Candlemas 2015

The world goes to great lengths to hide the poor and needy.  Laws ban people from loitering on the streets by day and sleeping on sidewalks by night.  Those deemed a ‘public nuisance’ can be immediately taken to the hospital, local crisis center, or jail.  Businesses faithfully display signs banning loitering or the use of restrooms for those who cannot pay.  Prisons and state psychiatric hospitals are often built far outside city limits, or if in the city, placed in neighborhoods that are poor and rarely patronized.  Those who are disabled and unable to work are placed in group homes within the city, but their presence is usually unknown, even to their neighbors.  

Local and national government entities use legislation to limit the sights of poverty. Several cities in the United States have passed laws banning ‘camping’, which can include anything from tents under freeway overpasses to sleeping bags in local parks.   San Francisco recently passed legislation banning sitting or lying down on any city streets between 7:00am and 11:00pm.  Some cities, like Orlando and San Diego, have banned charitable giving of food outside approved non-profit establishments. Many cities have passed laws making it

increasingly difficult for people to ask for money in public places, and especially the use of signs and ‘panhandling’. Furthermore, poverty is usually considered shameful in a competitive capitalist society such as the United States, and when faced with someone panhandling on the street, many individuals will intentionally look away, hoping to avoid or ignore the often disheveled, unorderly, unclean sight of the poor and needy.

Durham is a city like any other.  Legislation and societal habits have successfully hidden poverty in many ways.  Durham is a small, quiet city, made up of mostly college students from Duke University. Durham passed an anti-panhandling law several years ago.  There are several laws surrounding ‘camping’ that allow police to move people sleeping on the streets, and extensive permitting regulations inhibit churches from opening shelters or offering permanent housing to the homeless. For all intents and purposes, West Durham has successfully hidden poverty from the rich. However, the community of Durham cannot ignore the cries of Moses.

Dr. Crystal hangs out with the Guys

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Molly on the Feast of St. John of Damascus

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Peter Maurin Catholic Worker HouseCandlemas 2015 1116 Iredell Street, Durham, NC 27705 http://cfw.dionc.org

The Little Way

Moses Allison Waters, MSW/MDiv Student, Durham

(Continued on p. 2)

Leigh seeks the Welfare of the City

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(Moses cont.)

Moses is a native of Raleigh and Durham.  He grew up and went to Durham High School.  He is now in his 30s. He is often unhoused, and spends a lot of his time near Ninth Street, Duke University, and the surrounding neighborhoods.  Moses is a slender man of average height, but explodes in size and stature when you see him on the street.  You see, Moses has an un-ignorable bodily presence.  On any given day, one can observe Moses tearing through the city, stomping his feet and waving his arms violently.  He screams at the top of his lungs, lunging out in front of him as if yelling at someone.  He aggressively walks and jumps down the street; with each stride, he bounds forward with pressured and difficult strain, moving quickly down each street, weaving in and out of traffic, screaming at cars parked along the road. He bounds down crowded streets like Ninth Street, not approaching or yelling toward anyone around him, just carrying on, screaming and yelling at something invisible to the untrained eye.  He even stops in local restaurants and coffee shops from time to time, violently yelling and screaming, setting his things down for a second, only to bounce up again and walk out, yelling all the way.

Although the words he yells are strained and unintelligible, his message is that of anger, dissent, brokenness, and anguish.  His body tells a story of chaos, throwing his arms in the air as if fighting against something or someone. His message is loud. His poverty is clear. And Moses cannot be overlooked.

Moses’ body tells the story of the many bodies suffering from hunger, thirst, sickness, disease, trauma, and brokenness.  Moses is the vibrant portrait illuminating the existence of those that are hidden by law, money, and society. Moses is a prophet, and reminds us of people that are oppressed and held captive by the unrelenting greed of the world; his violent screams and chaotic swinging of arms proclaims “Let my people go.”

Possible responses to the cries of Moses are numerable. First, though, one must see, one must listen.  Proper

ordering of one’s sight and hearing is made possible through prayer and reciting the Psalms.  By the grace of God, we are given Scripture and prayer so that God might teach us to see properly. Similarly, by the grace of God, we are given the cries of Moses, and people like him, which serve as invitations to remind us of the face of Jesus in the poor. The cries of Moses draw us to prayer, and vice versa.

