The Independent News Source
NCR on Kindle - NCR classifieds - YouTube - Twitter - Facebook - Email Alerts - RSS
Printer-friendly version
PDF versionFor Catholic Worker, life-giving work is a form of prayer
by Sr. Camille D'Arienzo on Dec. 27, 2011
Julia Occhiogrosso, 50, was the sixth of seven children born to Frank and Gloria Occhiogrosso. Her twin sister, Christa, followed her by 3 minutes.
Julia Occhiogrosso (Michael Wisniewski)Her parents, respected leaders in their local parish of St. Jerome in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, sent their children to its elementary school. And as owners and agents of Ideal World Travel, they could arrange trips for anyone to go anywhere in the world, taking particular delight in sending tourists to the Holy Land.
They could not have guessed that three of their daughters would journey across the country to live among the destitute served by Catholic Worker communities in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. These are lands made holy by those who devote themselves to serving society's homeless and hungry men, women and children.
Julia, what values did your parents instill in you?
My parents valued integrity. They led a life guided by Christian principles. They modeled hard work and contributed to the local community. They had a caring relationship with each other and commitment to the family. They provided solid ground, consistency and a loving, affectionate home.
How did your siblings influence you?
During my years at Edward R. Murrow High School, my eldest sister, Rosemary, was studying to be a nurse and working as a volunteer with the United Farmworkers in Delano, Calif. I was aware of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers movement because my two older siblings, Regina and Michael, were active with their local boycott in Brooklyn. I was 13 when I joined them on my first picket line.
Did anyone exert special influence on you?
Rosemary, through her letters describing her work with the poor in California. Her words, "We must never forget the poor," stayed inside me. While Regina and Michael had liberal political perspectives that certainly affected my formation, Rosemary was motivated by her Catholic faith. While Rosemary was in Delano, members of the L.A. Catholic Worker recruited her to administer their free clinic on Skid Row. In 1979, she joined the LACW community.
Subscribe to NCR
Want to read more about important issues in the life of the Church? A subscription to NCR will keep you up to date and informed.
What brought you there?
The summer my twin and I graduated from high school, our parents gave us airline tickets to visit Rosemary. Rather than opting for Disneyland and other tourist attractions, I was drawn to working in the soup kitchen. Little did my parents expect us to come home with a desire to join the Catholic Worker. Following that first summer, I returned to New York to attend SUNY Cortland. Throughout the year, I stayed in contact with Catherine Morris, an LACW leader. The next summer, Christa and I returned as volunteers.
Julia with volunteers making coffee for the soup line.Did some particular experience strengthen your resolve?
I remember tagging along with Mary Smith, a nurse in the community. We went door to door in the run-down Skid Row hotels. Mary spoke Spanish, informing the families about a summer project for children. We walked tenuously through darkened hallways, avoiding broken glass. The air reeked of urine. Peeking out from behind their moms were little children with dazed eyes. They seemed to wonder, "What can you do for me?" My heart knew in those moments that I was being invited to be with the poor. In 1982, I dropped out of SUNY and Christa left the New York School of Visual Arts. We lived and worked at the LACW until 1986.
Christa then left to pursue her degree as an art therapist. Rosemary moved on and I was commissioned to open the LACW's first sister house in Las Vegas, not far from the Nevada Nuclear Test Site, which we opposed.
How did you get started?
LACW volunteer Rick Chun spent six months with me. We hit the streets serving ice water to people in the streets. We asked what would best serve their needs. They wanted coffee and breakfast for the day laborers. This was the start of the morning soup line.
Did others join you?
For the first five years, different people came for six months to a few years. The lack of a consistent, long-term community was taking a toll on me. Just as I thought I needed a break, Gary Cavalier, whom I'd known at the LACW, joined me. We shared similar values. Gary brought insight, energy and creativity to the LVCW. His background in printing and publishing helped improve our newsletter, Manna. We were married in 1994.
How did that change your life?
Because I wanted a family, we adopted two boys. We moved out of the hospitality house with Gary commuting to run the projects. When the boys started school, I was able to spend more time at the Worker. We soon were running a grassroots interfaith program for homeless families, along with the Catholic Worker house.
Did the boys bring about any change in your commitments?
In 1996, we moved closer to a Montessori school run by a friend who accepted the boys without charge. When they approached adolescence, Cody and Nick began developing bipolar disorder and were reliving the psychological trauma of early childhood abuse and neglect. By the time they were 12 and 13, we were losing them to the streets. Many years at the Catholic Worker had shown us the pains of mental illness, but now it was in our home.
What happened next?
After they spent months in dangerously disturbing acting-out behaviors, I found a place in Colorado that understood what was happening and how to help our family. In the summer of 2010 we were granted a sabbatical leave to move to Colorado for the support and expertise needed to stabilize our sons.
Julia and Ricky Chun set up to serve on the street in Las Vegas.What happened at the LVCW?
