January 2021
Preparing the Way: Thoughts during the Advent at the Catholic Worker by Shannon Frye
Reflecting during Advent at Casa Maria, I realize that the Advent spirit of anticipation exists year-round: workers move to prepare the bedding, repaint old trim, organize the basement pantry, and await to welcome families at our doors. While much has had to change in the wake of COVID-19, we seek more than ever in these trying times to provide a place of respite and renewed hope. It is not lost on me or anyone in our community how much the Infancy Narrative—an impoverished family seeking refuge, an unexpected flight from danger—mirrors the journeys of the families who come to live with us.
The Holy Family fleeing from a megalomaniacal king bent on maintaining his opulent throne. The families at Casa are often seeking a refuge not only from intimate violence, but also the violence which wears no visible crown: our families are fleeing the violence of landlords that prey on those who receive too-meager government aid for emergency housing... the violence of social safety net programming being dramatically cut or ended arbitrarily by politicians, most of whom have never had to make $20 stretch to feed a family of 4 for a week and still have bus fare to get to work... the violence of family separation, from border walls to Plexiglas partitions in detainment camps and prisons... the violence of a CPS system that removes black children at 4 times the rate of white children… the violence of an imperial machine that would just as soon see the children of the poor sent to be cannon fodder in wars of capital abroad as it would see them swallowed up at home, gasping for air in the streets as those same weapons of war are used on them for daring to demand redress for inequities. Yes... The panic of flight is alive here in Milwaukee, yet so is the spirit of resistance.
So the preparation continues. We will answer calls for assistance and wash near limitless loads of laundry. We will sort through the food donations and continue to find new ways to get crayon marks off the walls of the play room. We will continue to make up beds and eagerly await new arrivals at our door, ever leaving the porchlight on to show families that they are reaching a place of rest, a place where we will stand with them to resist the violence we face daily as a community. I would only ask, dear readers, that you leave on your light and help keep ours lit as well.
DON’S JOKES
What were the reindeer afraid of when they disobeyed Santa? Santa’s claws. “Listen, Harold, this is the last time I am going to ask you for the dollar you owe me.” Harold: "Fine. Then that’s the end of such a silly question.” What do reindeers say before they tell you a joke? This one’s gonna sleigh you! A woman invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said, “Would you like to say the blessing?" “I wouldn’t know what to say,” the girl replied. “Just say what you hear Mommy say,” the mom answered. The daughter bowed her head and said, “Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?” A boy asks his father, “Dad, are bugs good to eat?” “That’s disgusting. Don’t talk about things like that over dinner,” the dad replies. After dinner the father asks, “Now, son, what did you want to ask me?” “Oh, nothing,” the boy says. “There was a bug in your soup, but now it’s gone.” A little boy opened the big, old family Bible with fascination and looked at the old pages as he turned them. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible, and he picked it up and looked at it closely. It was an old leaf from a tree that had been pressed in between the pages.“ What have you got there, dear?” his mother asked. With astonishment in his voice, the young boy answered: “I think it’s Adam’s suit!” A couple decided to renew their vows. When the priest asked the husband to renew his vows, the husband said, “A,E,I.O.U."
INTERESTING FACTS
Here is some good news for a change. The U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons just reached the 50 ratifications needed for entry into force! Honduras finally ratified the treaty bringing about this historic milestone. We banned the bomb! ---Nukewatch
The CIA-backed death squads in Afghanistan have killed children as young as 8 years old in a series of night raids, many targeting Madrassas, Islamic religious schools. The U.S. played key roles in many of the raids, from picking targets to ferrying Afghan forces to the sites, to providing lethal airpower during the raids. This was part of a campaign of terror orchestrated by the Trump administration that included massacres, executions, mutilation, forced disappearances, attacks on medical facilities, and airstrikes targeting structures known to house civilians.---Intercept
Some farm employers in the U.S. have committed massive wage theft and violated laws around safety and wages. It shows employers withholding at least $76 Million in wages from the over 150,000 workers over the past 20 years. Though researchers say the problem is likely much bigger since the government only investigates a small number of farm employers at one time. Many violations are also not reported due to workers’ immigration status. Recent research has found farmworkers have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic, yet many are forced to continue working in unsafe conditions. ---Economic Policy Institute
**In Minnesota, the Indigenous-led resistance against the construction of Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline continues. Recently, 22 protesters were arrested after they blocked equipment and refused to leave. ----Democracy Now
**The need for prayer warriors to sit in solidarity and in prayer will likely be ongoing over the next months. The Hildegard House is offering to coordinate small groups of Catholic workers to "go down to the river and pray". This space is literally right at the Mississippi River. The camp is just a little over an hour's drive from Duluth. They are coordinating hospitality and carpools out to the prayer site and asking people to stay for a few days or up to a week. They can accommodate 3 or 4 safely at Hildegard House, and it is COVID safe at the site where people would be outside. Bring warm clothes and food to take out to the site to eat while you are out there. Stop disregarding the treaty rights of several Ojibwe nations. Contact: stopline3.org and Hildegard House will coordinate a time for you to come.