While Moses’ voice and body that are un-ignorable in Durham, it is the guidance of God, through prayer and Eucharist, that shapes us for a fitting response.  While the world tries to hide the poor, it is the call of Christians

to see, to hear, and to respond to Moses’s cry.  

In seeking friendship with Moses, we have learned several important things.   First, that when you call Moses by name, the chaotic violence ceases for a moment. Calling out “Moses, Moses” elicits attention and presence. He’ll turn toward you, look you in the eyes, remember you, and ask about your family. When he speaks to you in conversation, his voice is horse and quiet from the strain of his screaming, but his attention is unmistakable.  Second, we have learned the gift of Moses presence in the community of Durham.  So many people ask,

“What is it that you do?” Moses teaches us that one of the most important ways that we exist in this community is that we see. We notice people like Moses, and those that are not so loud, and in seeing the faces of the poor we are seeing the face of Jesus. And third, Moses teaches us to pray.  Friendship with Moses is a complex and beautiful gift, but it is unintelligible without the practices of praying the Daily Office and receiving the Eucharist.   Without these communal practices, we cannot respond to Moses’ cry, and the cries of so many others, with love and wisdom.  Moses is a gift of remembrance -- remembrance of the poor that the world tries to hide, and therefore a remembrance of Jesus Christ in the midst of us. +

Not Allison Waters

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Hangin' with the Guys

Crystal Hambley, DNP, NP-C, and Catholic Worker, DurhamI wasn't sure what to expect in the beginning, living in the Peter Maurin House as a female with several formerly homeless guys. This was something parents and, well, other folks who weren't so familiar with our community got a little nervous about. And yet, it wasn't like I was moving in with a bunch of strangers. My husband and I had been regular participants in prayer and mealtime at the house for two years prior to moving in, so I had a pretty good relationship with the guys beforehand. Still, I wondered what it would look like once we were all housemates sharing the same space each day. How would my presence be received? What new bonds of friendship would grow? What challenges would we all face together? Needless to say, I was in for quite a treat!

Currently, the house consists of two married couples, one baby, one baby on the way (I'm 7 months pregnant), 4 formerly homeless men affectionately called "the guys", two Golden Retrievers, a Pomeranian, and an outdoor cat named Gray. Soon after moving in, it quickly became apparent that this wasn't going to be just a bunch of people doing their own thing with no connection to one another. Rather, this was going to be the beginning of a very odd yet endearing set of relationships -- something like a cross between the Adams' Family and Full House (really!). Families, as we all know, are both challenging and life-sustaining no matter how quirky they are.

Our first weekly house meeting with the guys, which only lasted five minutes, consisted of dividing up house chores, discussing the pile of dirty dishes that generally appeared sometime between 2-6am, and a three minute lecture from the tallest member of our house to make sure the doors were locked at all times since "we now have a woman living in the house!" Of course, he rephrased this about ten different ways, telling horror stories about things that have happened

elsewhere, using large hand gestures, and dropping some colorful expletives with his booming voice. Throughout the rest of the week, this gentle giant of a man went around checking all the doors every couple hours, reporting back to people when they did not lock them. Even today, whenever I go to walk or drive somewhere by myself, he'll say, "Let me ride with you, I know everyone and no one will mess with you." A quick trip to the store turns into several stops with him yelling, "Hi", to everyone out the window, calling each person by name. (If he ran for mayor, I'm convinced he'd have a shot). I always enjoy the company. Sometimes he even buys me ice cream Snickers bars at one of our stops, always reassuring me, ”The baby needs it." Like I said, I enjoy the company.

As the "medical professional" in the community (I'm a Nurse Practitioner), I often get asked by folks for my opinion on this or that ailment they're facing. One of the guys always has unusual inquiries like, "Hey, what's this rash they put all over my body? I've got rhinoceros skin!" During one particularly painful stretch for this fellow, he refused to let anyone else take him to the hospital, but waited until I had a day off work, saying, "You speak their language, ain't nobody else around here know what's goin' on." So Fr. Colin and I spent seven hours with this gentlemen in the ER. Unfortunately, the three of us were seen as truly strange company together and my housemate only received a script for an over the counter medication. Reeeeaal helpful! Once, when I was away at a conference, I got a call from Mac Stewart that went something like this, "Well...so...I got pecked in the eyeball today by one of the chickens and I'm not sure what to do. I can still see, but it's red and hurts. Call me back." The urgent care report got posted on our fridge for several months afterwards: "Patient reports he got pecked in the eyeball by a chicken." Not sure if they believed him fully, but yeah, you can't make this stuff up.

