SPRING 2011

SPRING CLEANING TIME!

This spring, we at the St. Francis Catholic Worker, took stock of the contents of our storage shed, and, well, friends,
we discovered that we had ourselves a mess. From the left over paint cans from various projects, to items left behind by
former community members, to those old mattresses that we thought we would store for a few months back when we began
out renovations in—now what was that year again? In any event, we found that we had no idea what we actually had in those
sheds, or how long it had been there.
Luckily, the Newman Volunteer Corps from St. Thomas More Newman Center sent us some able volunteers, and we
rented a dumpster from the City and voila! We sorted, tossed and re-arranged all manner of things. We took several carloads
of items, such as clothing donations that our guests had not appropriated, to the Goodwill and the Salvation Army thrift stores.
Food that had expired more than the typical CW allowance (some had expiration dates from a previous century) was removed
from the shelves. Items that had been subjected to the elements for too long were thrown away. We collected the paint cans
and old tires for more environmentally friendly disposal.

While we hate to see

things hit the landfill without
good cause, sometimes it’s
a good thing to reduce the
clutter and get rid of stuff
that we don’t need. The
volunteers worked in nice
weather on Saturday, but we
had more than one dumpster
load, so on Monday, the city
emptied the dumpster and
returned it so we could clear
out a little more. Monday’s
weather was not so kind, but
community members Jake
Garanzini (left) and Britt
Hultgren (right) finished the
job in the snow.
 One Thought on Community
By Britt Hultgren
"What do you mean you don't know who's in
charge?" The man seemed partly upset, though I could
tell he was mostly just bewildered.
"Well..." I started. "I didn't say that, exactly; I said
that nobody here really is in charge. I mean, we are all in
charge. And none of us are. Exactly."
He tipped his head sideways like a curious bird--
he was baffled. I was reminded of a Buddhist sentiment: I
am not the Buddha, therefore I am the Buddha. None of
us are the Buddha, therefore we are all the Buddha.
"I guess Steve might be the most not in charge.
Hold on just one second."
I retreated up the stairs to ask Steve once again
how I should be doing things. It was only my first day, and
I must have already pestered him a dozen times. I
straightened my back and knocked on his door.
The response he gave me then is similar to the
one that he would give me now, two months later: rather
than telling me rules and regulations defined by the
authority of any single person or system, he gave me with
the best available information, and then empowered me
make a decision. That night, equipped with Steve's
sagacious wisdom, I decided that the man could indeed
have an extra handful of cough drops. Though a small
decision like this may seem inconsequential, I think it
serves as a good example of how the leaderless St.
Francis Community works. I think in this case, it's all about
the scale.
When I joined the Catholic Worker in January of
2011, I didn't understand very well how things functioned
(I still like to think that I don't know what's going on--it
gives me wiggle room when William starts pushing me
around). Truth be told, I didn't know much about the
Catholic Worker Movement, and my primary motivation
were simply the ideals of mercy and distribution of basic
kindnesses. On the first day, I learned about the link-less
chain of command we have here. Where are the combat
boots and spray-painted jean jackets and graffiti? In the
past two months, I've been able to see how the St. Francis
community steps outside of the typical anarchist vogue
and functions well without the traditional organizational
structure.
Many people have asked me how the
organization hierarchy at St. Francis operates. I tell them
that we simply do, and we do so simply. "In a small scale--
they work great. I really think we all pitch-in to at least the
level that we think is fair, and things get done. Things
work. At a scale much larger, I have my doubts about the
functionality of anarchy." But isn't that the point? At a
recent house meeting, we discussed plans for a
necessary kitchen remodel. Someone suggested that we
install a commercial dishwasher, because it would be more
sanitary. Ultimately, we decided against the dishwasher,
because of what it represented. If we made a shift toward
more institutional tools, our community would take on an
institutional feel. It would feel bigger, even if it didn't
necessarily grow bigger. I think this fierce resistance to the
lust for scale is necessary for the St. Francis House.
