Oh, Dorothy Day...

In a recent article posted on CNN.com, Target was spotlighted for their endorsement of an organization that backs a known anti-gay candidate. The Human Rights Campaign has resolved to boycott the national chain until they revoke their generous ($150,000) contribution to the organization or until Target makes a matching donation to a pro-gay organization. It has caused a national outcry from employees of Target, individuals, and other small human rights and gay rights organizations.

This all comes much to my own dismay. I should’ve moved in to Target, or at least bought stock in the company, for all the time and money I spend there. But this is not a blog designed to rally people to support gay people, or even to get people to boycott Target; it is intended to bring to light those systems, companies, institutions that oppress or exploit people.

So where do we turn when we’re faced with social injustice? Dorothy Day, of course! She challenges this blog, yet again, with the concept of nonparticipation...

“Love of brother means voluntary poverty, stripping one's self, putting off the old man, denying one's self. It also means nonparticipation in those comforts and luxuries which have been manufactured by the exploitation of others .... If our jobs do not contribute to the common good, we pray God for the grace to give them up .... This would exclude jobs in advertising, which only increases people's useless desires, and in insurance companies and banks, which are known to exploit the poor of this country and others. Whatever has contributed to the misery and degradation of the poor may be considered a bad job, and not to be worked at...” [Catholic Worker, December 1948]

When we take the time to research what companies we’re supporting by our patronage and consequently what we're endorsing, we too often find systems of exploitation of some group or another. It is our duty to stand up for those being oppressed and the most tangible way to do so is nonparticipation.

So does this mean I won’t be going to Target? Yikes, but yes. It’s not that I have a strong belief in or alliance with the LGBT population, but I do side with the oppression of any individual or group. Therefore, the red bullseye will not be receiving any of my money until a resolution has been reached.

The Feast of St. Clare of Assisi

We give thanks and praise today to Saint Clare of Assisi for the perpetuation of the Franciscan order after Francis’ death. If not for her devotion to and deep-rooted belief in the radical simplicity and corporate poverty of St. Francis, it is probable that the order would have died out. Below you’ll find a letter Clare wrote to her sister, Agnes; it is one of the few writings of Clare and continues to be a source of strength and support to those engaged in ministry.

What you hold, may you always hold.
What you do, may you always do and never abandon.
But with swift pace, light step,
and unswerving feet,
so that even your steps stir up no dust,
go forward securely, joyfully, swiftly,
on the path of prudent happiness,
believing nothing which would dissuade you from this resolution
or which would place a stumbling block for you on the way,
so that you may offer your vows to the Most High
in the pursuit of that perfection
to which the Spirit of the Lord has called you.

The cost of bread increases... now what?

CNN issued a report saying that the cost of wheat has increased by 80% and is at its highest cost over the past two years. It goes on to say though the United States produces enough wheat to sustain itself, if drought-ridden Russia cannot provide the grain for the rest of the world, as it is most accustomed, the United States will then have to begin exporting its products, causing a price increase for domestic consumers. CNN posits that if the price hike holds steady for more than 20-30 days, consumers across the world will experience an increase in the normal cost for wheat-containing products, such as bread and pastries, a staple in many Americans’ diets.
In Victorian-era England, a demand for a minimum wage was realized using the cost of wheat to determine how much is necessary to most basically live at that time. The Speenhamland System (crazy name, legendary concept) created a base of acceptable living conditions and subsequently provided relief to individuals and families whose earnings fell below the cost of wheat. Additionally, the System instituted that it was no longer up to individual townships or parishes to determine individual or family eligibility of relief, but became a nation-wide accepted implementation of a general welfare system. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
England’s “cost of bread” concept was adopted by the colonies upon their foundation and is still used today, though solely conceptually, using basic commodities as a means for determining purchasing power (aka, the cost of living).
If the "cost of bread goes up," will the minimum wage increase? Will general welfare and SNAP benefits increase? How will this price increase affect those who struggle to make ends meet with limited income?

Check out the article on CNN here for more information. And the Speenhamland System here.

The Feast of St. Martha

In light of the feast of St. Martha, Brother Lawrence, a lay Carmelite from the 17th century, offers a compromise between the busy-ness of service and ministry of Martha and the consuming attentiveness and awareness of God among us of Mary-

“Our sanctification does not depend upon changing our works. Instead, it depends on doing those things for God's sake which we commonly do for our own. Brother Lawrence thought it was lamentable to see how many people mistook the means for the end, addicting themselves to certain works which they performed very imperfectly because of their human or selfish regard. The most excellent method he found for going to God was that of doing our common business without any view of pleasing men but purely for the love of God.

