Christmas Appeal
Dear Friends,
For almost thirty years I’ve been writing these Christmas letters. The usual letter talks about Advent as a time of hope as we await a new creation. While we enter “a time of darkness,” we hope and prepare for a better world with the coming of Jesus, the
Messiah, at Christmas.
This year, with the current political and economic situation, people are especially feeling and fearing the darkness. ICE raids, military deployments to cities viewed as hostile to the president, tax cuts for the very wealthy while health and food resources for the poor are cut, and the general dismantling of structures that care for people and protect the environment.
How long O Lord? How long must we wait for the promised new creation? With all that’s happening, just waiting and hoping for a better world in some vague future doesn’t seem enough. So what if instead of just waiting and hoping for a better future, we start living a bit of that hoped for future now? I think this was at the heart of the life and ministry of Jesus.
“The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” – Luke 17:20b-21
What if we lived our lives as if this was true? What if we lived our lives in the belief that God is already within us and within all those with whom we interact? What if we knew that we have nothing to fear because God loves us, and has already redeemed us. How would our lives be transformed?
I think back to my college days when I had returned to the church and started trying to take my faith seriously. My thought was: “Someday I’ll truly devote myself to living the Way of God, but what’s the rush? Why do it now?” Then I realized “the end” could come for me at any time. I was a young male who engaged in the risky behavior a lot of young people do; then I realized I could die any day. “Maybe I should start living the kingdom now,” I thought. So, I started on the path of trying to live a more devout life. Now I haven’t always been successful in this pursuit, but it did get me to make some life changes that led me in the right direction.
This desire to live the kingdom of God now, not later, is what ultimately brought me to the Catholic Worker Movement and what led Kate and I to start Catholic Worker Hospitality House in San Bruno almost 30 years ago. It is why I’m still here after all
these years. And I believe it is why so many of you devote your time and resources to making our work possible.
In simple ordinary ways, we all try to manifest the love of God through acts of kindness and the daily practice of the Works of Mercy. I am writing this letter during our morning dining room service. I am seeing, and participating with, people – guests, volunteers, and donors – living the kingdom here and now through the sharing of a meal and fellowship. And while all this is going on others are delivering food and supplies for our Thanksgiving Feast which will happen the next day. It’s a beautiful thing to be a part of. We all fall short at times doing this work, but we keep on trying.
As always, we thank you for joining us in this work. It is through your ongoing generous support of our work that we are able to continue serving those in need in our community.
In Christ’s Peace,
Peter Stiehler
For all of us at
Catholic Worker Hospitality House
THANKSGIVING MEAL
Every year, two weeks before Thanksgiving I get into a tizzy, fearful that we won’t have enough food for our annual Thanksgiving Dinner, but every year there is plenty. Every year I am fear that something will go dreadfully wrong and the meal will be a disaster and every year it’s a beautiful event. Well, once again my fears proved unfounded, as our Thanksgiving Dinner was a lovely event. We had plenty of food and volunteers, and over 200 guests enjoying the day. It was a reminder of why our Thanksgiving Dinner is my favorite event of the year. I definitely need to be more mindful of the angel’s admonition of “Do not be afraid, everything will be alright.” We thank all of you who provided food and supplies to make Thanksgiving a special day for all our guests. We couldn’t have done it without you. Now it’s time to prepare for Christmas…..