**In November 2020, 413 Palestinians, including children, were abducted and detained by Israeli occupation forces. ---Human Rights Association and Samidoun
**The World Health Organization’s global plan for delivering COVID-19 vaccines to 91 poor and middle-income countries faces a “very high” risk of failure and could leave billions of people primarily in Africa, Asia and Latin America, with no access to vaccines until as late as 2024. Poverty will increase sharply in almost every country for the first time in decades unless immediate action is taken, as 2.7 billion people have not received any public financial assistance during the pandemic. The global number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has topped 74 million, with 1.6 million deaths. ----Oxfam
**The United Nations is warning a new wave of locust invasions is threatening food security for millions across the Horn of Africa and Yemen. Despite an international effort to counter the infestations, locust populations are still growing, fueled by last month’s devastating Cyclone Gati and other climate crisis-fueled weather conditions.
**Hungarian lawmakers have effectively barred same-sex couples from adopting children in Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s latest crackdown on LGBTQ rights in Hungary. -----Democracy Now
**There is a growing shared understanding that financing is a form of prohibited assistance. Here in Milwaukee, the Northwestern mutual life Insurance Company has $1,148,100,000 invested in companies that are part of the nuclear weapons industrial complex.- Boeing Industries, BAE Systems, Honeywell and more. ---Peace Action WI
**Number of children the Trump Administration separated from their parents at the border whose parents have yet to be located : 666 Estimated portion of those parents who have been deported without their children: 3,656. –Harpers
NOTES FROM 21ST STREET: “All people like us are We, and everyone else is They.” (Rudyard Kipling) I read the quotation at the beginning of Advent and have pondered on it ever since. In our society there appears a great split. Are the We people who look like Us think like Us? Do we inadvertently in our minds continuously have a We/They judgment going on? What does that do to our interactions? Christ’s life was lived mostly as a They. He was born in lowly circumstances. He did not hold a regular job. He gathered the outcasts to Him and told them they are loved. Forgiveness was given for past trespasses. I pray as we face the new year we can judge all humanity as We. To love, forgive and to work to make life good for all humanity can then be our calling. Thus all become We. Peace, Roberta
Friday Jan. 22. Observance of the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The march starts at noon at Northwestern Mutual headquarters- 700 E. Wisconsin Ave in Milwaukee Contact Nukewatch for more info. 715-472-4185
Monday, January 25 is International Day of Action to End War in Yemen. We ask individuals and organizations everywhere to call for protests — with masks and other safety precautions — in their towns and cities on that day.
For those of you with instagram, we have set up one for Casa Maria. Please follow us!
instagram.com/casamariacatholicworker
Preparing the Way: Thoughts during the Advent at the Catholic Worker by Shannon Frye
Reflecting during Advent at Casa Maria, I realize that the Advent spirit of anticipation exists year-round: workers move to prepare the bedding, repaint old trim, organize the basement pantry, and await to welcome families at our doors. While much has had to change in the wake of COVID-19, we seek more than ever in these trying times to provide a place of respite and renewed hope. It is not lost on me or anyone in our community how much the Infancy Narrative—an impoverished family seeking refuge, an unexpected flight from danger—mirrors the journeys of the families who come to live with us.
The Holy Family fleeing from a megalomaniacal king bent on maintaining his opulent throne. The families at Casa are often seeking a refuge not only from intimate violence, but also the violence which wears no visible crown: our families are fleeing the violence of landlords that prey on those who receive too-meager government aid for emergency housing... the violence of social safety net programming being dramatically cut or ended arbitrarily by politicians, most of whom have never had to make $20 stretch to feed a family of 4 for a week and still have bus fare to get to work... the violence of family separation, from border walls to Plexiglas partitions in detainment camps and prisons... the violence of a CPS system that removes black children at 4 times the rate of white children… the violence of an imperial machine that would just as soon see the children of the poor sent to be cannon fodder in wars of capital abroad as it would see them swallowed up at home, gasping for air in the streets as those same weapons of war are used on them for daring to demand redress for inequities. Yes... The panic of flight is alive here in Milwaukee, yet so is the spirit of resistance.
So the preparation continues. We will answer calls for assistance and wash near limitless loads of laundry. We will sort through the food donations and continue to find new ways to get crayon marks off the walls of the play room. We will continue to make up beds and eagerly await new arrivals at our door, ever leaving the porchlight on to show families that they are reaching a place of rest, a place where we will stand with them to resist the violence we face daily as a community. I would only ask, dear readers, that you leave on your light and help keep ours lit as well.
DON’S JOKES
What were the reindeer afraid of when they disobeyed Santa? Santa’s claws. “Listen, Harold, this is the last time I am going to ask you for the dollar you owe me.” Harold: "Fine. Then that’s the end of such a silly question.” What do reindeers say before they tell you a joke? This one’s gonna sleigh you! A woman invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said, “Would you like to say the blessing?" “I wouldn’t know what to say,” the girl replied. “Just say what you hear Mommy say,” the mom answered. The daughter bowed her head and said, “Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?” A boy asks his father, “Dad, are bugs good to eat?” “That’s disgusting. Don’t talk about things like that over dinner,” the dad replies. After dinner the father asks, “Now, son, what did you want to ask me?” “Oh, nothing,” the boy says. “There was a bug in your soup, but now it’s gone.” A little boy opened the big, old family Bible with fascination and looked at the old pages as he turned them. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible, and he picked it up and looked at it closely. It was an old leaf from a tree that had been pressed in between the pages.“ What have you got there, dear?” his mother asked. With astonishment in his voice, the young boy answered: “I think it’s Adam’s suit!” A couple decided to renew their vows. When the priest asked the husband to renew his vows, the husband said, “A,E,I.O.U."