Brother Lawrence felt it was a great delusion to think that the times of prayer ought to differ from other times. We are as strictly obliged to adhere to God by action in the time of action, as by prayer in its time. His own prayer was simply a sense of the presence of God, his soul being at that time aware of nothing other than Divine Love. When the appointed times of prayer were past, he found no difference, because he still continued with God, praising and thanking Him with all his might. Thus his life was a continual joy.”

-Fourth Conversation from "The Practice of the Presence of God" of Brother Lawrence and friends

Pax et bonum, 2009-2010 FVMs!

Summer is a crazy time at St. Francis Inn! Between our week-long high school groups, to the comings and goings of our interns, and the end of the Franciscan Volunteer Ministry year to the beginning of the new one, and the stale, humid heat, the only thing that keeps us sane is water ice (or if you’re a local, wooderice)!

This past week, the FVMs attended their closing retreat in Buzzards Bay, MA. They joined the other two FVM sites from Wilmington, DE and Camden, NJ for a time of reflection on their year of service and rest before venturing on to their next steps.

As they depart, Mary and Celia will return to the Franciscan Volunteer Ministry program (though their placement is as yet unknown), Leo will be teaching at St. Michael’s Indian School in Arizona, and Rory has returned home to New Hampshire.

We pray for their future endeavors and we give thanks for their gifts shared with our community!

The Federal Strategic Plan To End Homelessness

By John Gill, ofm

On June 22, the Obama administration announced an ambitious plan to end homelessness among some of society’s most vulnerable groups within the next decade. The report was prepared by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. The full report, titled Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness is available at www.usich.gov. Opening Doors is the Obama Administration’s official policy position on homelessness. The plan has been shaped by the recommendations of state and regional interagency councils on homelessness, national and local advocacy groups, direct service providers, homeless people, and the general public.

The plan sets ambitious measurable goals that will be the key to driving progress. It articulates four major goals: 1) finish the job of ending chronic homelessness in five years, 2) prevent and end homelessness among veterans in five years, 3) prevent and end homelessness for all families, youth and children in 10 years, and 4) set a path toward ending all types of homelessness. The plan outlines 10 objectives and 52 strategies to accomplish these goals, and it provides an extensive overview of issues of homeless and all of the subpopulations who experience it.

Of course, plans are wonderful, but it is the implementation that will really make a difference. The Obama administration has already given some indication that it can and will make the necessary changes. It is good news having the federal government be an important player in the movement to end homelessness in our nation.

Ministry Update

On April 7, 2010, as all living things do, St. Francis Inn Ministries grew. Br. John and I (okay, mostly Br. John) developed a new idea for ministry. We were no longer satisfied with the stagnancy of the Urban Center ministry, feeling that we were not making any sort of long-term change with the work we were previously doing. If our goal was to break the cycle of poverty, it wasn’t going to happen within the existing framework.

Our ministerial venture was (is) overwhelming. In April, we signed papers for a 3-unit house with the hopeful vision to fill it with single mothers and their children. We had been planning for months; making forms, program-developing, doing some legal and logistical leg work, and anxiously awaiting the day that we could get in, get some work done, and get started.

Some major renovations had to take place, such as a rotted bathroom floor, new tile, new carpet, and twelve rooms to be painted. April 8, we were in the new house, assessing the work, making plans, and bracing ourselves for our new titles as contractors, homeowners, and handy-people.

We both got to work and now, three months later, putting the last mini-blind up and sweeping and mopping the third floor apartment, we are ready to start our supportive housing program. Supportive housing is defined as “a combination of housing and services intended as a cost-effective way to help people live more stable, productive lives.” Our target population is single mothers because we knew that by providing support and life skills to the mother, the child(ren) could be raised in a stable household, therefore breaking the cycle of poverty.

We’ve already begun this new ministerial venture with a mother and her 3-year-old son. We are all really excited to get to work; for me and John- to give this woman the tools she needs to make good choices in her life, and for her, to be in a safe, stable place for her and her son. Over the next couple of months we hope to fill the other two apartments and are energized by seeing our vision come to life!

Please say prayers for us and for our families!