(Continued on p. 8)

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Easy Essays By Peter Maurin

Social Workers and Workers

1. The training of social workers enables them to help people to adjust themselves to the existing environment.

2. The training of social workers does not enable them to help people to change the environment.

3. Social workers must become social minded before they can be critics of the existing environment and free creative agents of the new environment.

4. In the Houses of Hospitality social workers can acquire the art of human contacts and the social-mindedness or understanding of social forces which will make them critical of the existing environment and free creative agents of a new environment.

By Kelly Steel

They And We

1. People say: "They don't do this, they don't do that, they ought to do this, this ought to do that." 2. Always "They" and never "I".

3. People should say: "They are crazy for doing this and not doing that but I don't need to be crazy the way they are crazy."

4. The Communitarian Revolution is basically a personal revolution.

5. It starts with I not with They.

6. One I plus one I makes two I and two I makes We. 7. "We" is a community while "they" is a crowd.

Fritz Eichenberg

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Seek the Welfare of the City: Be the ChurchLeigh Edwards Miller“Build your houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters…seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find welfare. For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let the prophets and the diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name” (Jer 29:1-9).

How do the Israelites find themselves in exile? In what city is it that they find themselves? Why must the LORD exhort the Israelites to seek its welfare? And, relevantly, why would the diviners and prophets say anything contrary?

Let’s rewind a bit in Israel’s history. Israel has taken the long Exodus out of Egypt. It has settled in the promised land, the land of milk and honey, the land they have long, long awaited. The land where Israel may prosper and freely worship the LORD.

Much happens in between the settling of Israel and the prophesy of Jeremiah, but at least this is important: Israel has broken her covenant. The kingdom has split, the kingdom of Israel has already fallen and all that is left are the two tribes in the kingdom of Judah, where Jerusalem is still protected. But Judah, too, has broken her covenant, over and over again. She has listened to the lies of the nations – that other gods can be worshipped, too, that idol worship is just as good (or better!) than the worship of Yahweh. She has turned to the gods surrounding her and has taken to false oaths in the LORD’s name, adultery, prostitution, murder, neglecting the poor, the widow, the orphan, and disregarding the alien. Even worse, they do not think that the LORD would punish them for these their misdoings.

Yet, Jeremiah tells us, the time has come for punishment. The LORD will take Israel into exile, as He must, so that they will see that their ways were not good and loathe their actions.

So it has happened. Judah has already become a vassal state of Babylon. That precious city, where the LORD promises to reside with Israel will be put under siege for years and ultimately reduced to ruins. All of Israel will be forced to flee. Jeremiah already knows as much and has told Israel about this loss

which we can hardly overestimate.

Jeremiah knows all of this; he will mourn the most heavily for the loss of the city of Jerusalem. Babylon is the hated, intolerable enemy. And yet, Jeremiah here tells the first round of exiles to that city of Babylon – that city that will threaten to destroy the Israelites and everything precious to them – seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you. This is where the LORD has sent them, to reside amidst their enemies. Babylon the great, Babylon the destroyer, Babylon the greedy, the powerful – hungry, murderous idolatrous Babylon. Seek the welfare of the

city where I have sent you. Seek their peace and their welfare – of your most loathed enemies.

If there are any questions as to Babylon’s meaning for Christians, we have only look to the book of Revelation: “Babylon, the great, mother of whores and of earth’s abominations” (17:5).

And lest we think this imagery is only symbolic of all evil, and not indicative of the evil of Babylon where the exiles find themselves, we need only to return to Jeremiah. Babylon is full of diviners, warriors, idols (50:36-38). She is a “horror among the nations” (50:23), she is “a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, making all the earth drunken; the nations drank of her wine, and so the nations went mad” (51:7).

(Continued on p. 6)

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(Welfare cont.)

