of [...]

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ROUNDTABLE: “We don’t want to give food to the hungry.”

Disturbing, but that was the understanding we came away with after last Thursday’s roundtable discussion led by Joe Jackson.  Joe is a professor at the UF Law School and regularly offers his services to homeless folks as well as to those who try to help them. 
Joe gave an overview of his understanding of poverty [...]

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OPINION: Addiction Heartache

 It’s no secret that a lot of homeless folks are addicted to either drugs or alcohol.  The ways they got there are as various as anyone else’s.  But the toll has been higher; it’s left them high and dry, wasted, alone, and needing another hit.  Badly.
It’s easy to judge, especially for those of us whose addictions [...]

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