We don't need "Senior" or "Chief" community
members. The small-scale community works with the
anarchist structure in which everything gets done according
to the commitment of each member, and the trust and
responsibility that each member has placed in the other.
I will be learning more about the Catholic Worker
Movement until the day I die. I am ever impressed with
history and development of the movement, and I am eager
to participate in my own capacity. It is my hope that
someday, somewhere, I, too, will have a young community
member pounding on my door, asking for advice from the
community member who is the most not in charge.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Thank you!
We at the St. Francis Catholic Worker would
like to extend a special Thank You to the
family of the late Herbert Sauer for your
generous gift to us. Peace be with you.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Can You Give Us a Lift?
By Missy Parker
Are any of our wonderful benefactors interested in
updating your automobiles? We at St... Francis House are in
desperate need of a good used car. Our current mode of
transportation is an early 90’s 9 passenger van. With gas
prices what they are and how steeply they are predicted to
rise, it has become impractical to use” the barge” for regular
daily errands. While it is still handy to have around for those
occasions where we need to transport donated items or to
pack full of community members when we travel to meetings
and the occasional Catholic Worker gathering, we miss
having something more efficient for regular use.
Once again, we ask for your help. We don’t care
about color, body style or anything fancy; we just need
something smaller and in good working condition for
transporting community members and guests when
motorized transportation is required.
If you would like to donate a gently used, more fuel
efficient vehicle that would enable us to spend less on car
repair and fuel, please call Steve at 875-4913, Ruth at 443-
1927, or Missy at 239-3960.
We want to thank you all again for your generous
support and please keep us and our guests in your prayers.
 On the Res
By Jake Garanzini
Over my spring break this March I volunteered
with Habitat for Humanity on the Cheyene River Sioux
Reservation in South Dakota. I went with a group of
students from Mizzou (University of Missouri) through the
Alternative Spring Break program. While there we worked
on repairs on one house for the week. We replaced the
original carpeting with new wood flooring, repaired a
staircase, re-taped the ceiling and put in a new door which
would provide better insulation than the house’s current
door.
Jake and friends install a new floor
The housing development we worked in was built
in the mid-nineties; all twenty-one houses were built in a
single week by Habitat for Humanity. Clearly quality
craftsmanship was their aim. But at least they got some
houses built. The division of Habitat for Humanity that we
worked with was the Okiciyapi Tipi Habitat, it is one of the
few Habitats that work with or are run by Native
Americans. Housing is still a problem on the reservation.
Many people live hours away from towns and most job
possibilities, limiting people’s ability to take most part time
jobs. Poverty is prevalent through out the reservation as is
drug and alcohol abuse. The Reservation is located in two
of the poorest counties of the country; one was the
poorest in 2000 while the other was the fourth poorest.
Complicating all these issues is an astronomical
unemployment rate of 78 percent.
While traveling throughout the city of Eagle Butte
and the surrounding reservation, signs and sights of
poverty prevail, from run down dilapidated houses to
homelessness, to a cultural center with a perpetually leaky
roof. The tribal government lacks the funds to fix one of its
3
few buildings. Poverty seems to nearly define life on the
reservation for most the Lakota Indians that I met. If
someone is lucky enough to be one of the few not living in
poverty they are actively trying to help other people on the
reservation get out of poverty.
Jake on Spring Break at the Res
Though there is aid and some people willing to
help, these are often nothing more than acts of charity.
Justice is needed to fight inequalities of all types, hundreds
of years of unjust government laws and policies were not
corrected they were just stopped after an unjust social order
had already been created. Personalism by organizations that
can provide job training or other education would also be
helpful. But what may need to be changed most and where
personalism is pivotal, is simply the fact that the poverty of
this community and ones like it remain relatively ignored by
most of America. These thousands of men, women and
children live out of our sight and out of our thoughts and
prayers.
Thousands of Catholic Americans gather with
others in protest over injustices suffered by native peoples in
Latin America at SOA and elsewhere. The injustices on the
Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation may be less violent and
deadly, but if we choose to stand against injustice we must
find ways to face the injustices suffered by America’s native
peoples.
