Watch Holy Family House Catholic Workers Mark and Rachael receive a wonderful surprise from housemate Amanda!

http://fox4kc.com/2011/11/28/pay-it-forward-family-helps-group-that-helps-others/

Game Night at Holy Family House

Consider joining us for our upcoming Clarification of Thought Series.

Spinning Wheels of Nonviolence is your chance to dig into an insightful conversation about nonviolent life.

Every other Tuesday evening, starting October 4th at Holy Family House, 7:30- 9:00 pm

Private graces in public spaces

by Gina Cook (as seen in 9.3.11 Kansas City Star FYI Section)

Here at Holy Family Catholic Worker House, we don’t eat a lot of fast food. We don’t like the way it’s produced, shipped or sold, or the way the profits exit our community so quickly. We prefer to eat at local restaurants when we do treat ourselves.

So the last place I thought I would end up on Ash Wednesday was in a line at the counter of a McDonald’s on Independence Avenue. Mark and I had just helped our friend Amir find a different bed, one that we hoped would be easier on his back. We loaded it into the big van and drove it to his rundown apartment.

Amir is lucky to have any apartment. He was homeless when I first met him. He’d stay in motel rooms until his Social Security check ran out, then stay at the shelter until the next one came. He hated staying in the shelter. One day, though, he realized that if he stayed there for a whole month, the money he saved would allow him to get an apartment. He hasn’t been in a shelter for months.

Amir is a generous man, so he wanted to treat us after we helped him move the bed. He took us to McDonald’s and wouldn’t take no for an answer. So much for Lenten fasting!

To my surprise, we had a great time. We saw a number of our friends from the street come in while we were there, and I listened as Amir chatted happily with them. People filled up on coffee and chicken nuggets. The food wasn’t great, but the companionship couldn’t be beat.

“Are you all religious?” a gentleman near us wanted to know. That began a conversation about religion and homelessness.

I read in Psychology Today that Americans are suffering from a lack of public spaces, and so they are constantly upgrading and expanding their homes to make up for that essential need. That’s right — affluent suburban Americans are suffering from a lack of public spaces.

But those of us who cannot upgrade our homes, those of us who perhaps have no home at all, will continue to make use of whatever public space we can find. That day, that happened to be a couple of swingy-style chairs at McDonald’s.

Gina Cook is one of 13 contributors writing the Faith Walk column. Reach her at faith@kcstar.com.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/09/02/3117525/private-graces-in-public-spaces.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz1WvjxQBl1

Canning Success!

I, Rachael Hoffman, am a self-proclaimed horrible follower of complex instructions. I don't bake for this reason (all those rules about mixing dry and wet ingredients separately . . .) So, I've always felt daunted and a bit fearful about canning. However, necessity is the mother of all invention, right?

I've recently mastered freezer jams- peaches and strawberries, that we serve for our morning breakfast. These are so easy to make because you don't have to worry about the technique of canning, and we eat jam fast enough here that it's gone in a week or two.

And then, I dug up our glorious beet harvest last week. So many beets! There was no way we could eat them all in one sitting, and space in our refrigerators is often at a premium. My fate was clear- I had to learn to can. I studiously read the Extension Office directions for how to can, borrowed a water bath canner from lovely volunteer Sandy, and gathered all of the necessary supplies. And then, I got started around 9 pm Tuesday evening. (I figured I'd be done in an hour or so). HA! Well, at midnight I heard the most glorious sound- the popping of the seals, indicating a successful canning venture!

So, we have 7 cans of homegrown beets in our basement, and I'm looking forward to beets in January.

Kansas City Catholic Workers Go to Court

Twenty nuclear weapons activists found guilty

Convictions come after Vatican diplomat calls weapons 'no longer morally justified'

Jul. 20, 2011       By Joshua J. McElwee

 

