A Prophetic Action: US Bishops Unanimously Advance the Cause for the Canonization of Dorothy Day

11/15/2012

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back into the church - you can be a saint!"

I was struck by the prophetic nature of the action taken by the Bishops given the our current charged political atmosphere. I thought of two scripture passages, "The poor you will always have with you; but you will not always have me" (Jesus, Matthew 26:11) and this scripture "And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." (Jesus, Matthew 28:20) Have we considered the significance of the fact that the same Jesus who promised to be with us always also told us that the poor would be with us always? Perhaps it is because they are connected.

Dorothy Day saw the face of Jesus in the face of the poor. She heard the word of Jesus spoken through the poor. She points us to the deeper meaning behind the sobering scene recounting the last judgment which is recorded by the Evangelist Matthew in the 25th Chapter of his Gospel:

"Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.' "

This scene follows the "Parable of the Talents" (Matthew 25: 1- 28) wherein another kind of judgment is rendered. This one is a judgment on the contrasting way of life lived between two groups of people, those who believe that what they have is their own and those who understand that all that they "have" has been given - as a gift. These two groups approach their relationship with the goods of this earth (which are all good because the Lord has made them) quite differently. The ones who were praised by the Master know the relationship they have with the Giver. They also know their obligations to bear fruit by living the call to solidarity and stewardship that are inherent in receiving those gifts.

These folks live their lives in gratitude. They look for ways to participate in the ongoing mission of the Lord. They know that He works now, through them. They understand what they truly have and they "invest" it by giving it away to others. Sadly, those who grasp on to the goods of the earth, thinking that they are "their own" and bury them, experience the barrenness of self centeredness and the hollowness of the empty pursuit of "stuff".

The point of this passage is as profound, in some respects, as the Last Judgment scene. It participates in the same mystery. They both address matters of the heart and reveal what can be called the economy of heavenly scale. ""To anyone who has, more will be given, and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away." (Matthew 25:29)

In my life I have met few folks who have grasped this mystery, or better yet, were grasped by it. I have a long way to go in entering into the implications of it myself. Those who truly love the poor - like Jesus loved the poor- are a gift for the rest of us. They are a sign of the kingdom, making it present in their wake. They are men and women of action. Dorothy Day was a heroic witness and prophetic voice of the 20th century. She grasped this mystery so well. She still calls from the grave with this challenging message.

She gave herself away, living with the poor, because she embraced her own poverty with honesty. Her brother in that work of solidarity, Peter Maurin, once wrote with such utter simplicity and searing honesty: "We cannot imitate the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary by trying to get all we can. We can only imitate the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary by trying to give all we can".

Another great Christian woman of our age, Chiara Lubich, the foundress of the flourishing ecclesial movement called "Focolare" expressed the heart of this call, "Yes, love makes us be. We exist because we love. If we don't love, and every time we don't love, we are not, we do not exist ("Even what he has will be taken away"). There's nothing left to do but to love, without holding back. Only in this way will God give himself to us and with him will come the fullness of his gifts.

"Let us give concretely to those around us, knowing that by giving to them we are giving to God. Let's give always; let's give a smile, let's offer understanding, and forgiveness. Let's listen, let's share our knowledge, our availability; let's give our time, our talents, our ideas, our work; let's give our experience, our skills; let's share our goods with others so that we don't accumulate things and everything circulates. Our giving opens the hands of God and He, in his providence, fills us with such an abundance that we can give again, and give more, and then receive again, and in this way we can meet the immense needs of many."

I knew a woman who challenged me to the core concerning this truth. She was not an easy person to be around. Prophets rarely are. She went home to the Lord several years ago. She once wrote to me: "In the end, there are two kinds of poor people: those who already know they are poor and those who don't know yet. Here is the crisis: If the latter don't discover this before they leave this planet, they are doomed to be poor forever. What can those of us who already know we are poor do for those who don't know yet? Love them."

The West, with all of its promise of economic freedom, flirts with "economism." This is a phrase used in the social teaching of the Catholic Church to refer to an instrumentalist materialism devoid of any understanding that the market was made for man not man for the market. In this kind of economic order the accumulation of capital can triumph over the flourishing of the person, the family and the common good - and the poor can be forgotten. Perhaps the challenging witness of Dorothy Day will help us to remember.

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Dorothy Day, Peter Maurin, Catholic Worker Movement, solidarity, canonization, Cardinal Dolan, US Bishops Conference, Deacon Keith Fournier

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1 - 10 of 34 Comments

KarlVDH
5 months ago
Mary Magdalene had seven demons cast from her, and tradition suggests she MAY have had a life similar to Dorothy Day's before meeting Christ. (Though there is absolutely no biblical suggestion of it.) Paul made a life of hunting Christians for execuation prior to meeting Christ. Francis was a party animal, and the list goes on and on of some of our most beloved Saints who led lives that make Dorothy's look very, very tame by comparison
St.Matthew--extortionst
St.Dismas--thief
St.Callixtus--embezzler
St.Hippolytus--antipope
St.Christopher--servant of the devil
St.Pelagia--promiscous actress
St.Genesius--scoffer
St.Moses the Ethiopian--gangleader
St.Fabiola--bigamist
St.Augustine--heretic and playboy
St.Alipius--obsessed with blood sports
St.Patrick--worshipper of false gods
St.Mary of Egypt--seductress
St.Columba--warmonger
St.Olga--mass murderer
St.Vladimir--fratricide, rapist, human sacrificer
St.Olaf--viking
St.Thomas Becket--hedonist
St.Francis of Assisi--wastrel
Blessed Giles of Portugal--satanist
St.Margaret of Cortona--rich man's mistress
Blessed Angela of Foligno--gossip and hedonist
St.Ignatius of Loyola--egotist
St.John of God--gambler and drunkard
St.Camillus de Lellis--cardsharp and conman
St.Philip Howard--cynic and negligent husband
St.Peter Claver--dithering novice
Venerable Matt Talbot--chronic alcoholic .

