News & Events

OPEN DAY
Come and Learn
about our Work.
Saturday 2nd July 2011 Exotic Food, live music & Bonfire. Meet interesting Pleople.
Call Scott on 07983477819 for details & Directions.

TWO HOUSES!
We want to thank Seve & Marie Page for helping us to open a second house;
Mary House,
for 4 mums & babies.
We will be looking after 17 people soon. Become a Committed Giver by filling out the Standing Order Form and posting it back to us.

Internship Opportunities Space available for Volunteering 2011.
Click for Details.

Anti-War Vigil
Join us Thursdays 3pm at Northwood Tube Station. Call 07983477819 for more details.

Roundtable Discussions Every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month, 7.30pm. Call 07983477819 for more details.

Binding the Strongman
A radical study of Mark's Gospel. Every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month, 7.30pm. Call 07983477819 for more details.

Faith & Resistance Retreats
Once a year CW's and friends come to the CWFarm for a 3 day faith based retreat & action on the Feast of Holy Innocents - 28th December. Call 07983477819 for more details.

Newsletters
Click to go to the Newsletters page to download our Newsletters in pdf format.

Aims & Means of the Catholic Worker

 

Dorothy Day & Peter Maurin

The Catholic Worker movement began simply enough on May 1, 1933, when a journalist named Dorothy Day and a philosopher named Peter Maurin teamed up to publish and distribute a newspaper called The Catholic Worker. This radical paper promoted the biblical promise of justice and mercy. Grounded in a firm belief in the God-given dignity of every human person, their movement was committed to non-violence, voluntary poverty, and the Works of Mercy as a way of life. It wasn't long before Dorothy and Peter were putting their beliefs into action, opening a house of hospitality where the homeless, the hungry, and the forsaken would always be welcome. Over many decades the movement has protested injustice, war, and violence of all forms. Today there are some 185 Catholic Worker communities throughout the world. `The aim of the Catholic Worker movement is to live in accordance with the justice and charity of Jesus Christ. Our sources are the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures as handed down in the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, with our inspiration coming from the lives of the saints, men and women outstanding in holiness, living witnesses to Your (God's) unchanging love'.

Works of Mercy

The Works of Mercy are an abiding norm for the Catholic Worker Movement. Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin lived lives of "active love" built on these precepts. In the Christian Tradition these are:

 

The Corporal Works of Mercy:

feeding the hungry
giving drink to the thirsty
clothing the naked
offering hospitality to the homeless
caring for the sick
visiting the imprisoned
burying the dead

 

The Spiritual Works of Mercy:

admonishing the sinner
instructing the ignorant
counselling the doubtful
comforting the sorrowful
bearing wrongs patiently
forgiving all injuries
praying for the living and the dead