 Social Uplift vs. Spiritual Doom?
By Ruth O’Neill
"A nation that continues year after year to spend more
money on military defense than on programs of social
uplift is approaching spiritual doom." ~Rev. Martin Luther
King, Jr.
In noisy debates raging in the Statehouses and the
Congress, the loudest shouters demand cuts in what Dr.
King called “programs of social uplift.” Medicaid,
Medicare, Social Security, child nutrition, education:
names knitted into a list for the guillotine. Today’s troupe
of Madame DeFarges goes by names like Tea Partiers
and Deficit Hawks, yet they appear to rejoice at the blood
on their hands. The guillotine itself, our military industrial
war machine, remains well-oiled and well fed. Meanwhile,
the poor beg for bread and the formerly middle class
grasp desperately at the lives they thought they could
protect by placing their faith, not in God, but in their
401(k)s.
How can they attempt to balance budgets on the backs
of the poor while spending big money on the military?
We’ve been fighting two wars for almost a decade, and
have embroiled ourselves in at least one more, cordoning
off the skies above Libya, and bombing Libyans on the
ground.
The Works of War abound. They encompass not only
bombings and troop deployments, but also the War on the
Poor here and around the world.
At the Catholic Worker, we follow the example of
Dorothy Day, a pacifist and an activist who sided with
workers. We follow the example of Peter Maurin, who
believed that we need to create a world where it is easier
to be good. We believe God calls us to implement
corporal and spiritual works of mercy in our daily lives.
To that end, we live simply, in solidarity with poor and
homeless folk. Our hospitality centers our lives, but it is
not all we do. You see, we Catholic Workers not only try to
help those in immediate distress, through those “charitable
works” Catholics call the 7 Corporal Works of Mercy. We
are also called to identify and work to repair the social
structures that allow the powerless to suffer distress in the
first place; those are the 7 Spiritual Works of Mercy. We
comfort the afflicted, to be sure, but that is not enough,
unless we also do those acts that afflict the comfortable.
These spiritual works of mercy may be less popular, and
some of them are mighty hard for us as well, but charity
without justice is not our aim.
The 7 Spiritual Works of Mercy are: instructing the
uninformed, advising the doubtful, converting sinners,
comforting the afflicted, bearing wrongs patiently, forgiving
injuries and praying for all people, living or dead. When
4
Catholic Workers protest against war or advocate for social
change, we hope that we are instructing those who may not
be aware of these issues. We hope to persuade some who
are uncertain to take the side of the poor in these issues.
We certainly hope to change the hearts of some of the
architects of society’s structural sins.
When we speak out about policies and practices that
dehumanize and oppress human beings, we believe that we
are acting out the spiritual works of mercy. The most
heinous of these policies and practices are truly the works of
actual, bomb-dropping, all out war, like those the US is
waging in Afghanistan, Iraq and now Libya. We believe that
if we fail to speak out, we are complicit in the slide into
spiritual doom Dr. King warned about.
We do NOT believe that government programs of social
uplift are the means of bringing peace. We do, however,
prefer programs that build people up to programs that grind
people down. We believe war is never the solution, no
matter what the problem is. As Peter Maurin observed,
“…everybody prepared for war but war
preparations did not bring peace; they brought war.
Since war preparations brought war, why not quit
preparing for war? If nations [are] preparing for
peace instead of preparing for war, they might
have peace.”
It may seem easy to protest. Protesters are criticized for
“only” being “against” war. That is valid, as merely being
against war and other injustices is not enough.
We try to act “for” justice and “for” doing the difficult
work of forging lasting and liberating relationships between
those in conflict. We act “for” the self determination of
peoples who seek to overcome oppression and build their
new societies out of the remnants of the old one, even when
their vision differs from the vision our government believes
would be “good” for them. The hard part is to encounter
injustice, and take a risk that we can do something about it,
even something that by itself seems small.
We risk the disapproval of those who like us when we
feed the hungry, but become uncomfortable when we ask
why the poor have no food, and ask further why the lives of
poor people on the other side of the world are not just as
valuable as the lives of powerful people in our own country.
