April Appeal

Dear Friends,

A couple of months ago at Sunday mass the priest recommended reading the papal bull of indiction, Spes Non Confundit (Hope Doesn’t Disappoint), which announces the start of the Jubilee year. Now, while I’m a fairly active Catholic, I’m not one who generally reads papal letters, but I thought I would give this one a shot. While my expectation was low, I was intrigued because it was about the Year of Jubilee, which in ancient Israel was about the forgiveness of debt and the return of sold land to the original clan owners. In the church today, it’s about forgiveness, reconciliation, and spiritual renewal.

What initially caught my attention was the name of the papal letter, “Hope Doesn’t Disappoint.” “Hope,” or the lack of it, is a very timely topic. In this country there is such a sense of hopelessness. For some it’s related to the latest election with the economic and political chaos that’s being promulgated by the new administration. For others it’s related to the environmental crisis brought on by climate change which is leading to increased natural disasters around the world. A related effect of this environmental crisis is the steep rise in insurance policies. Last month I received a car insurance bill which had doubled and a home insurance bill which had tripled from the previous year. For still others it’s the sense of hopelessness around finding affordable housing or work that would enable them to support themselves and their families. We all know there are many other sources of despair facing us, but I am writing a newsletter and not a tome. But I believe we can all see that clearly hope is a very timely topic.

As I read the papal letter, I came upon a section titled “Signs of Hope.” All of the signs were works of mercy: visiting the imprisoned, caring for the sick and elderly, welcoming the immigrant, caring for the poor, etc. It got me thinking, why are the Works of Mercy so intertwined with hope? When we assist someone, it fills them with hope; assisting others fills us with hope; and when someone else sees us assist another it fills them with hope. I think of a commercial from a few years back in which one act of kindness inspires another person to do an act of kindness which inspires another person to do an act of kindness and so on and so on.

When we perform, receive or observe a work of mercy it fills us with hope for a better world both now and in the future. Or to put it in theological language, works of mercy enflesh the Kingdom of God here and now. I can only imagine that you readers must get tired of hearing in these letters about the Works of Mercy; it seems like I focus on them in every other letter. I realize I sound like a stuck record, but I just feel they are so central to enfleshing our faith and to making communities of love. That is why at Catholic Worker Hospitality House, and at all Catholic Worker Houses, we build our work around the daily practice of the Works of Mercy. By feeding the hungry we are able to live out our faith; by sheltering the homeless we make our communities a better place; and by visiting the sick or imprisoned we bring hope to those who are hopeless…and to ourselves.

We live in a time of great hopelessness. It’s hard to look at the news and not feel that we are living through an apocalypse, the end of times. Governmental collapse, genocide, environmental disasters and the spread of diseases that feel like Biblical Plagues. It is more and more difficult not to let hopelessness enter our hearts and to resign ourselves to the end. But to give over our hearts to hopelessness and despair would be awfully convenient for the people in the halls of power. The leaders and businesses who wish to profit from war, profit by pillaging the environment, and profit by price gouging the ordinary person do not want us to feel hope and they do not want us to strengthen our communities with love.

So, if you are dissatisfied with the state of the world, we encourage you in your daily life to practice the Works of Mercy whenever you have the opportunity. By doing so you will start the process of making your community stronger and you will bring hope and love not only to those you assist, but also into your own heart.

As always, we thank all of you who make our work at Catholic Worker Hospitality House possible either by your donations of money or food, or by volunteering with us, or by keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. We thank you for all your past support and hope that you will continue your generous support which keeps us going.
In Christ’s Peace,

Peter Stiehler
Director
Catholic Worker Hospitality House

FIRST THEY CAME
They came first for the communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a communist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Catholic.
Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.

Written in 1946 by Martin Niemoeller, a Lutheran Pastor, shortly after he was liberated from a Nazi concentration camp where he had been imprisoned for eight years for opposing Nazi control of Protestant churches.