Now... the US Bishops- EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM- have called for Sainthood for Dorothy Day. Sonce the vast majority of objections raised here have been nothing but American politics, I suggest we trust our Bishops and embrace what will probably be the next American Saint.
Dorothy Day, Pray for us!
KarlVDH
5 months ago
Vance,if I'm wrong, I'm wrong... but you've also accused ME of both supporting Obama and being a Marxist myself.Neither is even vaguely CLOSE to true. You continue to call me some sort of Democrat. Also completely untrue. And you've been told so many, many times. I may be somewhere left of YOU, but I'm not what you say I am. So, you've sort of got some credibility to earn back with me if we're to have real conversation. Forgive me if I take your invective about others with a great many grains of salt.
timothy canezaro
5 months ago
I am struck by the negative feedback on this woman because the Catholic Bishops decided to consider a catholic woman for sainthood. The reasons are fairly clear as she was a woman almost ahead of her time early on in life as she was extremely independent, met and communicated with many different people from all sorts of avenues during early 20th century. She had an abortion. Well, she had a Conversion. This changed her thoroughly and she came to be what the Bishops deem through the power of the Holy Spirit at work during that gathering in Baltimore that she be studied for further advancement pertaining to possible Canonization. Nothing seems so wild her to me especially considering so many people can relate to the journey of her life as we too in the modern world are having to navigate ever more powerful and seculaized governments, in the united states alone we have committed over 50 million abortions on the unborn in just a few decades while in peru nearly a million women after giving birth in state run hospitals came out only to find they had all been sterilized, ceaseless wars that regular people often can’t make sense of, starving children, crime…I live in Chicago and we have an epidemic of murders by youth on youth with fatalities equaling the wars in iraq and afghanistan over the same time period. Yes we still have it all. It seems fairly obvious that Saul who become Paul set the precedent already for a great sinner, one of the greatest persecutors of early christians. Why did the Holy Spirit speak to him? Why was he of all people chosen for such an extreme and complete conversion? And to think he became our greatest new testament contibutor, his writings beings priceless to our Sacred Text. Dorothy Day…don’t think it is as crazy as some posters here are making it seem when considered from this catholic light rather than the shade of ego. Thinking of Dorothy as “lowering the bar” for your own possibilities for Sainthood is shortsighted and un-useful. Why not spend some time in prayer and try to understand why the Holy Spirit may be moving through the Church’s Bishops decision to consider her more carefully for Sainthood. Such wasted spiritual energy as determing for yourselves whether the life lead by a woman sure isn’t serving your spiritual needs and challenges or the greather Mission of the Church of Christ here on earth.
judy claar
5 months ago
Vance, Thank you. I did read it. I also posted there. Yes, the Church needs a Wake Up and a Shake Up. And I think in it's slow way, it has been doing so. Blessed Pope John Paul was the first to really Shake things, but I have read that the two popes before him, were slowly laying the ground work for Vatican II. Now, with Pope Benedict, he is carrying on the load, taking the first "Bite" of Far Left priests who nearly start their own religion! Indeed, there needs to be more Bites! Our Catholic Colleges and especially government colleges are rife with them! I know from personal experience. I have family members voicing the same! People should be concerned with who writes the books their children read for education. The Liberal Left has storehouses of books ready and ripe for educating our young. How do I know? I've seen them!

I do not give in to scare tactics. Yet, this much I know IS true. If I were a parent now, it would be Catholic school, or Home Teaching Catholic Education. It IS available, for much less the cost, and you know what your children are learning. Sorry. Just had to give a plug for Catholic Faith and Education.
vance
5 months ago
Judy, the name of the excommunicated priest is Roy Bourgeois. There are plenty more where he came from.
vance
5 months ago
Judy, the information about the Mary Knolls has been around for the last 35 years. The Mary Knolls were not shy or secretive about what they were doing or what they were about. Back in the 70's and 80's I read their own periodicals that were very forthright about their philosophy. Catholic Online just published an article about the excommunication of a Mary Knoll Priest. Read about this priest and you will have a good idea of what made up the body of that organization. God bless.
judy claar
5 months ago
Vance, Thanks for the information. I did not even know that. What our Holy Fathers suffer, on account of their children, who think they know it all. Thank you again...Blessings
vance
5 months ago
KarlVDH, Yes, the Mary knolls were promoting "Liberation Theology". I see you don't know anything about that. They were out right promoting communism in Central and South America as well as here in the United States starting in the late 1950's thru the early 1980's. It was Blessed Pope John Paul II who strongly urged them to change course and abandon their crusade. Blessed Pope Paul VI referred to these and other anti-Catholic Charlatans as his "Crown of Thorns". Pop Paul VI commissioned a crucifix sculptor to make him a crucifix of Christ with no crown of thorns because he said that he wore the crown of thorns.
judy claar
5 months ago
KarlVDH: Instead of lol at Vance,... Why not ask him, with honest and truthful intent, where he got his information. Blessings...
KarlVDH
5 months ago
Vance, you're a riot. Anyone to your political left- whch pretty muck includes anyone from Atilla the Hun over- is automatically some sort of communist conspirator, and not a person of faith. The Maryknolls are Marxists? That's just hilarious!

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