So, seek the welfare of the city, Jeremiah must exhort the Israelites, and pray for it. For, as the verses right after this say, there are false diviners and prophets rising up amongst the exiles, telling them something different. The LORD has appointed 70 years of exile under Babylon, yet false prophets have risen up amongst the exiles telling them that the LORD has told them to reject the rule of Babylon! To rise up and throw off its yoke!

Understandably so. To tell the exiles to seek the peace of their place of captivity seems only to acquiesce. Jeremiah seems lazy, unwilling to see the contrariness of Babylon, wanting to just condone Babylon’s actions. To tell the exiles to seek the peace of the city seems to be telling them to give in to their captivity. To accept defeat at the hands of those who they hate.

Think about what this may mean in a much smaller, but modern context. Jeremiah may say to a Democrat: Seek the welfare of the Tea Party state where I have placed you. Or the Republicans – seek the welfare of New York, that democratic stronghold. Seek the peace of Kosovo, you Albanians who were forced out of Serbia in 1999. Seek the welfare of Siberia, you Soviets forced by Stalin out of your homeland. Seek the welfare of the Palestinians, if you’re a Jew, or of Israel, if you’re a Palestinian. Seek the welfare of western America, you Choctaw, whom the States government forcibly moved from their ancient homelands. Seek the peace of the city, do not listen to the diviners and prophets who have risen up.

But this is not a call to give up, for the Israelites. It is not a call to imitate to the sinful ways of the Babylonians, to accept their defeat. Oh, no, it is a call to Israel to finally repent of their own loathsome ways and to learn to call upon the LORD for their deliverance – not to trust in their own power to escape the 70 years of exile that the LORD has given. Because

the LORD is clear: to throw off the yoke of wood, as Hannaniah challenged Jeremiah to do, is only to put on a heavier yoke of iron. It is only to return back to their own ways in Jerusalem, where they were yoked to their sins. The Israelites must accept the exile, and to find their home their in a place that is not their homeland. Exile is a place for repentance.

Again, the LORD is clear that the Israelites, in seeking Babylon’s temporal welfare, are not to take on Babylon’s sinful practices. Jeremiah tells us what the LORD has in store for Babylon after those 70 years:

“Flee from Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be like male goats leading the flock. For I am going to stir up and bring against Babylon a company of great nations from the north…though you rejoice, though you exult, O plunderers of my heritage, though you frisk about like a heifer on the grass, and neigh like stallions, your mother shall be utterly shamed, and she who bore you shall be disgraced. Lo, she shall be the last of the nations, a wilderness, dry land and a desert. Because of the wrath of the LORD she shall not be inhabited, but shall be an utter desolation; everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled and hiss because of all her wounds” (50:8-13).

So Babylon certainly needs Israel’s prayers to the LORD on its behalf, for its temporal welfare is simply that, temporary. Israel is not to rebel and try to overthrow Babylon – that would

simply be another tower of Babel. They are not to try to get out of Babylon on their own. They are to live quietly and peacefully as they are able. Most importantly, Israel is not to continue in her sinfulness. The Babylonian exile is a time of repentance, a time of getting away from the pride, vainglory and distractions that lead her away from the LORD. She is not to continue in the indulgences and excesses that represent the materialistic, ambitious Babylon. For we know what is coming to Babylon for her sins, and Israel’s lot is not with her.

(Continued on p. 7)

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(Welfare cont.)

So, seek the welfare – the true welfare – of this vicious city. But do not make it your permanent home, and do not consider it to be heaven. For, of course, the story of the Israelites in exile is our story. Christians know that this world is an exile from our home. We are pilgrims awaiting the new Jerusalem. All of the pain, the sorrow, the heartbreak, the crying and the weeping that we know on this earth will come to an end – for it is not the world for which we are made. There is so much to lament in this world, so much to reject: rampant materialism, selfish ambition, war, gluttony, drunkenness, lies between brothers, murders, adultery. Yet this is the consequence of Babylon, and in our own 70 years, we will die, and we will be given deliverance from this world if we have lived in love of the Lord and His plan.

But in the mean time, we are not to be surprised that we are in Babylon. We are not to be surprised, nor to try to overthrow the world, nor to seek its temporal destruction. Do not listen to the false prophets and diviners that tell you that Babylon can be destroyed and a return to Jerusalem is imminent by our own devices. Look at the fine line we have to walk: the earthly city can never be the heavenly one; yet we are not complacent; we do not commit the sins of Babylon; nor are we reformers of Babylon.