We ask why, if the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness are inalienable for North Americans, they should
be any less so for others. We try our best to see the face of
Christ, in senators and stockbrokers, although it often seems
easier to see Him in the faces of Afghani children maimed by
our bombs, or in nonviolent protesters from Sanaa, Yemen
to Madison, Wisconsin. We perform the works of mercy as
our means of social uplift; we speak out against war and
injustice to stave off our own spiritual doom.
 QUOTE CORNER
““We are the nation the most powerful, the most
armed and we are supplying arms and money to
the rest of the world where we are not ourselves
fighting. We are eating while there is famine in the
world.”” ––Dorothy Day
"The future will be different if we make the present
different." - Peter Maurin
““There are many ‘‘little Katrina’’ disasters across
the nation where the poor are ignored and are left
out of society. Society deems poverty a stigma but
those trapped in poverty don’’t have choices. They
cannot move out of the whirlpool of poor education,
poor employment opportunities and prevalence of
crime in their neighborhoods.””——Sr. Helen Prejean.
““One is called to live nonviolently, even if the
change one works for seems impossible.””--
Daniel Berrigan
““How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single
moment before starting to improve the world.”” ~
Anne Frank
““Finally, remember that we cannot give what we do
not have. If we do not love ourselves, we will be
hard pressed to love others. If we are not just with
ourselves, we will find it very difficult to look for
justice with others. In order to become and remain
a social justice advocate, you must live a healthy
life. Take care of yourself as well as others. Invest
in yourself as well as in others. No one can build a
house of justice on a foundation of injustice. Love
yourself and be just to yourself and do the same
with others. As you become a social justice
advocate, you will experience joy, inspiration and
love in abundant measure." —— Bill Quigley
Happiness is a baby sister——Rusty Cattledog
5
WHERE’S STEVE JACOBS?
Steve Jacobs spent several weeks visiting our
European Catholic Worker “cousins” in England, Ireland and
Germany, so he doesn’t have an article in this edition. I am
sure he will make up for it in the next newsletter, so stay
tuned to learn more about his adventures abroad. We know
he has been attending CW gatherings and playing music.
We hear he participated in an interesting action in London
on Good Friday. In the meantime, we found this photo to
prove he is spending his time in interesting company.
Left to right: New York Catholic Worker Carmen Trotta, Irish
musician Joe Black, human rights attorney Gareth Peirce,
Irish-Australian Catholic Worker at large Ciaron O’Reilly,
Des Moines Catholic Worker Frank Cordaro and our own
Steve Jacobs at a “mini concert” on the back deck of Gareth
Peirce’s London office. Peirce is a human rights lawyer
who has defended Irish and Muslim persons accused in
terrorism cases in the UK. (She is the defense attorney
portrayed in the movie “In the Name of the Father.”}
Joe Black was in London for a “Free Bradley Manning”
benefit concert at the Guisseppe Conlon Catholic Worker
house, and gave this mini-concert because Gareth couldn’t
attend the main event. [Photo courtesy of Phil Berrigan
House.]
Connected, Committed Catholic Workers,
Now Online
Can’t get enough Harvest of Justice? Wanna
revisit those old stories, but you’ve recycled the old
issues? Just curious about some other stuff we do at
the St. Francis Catholic Worker? You can check us out
on the web at
http://columbiacatholicworker.blogspot.com.
Even more amazing: you can follow St. Francis House
on Facebook, too.
 Loaves and Fishes
Soup Kitchen Update
Those of you who volunteer your time and talent
to benefit Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen will soon be
seeing another improvement to our space. Thanks to the
generous efforts of the Newman Center’s Catholic Student
Association, we will soon be purchasing a new, larger
refrigerator for the kitchen. CSA chooses a local
charitable group each year as the beneficiary of the funds
they raise during Newman Week, and this year Loaves
and Fishes was the lucky recipient. Newman Week
activities included service opportunities, the Fire and Ice
Ball, t-shirt sales and a musical show written and
performed by the students.