The work continues. Just when we needed to leave, a couple that had spent a year in L.A. volunteered to take over. Gary commutes to Las Vegas. And day by day we work toward our sons' stability and independence. The older will be 18 in March. We've taken in three more foster sons and plan to return to the LVCW in a few years.
Julia, you've taken on some large challenges. Has any particular Scripture passage sustained you?
Different passages speak to me differently in different moments. The parable of loaves and fishes and Matthew 25, "Whatsoever you do to the least of these you do unto me," have special meaning for me. The paradoxes and metaphors found in Scripture show up often in my thoughts and they influence my writing.
What is your image of God?
I envision God incarnated in the dynamic of human relationships. I embrace my image of God when I'm able to revere both the wounds and sacredness in myself and others. In human relationships, we're given the privilege to engage in the give-and-take of a love that endures suffering, sacrifice and commitment, as well as a love that comforts, rejoices and hopes.
What about your faith is most meaningful to you?
Faithfulness to Jesus' message of radical love and forgiveness provides infinite possibilities toward personal and social transformation.
Who most influenced your belief system?
Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, co-founders of the Catholic Worker Movement. Other influences include Jeff Dietrich and Catherine Morris, who were my first mentors with the Catholic Worker and remain loyal friends.
Please explain.
I was in my 20s when I first joined the L.A. Catholic Worker community. It was a very exciting time for me. The work with the poor and nonviolent peace protests and living in community all felt right for me. But it was not until a couple years into it that I became interested in understanding the history, vision and principles that sustained the Catholic Worker lifestyle. Dorothy, Peter and all the early members of the Catholic Worker gave expression to a contemporary understanding of the Christian life that still inspires my journey.
Where did you feel most at home?
Surrounded by the love, friendship and support of my community and family.
Why?
The heart of the Catholic Worker mission revolves around the practice of the corporal Works of Mercy, and I have known the treasures and disappointments of attempting to follow this practice faithfully. It is this type of human engagement that continues to be a path of personal challenge, introspection and spiritual growth. For me, the practice of the Works of Mercy provides the opportunity to experience the power of God's love incarnate.
How do you bring your faith to the workplace?
Here in Colorado, I work with some of the most severely abused and neglected children in our society. Their need for healing requires much patience and understanding. They exhibit behaviors that would push the kindest of hearts to abandon them -- this is indeed part of their pathology. Jesus' witness of relentless persistence to the outcast "undeserving poor" is an enduring model for me. My faith in the presence of the Divine in even the most volatile and aggressive ones sustains me in this work.
How do you pray?
In many ways. I feel close to our Creator when I walk down a beautiful country road. In the same way, I know God's wonder and holiness in liturgical rites and communal prayer. Prayerful moments can come to me as I comfort a crying child or look in to the eyes of a man as I serve him a bowl of soup. Creative, life-giving work is a form of prayer for me.
What in contemporary Catholicism encourages or distresses you?
What distresses me about Catholicism is the misuse of power and the hierarchical structures that in many cases are antithetical to the Gospel model of love and service. What encourages me are the many, many ordinary people of faith who are guided and inspired by the powerful social teachings of the church.
What causes you sorrow?
I am filled with sorrow about injustice to the most vulnerable members of our society. Human suffering and destruction to creation causes me great pain.
What causes you joy?
I am filled with joy from friendships, community and holy work. The gift of beauty, especially from creation, fills me with joy.
[Mercy Sr. Camille D'Arienzo, broadcaster and author, has written a soon-to-be-published book titled Stories of Forgiveness.]
| We can send you an email alert every time Conversations with Sr. Camille is updated. Go to this page and follow directions: Email alert sign-up. If you already receive email alerts from us, click on the "update my profile" button to add Conversations with Sr. Camille to your list. |
[What in contemporary
[What in contemporary Catholicism encourages or distresses you?
What distresses me about Catholicism is the misuse of power and the hierarchical structures that in many cases are antithetical to the Gospel model of love and service. What encourages me are the many, many ordinary people of faith who are guided and inspired by the powerful social teachings of the church.]
Here is a suggestion for helping the poor in our Catholic Schools:
The key to the "New Evangelization" is: PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH. Or, to use the words of Pope Paul V1: "Modern people listen more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if they do listen to teachers, it is because they are Witnesses."
For an example, the following should apply to our Catholic Schools:
A "preferential option for the poor" should be maintained in our Catholic
Schools. If we find that we cannot afford to keep our schools open to the
poor, the schools should be closed and the resources used for something else which can be kept open to the poor. We cannot allow our Church to become a church primarily for the middle-class and rich while throwing a bone to the poor. The priority should be given to the poor even if we have to let the middle-class and rich fend for themselves.