For we live in a world, a Babylon, where we are told over and over again that comfort, security, linens and scarlet, ambition and prestige, are the goods worth having. Flee from this! Flee from the sins of Babylon! But do not forget your call from the LORD, to seek its welfare, and to give thanks for the blessings the LORD gives to all of the world. Pray for this world, and have patience in the exile. Build houses, plant gardens, eat what they produce. Be where the LORD has put you, and do not rebel against that place.

Yet do not forget that the LORD has exiled you here for your own repentance, for your own preparation. One day, the LORD will overthrow Babylon, the whore, who brings sadness, greed, gluttony and pride on the world – but that is his job, not ours. For it is in Christ alone that God has promised us a return home, to the New Jerusalem. We may live here in an exile, in a desolation, in a valley of dry bones, but take heart! We know the resurrection, the LORD waits for us to ask, so that, for His Son’s sake, “This land that was desolate [will] become like the garden of Eden.”

Seek the welfare of the city, and prepare for that 70 years, when in front of the judgment seat we can say we trusted neither in the mammon, the riches and entertainment Babylon, nor in our own devices, in our will to save ourselves, but in Jesus Christ who delivers us from all sin. Seek the welfare of Babylon in this life so that we may enjoy in the life to come the city that the Lord promises:

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away” (Rev 21:1-4). +

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8 Candlemas 2015

(Hangin’ cont.)

Another guy in the house rides a scooter around the neighborhood. We joke that he's the local bishop because he visits everyone. I often catch him packing up food from our fridge and taking it to other homeless folks on the street. Blankets disappear some nights which I can only assume he is taking to other guys. Even so, he always remembers me in his gift-giving: homemade bracelets, hats, socks, slippers, whatever he comes across that he thinks I might like or that he thinks looks like me. Every morning he asks where I'm going and when I'll return. He gets worried if I'm not home on time. He also gets concerned about me carrying anything around the house, especially the laundry. Often my laundry gets folded by a "mysterious person" who won't own up to it. I'm quite positive it's him. One day I saw him sweeping the front porch and sidewalk. Later I told him it looked really good to which he said, "Man, don't tell no one I did it, I told them you did it, ha!" One particular day, I spent 5 hours with him at a scheduled doctor's appointment. By the end of the day, I had to giggle at all the questions we got: "So how do you know him?" "You live with him and other people? Now, help us understand...." As the day progressed, he and I complained together about all the different waiting rooms we had to endure. Later, we enjoyed lunch at KFC while his prescriptions were being filled. We both swore we'd never go back to that place when we finally were able to leave around 3pm.

Not every day is a walk in the park, though. We all can get frustrated with one another sometimes, just like siblings. I can't stand when aluminum cans, foil, and trays get left outside to be turned in for

money by one of the guys because, of course, Chance and Reese, the two resident golden retrievers, get into anything that has any residual food smell. Like clockwork at 3am they are trying to expel it from their bellies. Keep in mind I'm pregnant and don't sleep well these days so someone usually gets an earful the next morning. Still, the bonds between us all are strong, and while this odd little family brings something (or someone) new to our house everyday, I can always expect a thrilling adventure (or at least a good laugh). Yes, I cherish the one-on-one company I find in the kitchen, the friendly reflections in nearby waiting

rooms, and even the challenges of working through disagreements together. Of course, the Snickers Bar trips go a long way, too. All told, we're a household of quirky, but unique, people -- different, broken, gifted, and giving -- yes, a loving family!

Growing up, I always imagined my life as an adult-mom-wife would be something like living in a small town with 2-3 kids, a husband, and maybe a cat at home. We'd live comfortably, perhaps worrying about what we'd watch next on TV, or making sure our kids had

enough activities to keep them occupied. Now, I can't imagine my life any different. I have a much bigger "family" than I'd ever imagined, and though my worries are actually more like figuring out whether or not we should cook for 5 or 30 people on a community meal night, I know I've always got a "sibling" close by willing to say, "Don't you worry, sister, we got your back."