Anti-nuclear weapons activists walk towards the construction site of the new Kansas City Plant May 2. (NCR photo/Joshua J. McElwee)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Twenty peace activists opposing the country’s first new nuclear weapons facility in 33 years were found guilty of trespass yesterday for a May action which saw 53 arrested for a nonviolent action here.
But the convictions, handed down by Municipal Judge Elena Franco, were just part of a two-hour court drama that saw activists place their action in the context of the continued funding of U.S. nuclear weapons and a recent statement by a key Vatican diplomat questioning nuclear deterrence.
Speaking in Kansas City July 1, Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, the Vatican’s ambassador to the U.N., said “there is no justification today for the continued maintenance of nuclear weapons.”
Steve Jacobs, one of those convicted yesterday, echoed the archbishop’s words in a statement before Franco.
“Catholic bishops tell us these weapons are immoral because if used they will continue to kill the innocent year after year from the effects of nuclear fallout and contamination,” said Jacobs, a member of the Columbia, Mo. Catholic Worker community.
“I am guilty of believing them.”
Jacobs and the other 52 activists were arrested May 2 after blocking the gate to the construction site for the new nuclear facility, which is to replace an existing one here that makes approximately 85 percent of the non-nuclear components for the U.S. nuclear arsenal. It is one of three major new nuclear weapons facilities planned in the U.S., and its construction is part of an investment of $80 billion in the arsenal announced by President Obama last year.

Before their arrests, protestors walked onto the main road leading onto the Kansas City construction site and formed a circle around a construction vehicle. After about ten minutes there, officers arrested them one by one.
Fifteen of those convicted yesterday -- which included Catholic Workers from as far away as Pittsburgh, Penn., and a number of members of religious congregations -- pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 25 hours of community service, a suspended sentence of 10 days in jail, and two years probation for the action.
Four others who pleaded guilty received fines of $500, along with court costs. Another who pleaded guilty, Nicholas Pickrell, was sentenced to two days in jail after he told Franco that he would not pay a fine, or complete community service, because he “lives with the poor” and “practices community service every day.”
Five pleaded not guilty and were given a Sept. 28 trial date.
Before issuing one of the convictions yesterday, Franco told the defendants they were “preaching to the choir.”
In his statement before the court, Frank Cordaro, a member of the Des Moines Catholic Worker community, told Franco that he would not pay any fines levied against him as a way to be open to jail time to “stand in solidarity with the poor,” who, he said, were disproportionately represented in prison populations.
Responding that she had been a defense lawyer before becoming a judge, Franco told Cordaro she had lobbied to increase funding for legal services to the mentally ill and wished activists would work within legal means to express their concerns.
“If you would connect with us,” said Franco, “we would connect with you.”
As she announced Cordaro’s sentence -- $500 fine, to be paid within 90 days -- Franco smiled and, referring to the activist’s unwillingness to pay fines, said “But I’m sure that you’ll eventually be found in contempt of court.”
Cordaro, who has been arrested twice before in actions over the Kansas City facility and has refused to pay fines, held his hands up and replied: “I already am, Your Honor.”
Speaking after the proceedings, Cordaro said he walked way from the courtroom with an understanding that he and Franco “have a lot of common values and concerns.”
While waiting for officers to place him into custody, Pickrell, a member of the local Cherith Brook Catholic Worker community, told NCR he was willing to serve jail time instead of doing community service because “I still don’t feel what I did was wrong.”
“Why would I do community service for something I didn’t think was wrong?” he asked.
The activist, who said this would be his first stint in jail alone -- he and the other 52 activists arrested in May were placed in holding cells together for a number of hours -- also said he saw his time in jail as a “statement of solidarity.”
“People fear jail, yet our guests go regularly in and out of them. So this is just as much an act of solidarity as it is an act of exploration.”
Twenty-three of the activists who did not go before the judge yesterday also had their cases continued to the Sept. 28 date. Five remaining activists didn’t show up for the hearing or request a continuance. Warrants were issued for their arrest.
The May action was part of a series of efforts hosted by local people opposed to the construction of the $673 million nuclear weapons plant, known simply as the Kansas City Plant. Construction is being subsidized by the city with $815 million in municipal bonds.
Activists recently gathered enough signatures for a local ballot measure they say, if passed, would compel the operator of the plant to cease nuclear work in favor of green energy production. Barring legal challenges, it is due to appear on a Nov. 8 ballot.

[Joshua J. McElwee is an NCR staff writer. His e-mail address is jmcelwee@ncronline.org.]

HOT HOT HOT

It is the last day of vacation and some of our friends are ready to beat down the door--they must miss my menu planning. Well, I'll tell you what, folks, on Wednesday we're having cheesy triangle pastries (faux hot pockets), sweet potatoes, green salad and cantaloupe and no dessert! (the dessert delivery didn't come).
It is the last day of vacation and I'm feeling hot, hot, hot. We had a glorious break from the heat this morning, it even sprinkled a little bit! I ran around the garden with my arms spread out like an eagle and praised the earth for this overcast day.
We all had our arraignment last Tuesday. Mark and Robyn were both sentenced to 20 hours community service and Rachael and I have a trial on Sept 28.
See you all soon!