Another news item for the soup kitchen: we want
to welcome several new volunteer groups who had agreed
to provide and serve meals for us. We had lost a few
groups over the last year or so, but now have volunteer
groups in place for all nights. Welcome to The Crossing,
the Restoration Branch, Columbia Hope Episcopal and
Fairview United Methodist Church groups. Thanks to all
of you and to all our continuing volunteers. We couldn’t
feed the hungry in Columbia without you.
Finally, we are involved in a group named the
“Day Center Task Force” which is looking to find a larger
location for the Interfaith Day Drop-In Center. As many of
you know, the Day Center operates Monday through
Friday in our Loaves and Fishes space. Because of this
shared use of space we are able to share the expenses of
operating the soup kitchen with the Interfaith Council.
Loaves and Fishes, which also need more space, has
been invited to work with the Day Center Task Force in
order to find a place that we can continue to share.
Location, funding and size of facility are all bridges that
must be crossed, but we are hopeful that this task force
will succeed in finding a new, larger location that is still
convenient and accessible to those who most need our
services. We will keep you posted.
In Memoriam
Please pray for our friends, supporters and former guests
who have died, including Herbert Sauer, Pauline
Hopsinkinion, Jerry Schneider and John Franz.
HOUSE AND SOUP KITCHEN NEEDS
Sugar, Coffee, Tea, milk, fresh or canned fruits and
vegetables, dry pasta, rice, spoons, forks, new front steps
and wheelchair ramp, men’s socks and underwear,
pillows, a vehicle, bus passes, duffel bags, back packs,
financial donations, volunteers and as always, your
thoughts and prayers.
6
Lois Bryant House Update
As some of you know, we’ve struggled with how to
best provide hospitality at the Lois Bryant House for the past
couple of years. However, now that we have increased the
number of community members living here on Rangeline
Street, we are again able to offer longer term hospitality to
women as well as possible emergency shelter to women
with children.
We spent some time providing short term
emergency shelter, but found that this arrangement doesn’t
really meet the needs of the women who contact us or show
up on our doorstep looking for a place to stay. The economy
has really dried up other transitional housing resources here
in Columbia, and elsewhere. We are glad to be able to be
present to women who have no where else to turn.
As of this writing, we are sharing our home with two
women. One of them just started a new job for $8 an hour.
She has to drive around town as part of her duties but is not
compensated for mileage or gasoline. Our other guest has
been looking for work for several months. She is
overqualified for many of the jobs she applies for but there
are so many people out of work these days, so it is a
struggle to find something.
Seeing these women struggle brings home how
close most folks are to homelessness. While for some the
edge is nearer due to addiction or mental health issues,
more and more “middle class” folks are receiving eviction
notices and running out of unemployment benefits. Three to
10 days of shelter is not enough to fill the gap for them, so
we are opening our space to longer stays.
While we will continue to attempt to find places for
women needing long term solutions or who require
assistance we can’t provide, (such as women needed
substance abuse treatment or women fleeing abuse)we
have decided that we need to be available for more than a
few days in order to provide true hospitality to women in
need.
 Welcoming the Stranger-- Into Our Community
By Robby Jones
There is a new community member at St. Francis—his name is Franky. Franky doesn’t do much resistance work or
subversive protesting, aside from the occasional bark demanding a walk or meal, but he does enthusiastically embody the
hospitality aspect of the
Catholic Worker Movement.
He always welcomes our
guests, old and new alike, with
unconditional love and copious
amounts of slobber.
Franky’s self-evident
empathy is so expansive
because, like our guests, he
himself was once homeless—
found along the side of the
road, emaciated and old and
alone. Now, instead of
wandering the streets, Franky,
wanders a warm and inviting
home—greeting our guests,
bringing joy to our lives, and
reminding us all that there is
hope for all to someday find
community, humans and non-
humans alike.

St. Francis Catholic Worker

1001 Rangeline
Columbia, MO 65201

(Donations may be sent to the above address)