Practically speaking, the Catholic Schools must close and the resources used for "Confraternity of Christian Doctrine" and other programs which can be kept open to the poor. Remember, the Church managed without Catholic Schools for centuries. We can get along without them today. The essential factor is to cultivate enough Faith to act in the Gospel Tradition. THE POOR GET PRIORITY. The rich and middle-class are welcome too. But the poor come first.
Shalom in YESHuallah Ha
Shalom in YESHuallah Ha MasiiH, Sister Joan, great interview! I've been aware of the Catholic Worker Movement for many decades and was finally able last March to open a small cottage I'm buying (and living in) in rural Illinois, near St. Louis, as the St. Isidore the Farmer CW Cottage of the St. Marcellus CW House(s) for Homeless Vets and Others. Our diocese was kind enough to grant us $450 for us to become registered as a non-profit by both Illinois and the IRS.
We can have up to four vets here at a time (we've only 5 beds). Two vets are here now, after two non-vets found another place to live. We expect to receive 2 other vets from among the 20 Homeless Vets that the Veterans Assistance Commissioner for Madison County says he has on the waiting list for housing. We also add to our charism something which many CW Houses had forgotten from Peter Maurin's program of cult, cultivation and culture -- a hoped for workshop in the form of a for-profit, 60% Employee-owned company: www.w-e-r-co.com and its hoped-for division: Veterans' Green Energy Co-Ops, to provide the dignity of at least part-time work to our guests who want to participate in it. Please look at our web-site for more info on our efforts.
I also have a strategic vision for Full Employment and Business Democracy (FEBDA), whose main planks can be summarized in the following:
"LET’S REVIVE the Reagan Era Bi-Partisan Strategy for the Ownership Society, as a Concrete Program towards the Non-Violent Economic Justice aimed for by the 99% Occupy Movement
Where nearly everyone, at least partly, owns their own job, via Tri-Partite Boards of Directors of enterprises having 100 or more workers (Revelation 16:19). (ART IV Section 4 of the US Constitution)
And their own home “under their own vine and their own fig-tree, with none to disturb them.” (Micah 4:4). (ART IV Section 4 of the US Constitution)
Tom Kuna-Jacob, BSFS, MA . Formerly running for US Congress as a Republican from the new 13th Congressional District for Illinois., or for US Senate. Currently running for Greene County, Illinois Board
The USA needs to lead the world to:
1) TRI-PARTITE BOARDS OF DIRECTORS of all For-Profit Enterprises having 100 or more employees (Revelation 16:19) (ART. IV § 4 of the US Constitution
1/3 Workers elected by workers in Secret Ballots;
1/3 Stockholders, elected by them in Secret Ballots;
1/3 Members of the General Public, Publicly appointed by Economic Councils of 9-99, elected by secret ballots cast by all residents aged 12 or above, for every township, city, county, State, Province, Nation and Multi-National Trading Zone where a given business have a facility. Top Paid Management or Staff or Stock or Bond-Holder Profits or Dividends cannot net for personal consumption more than 10 times the gross pay of the lowest paid worker in the enterprise, or in Government. These principles from the Catholic social teaching called Distributism and Subsidiarity, and ART. IV § 4 of the US Constitution.
2) Full-time Work-Week at 20-Hrs Work for 40-Hrs Pay, with the difference paid not by the employer, but by Earned-Income Credits(EICs), funded by a graduated surtax on personal incomes, and corporate profits (after all other taxes, costs of doing business, investments, depreciation, and donations) above $52,000 per adult or employee of the given business in real 2011 dollars (Exodus. 16:16) (See also: ART. IV § 4 of the US Constitution.
3) Constitutional Amendments:
a) mandating the “Our Father...”, the Full Pledge of allegiance; and the Singing of the Full National Anthem, the Full “God Bless America”, and the Full ”Battle Hymn of the Republic” at every public-school day. The Community and the Republic have rights and duties, too, not just individuals.
b) guaranteeing due process to every human from fertilization/conception to natural death
c) national, State and Local county pre-censorship boards to prevent the publication and/or distribution or broadcasting, by any type of media, of material which glorifies meaningless displays of violence (except where allowed by a licit religion) and/or of illicit sex, especially of sexuality associated with violence;
d) lowering the voting age to 12, 14, or 16, as each county may permit; raising the eligibility for Congress to 35; Senate to 45, and President to 55. Misdemeanor for failing to register or for failing to vote in general elections.
e) 2/3 majority of both US Houses to increase the debt limit; Presidential line-item veto; requiring the current accounts budget to be balanced.
f) allowing the term “marriage” only for a promissory life-long union of one man and one
woman; but “domestic-unions” for up to 8 bi-sexuals or heterosexuals, provided at least one is of naturally occurring opposite gender; and “civil unions” for up to seven of same-gender. (Isaiah 4:1) Outlawing transgender surgery. (Isaiah 56:3)
ILLINOIS PRIMARY ELECTIONS TUESDAY MARCH 20TH 2012. Voting is your right and your privilege
Post new comment