What a day!

Days like today, I am so happy to be living here at Holy Family...
Today I:
Helped serve breakfast to around 40 people
Helped about 10 people with their prescription medication
Ate my own breakfast
Read a few selected stories from NCR, the National Catholic Reporter
Cut Rachael's hair
Boiled a bunch of potatoes for potato salad for dinner tonight
Weeded the strawberry patch in the garden
Got a few office tasks done...
all before noon!

Also, I don't know how to make it say that this post was written by Gina

Just thought I would share.

FYI: Holy House will be closed for cleaning and rest July 4 through July 24! Happy Summer!

The Hope of Easter and a Disarmed World

Please join us for the 2011 Faith and Resistance Retreat, this Friday through Monday at DeLaSalle High School, 3800 Troost.

"The Hope of Easter and a Disarmed World"

We will be learning about nuclear weapons production especially in regard to the new Kansas City Plant which is being built at Hwy. 150 and Botts Rd. in Kansas City, MO. Our collective knowledge will move us into gospel obedience and nonviolent direct action against the new plant on Monday morning.

All are welcome; there is no need to register. All meals will be provided, although feel free to bring along any extra food you might have lying around.

Schedule
Friday April 29, Evening: Dinner and socializing, movie (I can't remember the name of the dang movie, but it is about...guess what...nuclear weapons)

Saturday April 30: Roundtable discussions, nonviolence training, Art Laffin of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker in Washington DC and Jay Coghlin of NukeWatch New Mexico will speak.

Sunday May 1st: Worship, planning for action

Monday: Nonviolent direct action

A Lenten Feast

Things have felt kind of same-old, same-old recently. Meals have been going fine, the family is stable and healthy, the community dealing with the usual ups and downs. So in the everydayness of living at the house, the last place I thought I would end up on an Ash Wednesday was in a line at the counter of a McDonald's on Independence Ave.
Mark and I had just helped our friend Amir find a different bed--one that hopefully wouldn't hurt his back. We loaded it into the big white van and drove it to his tiny, run-down apartment. Amir is lucky to have any apartment, he had been homeless for quite a while when I first met him. Two years ago I remember counseling him on strategies to put his social security check to better use. He would stay in motel rooms until his check ran out and then stay at the mission until the next one came. He hated staying in the mission, he'd tell me all the time. So one day I just said to him as forcefully as possible: "Amir! Why are you staying in the motel rooms? Stay in the mission for a whole month, save up your money so you can get an apartment and then you'll never have to stay in the mission again!"
I don't know if it was my advice that did it, but now he has an apartment and has been stable there for a number of months.
Amir is a kind and generous man, and so he wanted to treat us after our hard work of moving the bed. He took us to McDonalds and wouldn't take no for an answer. So much for Lenten fasting!
It was the McDonald's House Catholic Worker there for a few hours. We saw a number of our friends come in and out while we were there, and I talked and listened as Amir chattered along about all kinds of subjects. People filled up on coffee and chicken nuggets. The food wasn't that great, but the companionship couldn't be beat. A gentleman who was sitting next to us struck up a conversation about religion and homelessness with Mark that started with the loaded question, "Are you all religious?"
I had been reading in Psychology Today that Americans are suffering from a lack of public spaces, and so they are constantly upgrading and expanding their homes to make up for that essential need. Yes. Affluent, suburban Americans are suffering from a lack of public spaces. But those of us who cannot upgrade our homes, those of us who perhaps have no home at all, will continue to make use of whatever public space we can find. Right now, that happened to be a couple of swingy-style chairs at McDonalds.
I don't know how Amir eventually ended up in an apartment. If I can get him to listen long enough, someday I will ask him. But I bet that however he got there it took some sacrificing along the way.
We can all spend our lives in motel rooms, spending up our check every month and having no place to call our own. I guess the lesson is the sacrifice of Lent, giving up some things in hope of the Resurrection. Letting some things die so that others can live. Eating some Chicken Mcnuggets as a sign of our humility, our reliance on others and therefore our reliance on God.