Yeah, I'd say life with "the guys" is pretty great!+

By Fritz Echenberg (not a Maurin House Dinner)

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A Word from St. Clare Chapel Molly Short, Seminarian and Candidate for Holy Orders, Diocese of North Carolina

For the Feast of St. John of Damascus (04 December):

If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile. In today’s reading from first Corinthians, Paul gives us a hard word: If Christ is not raised from the dead, we are still lost in our sins. If Christ has not been raised from the dead, our beloved ones who have died before us in Christ are lost.

And in this worship space especially, Paul’s words ring out: If Jesus did not rise again from the grave all this we are doing here our worship, with incense, candles, singing and prayers, is meaningless. Without the resurrection, our baptism is just an awkward bath and our Eucharist is a very unsatisfying snack.

If for this life only we have hoped in a Messiah who did not defeat death, we are of all people the most to be pitied. Without the quickening of his body in the grave Jesus will only ever be a good teacher, yet another victim of capital punishment in the violent ambitions of the Roman Empire.

Belief in Jesus’ resurrection, and our own bodily resurrection, holds our faith together.

Today, we celebrate the witness of St John of Damascus, a late eighth century theologian who taught, wrote and preached about this central truth. John teaches us that we can use material things like incense, candles and icons to worship God, because God has come to meet us in matter-in the person of Jesus Christ. Word became flesh, and divinity has been infused into the creation as never before.

Beginning with firm belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, John creatively defended embodied worship with icons and incense. We do not worship the things themselves, but the God to whom they testify. God reaches out to us through the material world, so we can worship and pray to God using God’s creation in

icons and incense. Matter matters because Jesus was raised from the dead.

The resurrection holds our faith together. Without it, the Christian religion will collapse under the weight of evil and death that continue to destroy and torment God’s creatures. Listen to this word: religion. At its center you hear one of its Latin roots: ligo, a verb meaning to bind or tie. The same root is central to our word ligament, that strong, flexible tissue holding your bones together.

At first, ligaments may not seem very interesting. That is, until yours don’t work anymore. I realized this last year when my mother tore her ACL. After tearing her knee ligament, she was unable to walk for weeks, and even sitting up was difficult. When she did begin to walk again she had a limp until she recovered full flexibility and range of motion in her repaired ligament.

Like a ligament, belief in the resurrection holds our faith together. Although it does limit what you can say, just like your knee can only bend one way, it gives you a freedom of movement and strength as never before. Without ligaments, your joints are useless, unable to stand or move. Similarly without the resurrection, our faith is useless in the face of sin, evil and death.

By the light of the resurrection, your eyes are opened to behold the beauty of creation as never before. The simple bread and wine you see on the altar become the precious body and blood of our Lord. The waters of baptism become the womb of birth into new life in Christ, cleansing us from sin.

Ligaments need to be used so they don’t get stiff. Especially after its repaired, the ligament must be stretched and strengthened to walk again. Similarly, your belief in the resurrection must be stretched and strengthened: in prayer, fellowship, and participating in the Eucharist. Your faith will be painfully stretched and even torn in your life, when you encounter unexplainable pain,

(Continued on p. 10)

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(Word cont.)and untimely death…and when you are pressed upon by despair. But even there, in the dark painful places, Jesus is with you because Jesus has already been there; he has wept at the tomb of Lazarus. He suffered on the cross.

Our belief in Jesus’ resurrection, and our own bodily resurrection, is the central ligament in the faith. Without it, the whole thing collapses. Without it, our religion can’t bear the weight the terrible weight of suffering and death. As Paul reminds us in his letter to the Corinthians: if Christ has not been raised, our faith is futile.

Belief in the resurrection is not a rigid, inflexible thing, a simplistic litmus test to decide who is in and who is out of the church. It’s a living thing, a mysterious participation in the eternal life that Jesus promises to us. But the only way to know it, to understand it, is to enter into it. You have to accept God’s invitation to eternal life. Standing outside and peering in the windows won’t cut it. You must enter into the resurrected life to begin to understand and believe it with all your heart. You enter into this mystery being joined to the church, joining yourself to Jesus’ body in prayer, fellowship, baptism and Eucharist.

In the face of our terrible human habit of hurting one another, God raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus, whom we crucified in our fear and anger has been raised from the dead. God’s loving word to our lashing out in violence and hatred is peace and forgiveness, coming to meet us again. Even on the other side of death, he comes to meet us again in the resurrection.

