Catholic Worker Hospitality House of San Bruno - Providing meals and shelter in San Bruno, California.

February Appeal

by Ella Chatfield-Stiehler

Dear Friends,

As I sit writing this letter, it is mid-January and at Catholic Worker Hospitality House (CWHH) we are settling back into our usual work routine after a lovely, if hectic, holiday season. I’m thinking about all the generous support we received from before Thanksgiving through New Year’s from you, our faithful donors, that enable us to continue our work with those in need in our community. I think especially of our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners when so many of you brought prepared food – mashed potatoes, stuffing, ham or turkey, pies and cookies – that enabled us to host bountiful feasts for over 150 people each time.

These dinners are such enjoyable events partially because I get to see so many friends who have supported us faithfully for years. It’s a joy to see them and experience the goodwill they project. The same can be said for the guests coming to partake in the meal. Some are the folks we see every day, while others are former regulars who now only come “home” on our holiday events. Either way, they too bring a sense of joy that makes the day special. These meals epitomize a hidden benefit of our work at Catholic Worker Hospitality House: that we are surrounded by so much joy in our work.

But people often don’t realize this aspect of our work. Over the years when I tell folks what I do, I often hear, “It must be so hard doing your work, I could never be around so much brokenness and sadness. The people you serve, aren’t they scary and difficult to be around?” True, it can be difficult to see someone distraught over being without a place to stay for the first time or in the depths of addiction and not willing to make needed changes. And, yes, some people can be difficult, but all work has its difficulties and difficult people.

But the sadness and the difficulties are a minor part of our work. At night when I do an examination of the events of my day, I am regularly amazed by how much goodness, kindness, and generosity I have encountered. Whether being warmly greeted by guests and staff when I arrive at the dining room early in the morning or seeing a volunteer interacting lovingly with a guest at the dining room or a donor chatting with me for twenty minutes after delivering a tray of pasta or the laughter I hear from the backyard of our Second Ave boarding house; there is just so much joy. I know none of us are always good or full of joy and goodness, but when we’re around Catholic Worker Hospitality House we all are trying to be the best versions of ourselves. I have to admit it’s quite nice being surrounded by love in the guise of kindness and generosity.

Ideally this spirit of love begins with the staff of CWHH. If we’re doing our job properly, we’re setting the tone of kindness, acceptance, and joy. Then, it is amplified by our volunteers and donors. Finally, our guests hopefully respond by being kind and joyful as well, which inspires us to respond in kind which perpetuates a self-reinforcing loop of goodness. Goodness is infectious.

Now I’m not as naïve and pollyannaish as I sound in the above paragraphs. I know there is a lot of meanness in the world. There are people who are selfish, greedy, dishonest, and full of bad intentions. All one needs to do is read the paper or watch the news on a daily basis and you’ll be inundated with such activity. I also know there are people living with untreated trauma and/or addiction that makes their lives and the people around them miserable. I often think of the line from the poem Desiderata: “Exercise caution in your business affairs for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere the world is full of heroism.” I also think of a common refrain from Alcoholics Anonymous meetings when considering a person’s story of addiction and recovery: “look for the similarities, not the differences.” I read that as “look for the good, not the bad.” At CWHH we have chosen to focus on the good, not the bad. We try to make the good the focus of our life. And you know what? By trying to be good and loving we find ourselves being surrounded by love on a daily basis; it’s really nice being around folks who are trying to be the best versions of themselves.

 

In Christ’s Peace,

Peter Stiehler
For all of us at
Catholic Worker Hospitality House

 

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In the above letter I wrote about how I’m surrounded by people trying to be their best by serving those in need in our community. Sadly, this attitude of self-sacrificing love isn’t as prevalent as we would hope. Our country seems to be entering a period in which supposedly devout Christians, both Catholic and evangelical, are pushing for extreme actions against immigrants, those with different worldviews, and the weak and vulnerable. It is really sad seeing folks who espouse a faith based on selfless love acting in such unloving ways. Then there are the super- wealthy who are using the power of their great wealth to benefit themselves at the expense of the rest of society by working to lower their own taxes and rolling back environmental, work place, and healthcare regulatory safeguards. The selfishness is astounding.

I recently came across the following quote by Aldous Huxley: “It’s a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one’s life and find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than “try to be a little kinder.” I love it. I may be reading too much into this quote, but I think “kind” includes being loving, compassionate, self-sacrificing, and being concerned with the needs of the other. May we all strive to be a little kinder in the coming days, months, and years when, I fear, kindness will lacking in the highest halls of power.

Finally, as these folks claim to be doing the will of God, I thought I would offer a few passages from scripture which offer a counter perspective.

 

When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The
foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as
yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 19:33-34

God defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner
residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who
are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.

Deuteronomy 10:18-19

Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.
Proverbs 30:8b

In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith…There is neither Jew nor
Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in
Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3: 26-28

If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will
have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. Truly I tell you, it is hard for
someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 19:21, 23

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you
will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and
money.
Matthew 6:24