INTERESTING FACTS
Here is some good news for a change. The U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons just reached the 50 ratifications needed for entry into force! Honduras finally ratified the treaty bringing about this historic milestone. We banned the bomb! ---Nukewatch
The CIA-backed death squads in Afghanistan have killed children as young as 8 years old in a series of night raids, many targeting Madrassas, Islamic religious schools. The U.S. played key roles in many of the raids, from picking targets to ferrying Afghan forces to the sites, to providing lethal airpower during the raids. This was part of a campaign of terror orchestrated by the Trump administration that included massacres, executions, mutilation, forced disappearances, attacks on medical facilities, and airstrikes targeting structures known to house civilians.---Intercept
Some farm employers in the U.S. have committed massive wage theft and violated laws around safety and wages. It shows employers withholding at least $76 Million in wages from the over 150,000 workers over the past 20 years. Though researchers say the problem is likely much bigger since the government only investigates a small number of farm employers at one time. Many violations are also not reported due to workers’ immigration status. Recent research has found farmworkers have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic, yet many are forced to continue working in unsafe conditions. ---Economic Policy Institute
**In Minnesota, the Indigenous-led resistance against the construction of Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline continues. Recently, 22 protesters were arrested after they blocked equipment and refused to leave. ----Democracy Now
**The need for prayer warriors to sit in solidarity and in prayer will likely be ongoing over the next months. The Hildegard House is offering to coordinate small groups of Catholic workers to "go down to the river and pray". This space is literally right at the Mississippi River. The camp is just a little over an hour's drive from Duluth. They are coordinating hospitality and carpools out to the prayer site and asking people to stay for a few days or up to a week. They can accommodate 3 or 4 safely at Hildegard House, and it is COVID safe at the site where people would be outside. Bring warm clothes and food to take out to the site to eat while you are out there. Stop disregarding the treaty rights of several Ojibwe nations. Contact: stopline3.org and Hildegard House will coordinate a time for you to come.
**In November 2020, 413 Palestinians, including children, were abducted and detained by Israeli occupation forces. ---Human Rights Association and Samidoun
**The World Health Organization’s global plan for delivering COVID-19 vaccines to 91 poor and middle-income countries faces a “very high” risk of failure and could leave billions of people primarily in Africa, Asia and Latin America, with no access to vaccines until as late as 2024. Poverty will increase sharply in almost every country for the first time in decades unless immediate action is taken, as 2.7 billion people have not received any public financial assistance during the pandemic. The global number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has topped 74 million, with 1.6 million deaths. ----Oxfam
**The United Nations is warning a new wave of locust invasions is threatening food security for millions across the Horn of Africa and Yemen. Despite an international effort to counter the infestations, locust populations are still growing, fueled by last month’s devastating Cyclone Gati and other climate crisis-fueled weather conditions.
**Hungarian lawmakers have effectively barred same-sex couples from adopting children in Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s latest crackdown on LGBTQ rights in Hungary. -----Democracy Now
**There is a growing shared understanding that financing is a form of prohibited assistance. Here in Milwaukee, the Northwestern mutual life Insurance Company has $1,148,100,000 invested in companies that are part of the nuclear weapons industrial complex.- Boeing Industries, BAE Systems, Honeywell and more. ---Peace Action WI
**Number of children the Trump Administration separated from their parents at the border whose parents have yet to be located : 666 Estimated portion of those parents who have been deported without their children: 3,656. –Harpers
NOTES FROM 21ST STREET: “All people like us are We, and everyone else is They.” (Rudyard Kipling) I read the quotation at the beginning of Advent and have pondered on it ever since. In our society there appears a great split. Are the We people who look like Us think like Us? Do we inadvertently in our minds continuously have a We/They judgment going on? What does that do to our interactions? Christ’s life was lived mostly as a They. He was born in lowly circumstances. He did not hold a regular job. He gathered the outcasts to Him and told them they are loved. Forgiveness was given for past trespasses. I pray as we face the new year we can judge all humanity as We. To love, forgive and to work to make life good for all humanity can then be our calling. Thus all become We. Peace, Roberta
Friday Jan. 22. Observance of the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The march starts at noon at Northwestern Mutual headquarters- 700 E. Wisconsin Ave in Milwaukee Contact Nukewatch for more info. 715-472-4185
Monday, January 25 is International Day of Action to End War in Yemen. We ask individuals and organizations everywhere to call for protests — with masks and other safety precautions — in their towns and cities on that day.
For those of you with instagram, we have set up one for Casa Maria. Please follow us!
instagram.com/casamariacatholicworker