On the last day, he will raise your body up too. Jesus is the first fruit, implying that He is the first of many children of God who will be raised. You no longer have to only look out for number one, to complete for fame, wealth, love, because Jesus has defeated death. You don’t have to fiercely guard your possessions and your children and even your life, because Christ is risen and death is not the last word. You don’t have to shrink back from another’s suffering because Jesus has been through hell and back, and he will go with you into the darkness.

We no longer live in the shadow of fear, but in His light of love for the whole world.+

Panhandling and Community Newsby Fr. Colin

Greetings from Durham. This is the Candlemas edition of the Little Way - a traditional name for the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple, also known as the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is traditional on this day in some parts of the world for priests to bless candles for use throughout the year. It always takes place 40 days after Christmas, and always, somehow, also appears to coincide with the Feast of the Nativity of Joe Sroka.

We are overjoyed to announce that, as expected, Mac Stewart was ordained to the priesthood January 16th in Oklahoma City. I was honored to preach at the event, and Leigh, Greg and I got to see Fr. MacGregor’s first Mass on that following Sunday, and once during the next week at St. Luke’s, Chickasha, where we relaxed with Fr. Justin, Mallory, and Master Thomas. Fr. Mac is living proof that the Lord has not abandoned his Church. Another joy from the CFW in diaspora is the birth of Clare Inez Crawford, born on January 29th to Fr. Stephen and Amanda Crawford (Trinity Church, Baton Rouge).

Please pray for us as we think and pray about “the future” (what a terrible thing to have to do). We all want to stay together, we have a newly remodeled house we rent, we like the idea of farming but don’t know how, and we live in the city. We have one infant and two more coming. That creates a lot of variables. We have no doubt our shared future will be easily wrought by the Lord. As usual, we have no idea what that will look like for us. Prayers appreciated. Oh, and send us some money too.+

T H E L I T T L E W A Y

Candlemas 2015 "11

EditorsFr. Justin Fletcher Fr. Colin MillerDr. Crystal Hambley Joe SrokaTyler Hambley Michelle SrokaLeigh Edwards Miller Fr. Mac Stewart

Weekly ScheduleAt St. Josephʹ′s Episcopal Church

(1902 W. Main St., Durham)Morning Prayer: 7:30am Mon-Fri

Breakfast: 8:00am Mon-Fri Evening Prayer: 5:30pm Mon-Fri

At St. Clare Chapel, Peter Maurin House(1116 Iredell St., Durham)

Holy Eucharist 6:25am Mon-Fri Evensong: 6:00pm Sun

Supper: 6:30pm Fri, SunCompline: 8:30pm Fri, Sun

At St. Mary House(302 Powe St., Durham)

Supper: 6:30pm Tues

All are welcome anytime.

Donate These Things!

Twin  frame,  ma,ress,  sheets  (4)  Coffee  

$30k  for  a  Priest’s  Salary  Laundry  detergent  

Dish  soap  Farm  land    Toilet  paper  

13-­‐‑gallon  trash  bags  Fresh  vegetables  Grocery  cards  

Wheat  sandwich  bread

Contact UsThe best way to get involved is to come to the Daily Office at St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church, Durham, Monday through Friday at 7:30 am and 5:30 pm. You can also call Fr. Colin at 919-BUM-CHIN (919.286.2446).

T H E L I T T L E W A Y

The Community of the Franciscan Way

The Little Way is a pamphlet of The Community of the Franciscan Way, a Mission of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. We seek a life of prayer, study, simplicity, and fellowship with the poor. We stand in the tradition of the Catholic Worker Movement, founded in 1933 by Peter Maurin and Dorothy Day. The Peter Maurin Catholic Worker House offers food and shelter to the poor. Funds are directly used for the performance of the Works of Mercy, and no one in the community draws any salary from contributions. Donations always welcome.

1116 Iredell StreetDurham, NC 27705

http://cfw.dionc.org

The Corporal Works of Mercy To feed the hungry

To give drink to the thirsty To clothe the naked

To harbor the harborless To visit the sick

To ransom the captive To bury the dead

The Spiritual Works of Mercy To instruct the uninformed

To counsel the doubtful To admonish sinners

To bear wrongs patiently To forgive offenses willingly

To comfort the afflicted To pray for the living and the dead