THE

LITTLE

WAY

The publication of The Community of the Franciscan Way,

a Catholic Worker in the The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina.

Vol. V, No. 5

The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ 25 December 2015

Building
Relationships

Helping Someone that

is Trying to Kill You

Page 4

Page 6

Farming Communes
Page 9

Now the Lord said to Abram, Go

to the land that I will show you.
Tyler Hambley - Catholic Worker, CFW, Pittsboro, NC
and Youth Minister, Church of the Holy Family, Chapel Hill, NC
Over the last year-and-a-half, The Community
Still, given all this, you could be forgiven for
of the Franciscan Way adapted to many shifting bracing for one of those sadly-now-it-must-end lines:
circumstances. Close friends and housemates moved Well, folks, it was fun while it lasted, but now its
away; three community houses consolidated into time to close up shop. Actually, we would like to
one; the second floor of the Maurin House was announce just the opposite! Beyond merely
renovated over six months; and the rapid surviving this lean and mean yearas we jokingly
redevelopment of our 9th Street neighborhood refer to itour prayer and work flourished, even
changed the landscape. Meanwhile, the vagaries of yielding a long awaited piece of the Catholic Worker
Catholic Worker lifeits heightened celebrations, vision. We write to celebrate this development with
challenges,
and
disappointmentsremained youour readersand to request your continued
constant. Oh and somewhere along the way, two prayers and support.
weddings happened, three babies were born, and
The Catholic Worker has always been
another little one is due soon and very soon! Yet even committed to three vehicles that witness to the
as the space literally constricted around us, we Gospel: houses of hospitality, clarifications of
continued to pray the Daily Office and perform the thought, and farming communes or agronomic
Works of Mercy, ever hopeful that, perhaps one day, universities. Having done the first with some
we might find fresh ground from which to make this competency, we began to get traction towards a
way of life more than a temporary, fragile exercise.
farming commune last spring. A farm is a place
where our families can establish permanent roots
(continued on p. 2)

The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ 2015

and welcome additional children among our

permanent residents and temporary guests. It also
makes good work available for our bodies that is at
the heart of monastic lifeora et labora being the
simple rhythm of Christian communities for
millennia. Consequently, a farm enriches our
hospitality with the poor by not only allowing us to
share the gifts of shelter and food, as has been the
case at the Peter Maurin House, but also by
allowing us to share the gift of good, life-giving
work to do, thereby cultivating a deeper household
economy where the differences between scholar
and worker, rich and poor, black and white, young
and old are taken up into, and celebrated within,
the Body of Christ.
Its
worth
pausing
here
to
reflect
on
this
particular notion of
work. As Catholic
Workers, were used
to getting asked if
certain of our poor
friends have jobs
yet. However, weve
learned
to
be
suspicious of this
question because
lets be honestits
too often laced with
the assumption that
only an upwardly
mobile life is a life worth living. In fact, the poor
have taught us differently, that most of the things
we pursue are unnecessary at best and idolatrous
at worst. Perhaps it is better to spend ones life
drinking 40oz beers all day than to have a career
working for a company that perpetuates systemic
evil. And yet, such a dichotomy, while rhetorically
helpful for our usual brand of polemic, is a false
one: both scenarios illustrate the deep brokenness
(though in very different ways) of our modern
industrial society. And so while we resist trying to
do anything to change our poor friends,
especially when that doing often looks like an
2

impersonal program ordered toward rehabbing

the poor back into the production/consumption
cycles of the American middle-class, we also dont
want to withhold from them (or ourselves for that
matter) the gift of work that is truly redemptive
and convivial. After all, the work of a farming
commune is not for the purposes of production for
productions sake, but rather for the literal
sustaining of our lives-shared-in-common. There is
firewood to cut, vegetables to harvest, food to cook,
dishes to clean, and animals to feedall so that we
can collectively and intimately live together as a
family. And so, while it is a good thing to rent a
house for a poor man or woman, and perhaps
better still to live in
that house with that
person,
were
discovering that its
best to seek a life of
i n t i m a t e
interdependence
with the poor.
N a t u r a l l y,
questions
of
resentment on the
one hand and power
dynamics on the
other inevitably arise.
These
are
all
appropriate. We do
our best to celebrate
the very different gifts
we all have, to practice good confrontations, to
always welcome outsiders to interrogate how we
live (some of you have played that role), but most
importantly, we submit ourselves to prayer so that
the household culture we cultivate is one faithful to
the power of the one who emptied himself a la
Philippians 2:5-11. Power, then is something we
often find ourselves laying down or sharing. Such
praying has made it such that there is no me
separable from this particular communitys we.
If any one of us suffers, we all suffer. If any one of
us rejoices, we all rejoice! We humans are not
complete without that form of communion!
(continued on p. 3)

The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ 2015

An invitation to better realize this ecology of Peter

Maurins cult-culture-cultivation vision has arisen
out of our twice-weekly work days at Granite
Springs Farm, an organic farm in Chatham County
run by Meredith Leight, a long-time parishioner of
Church of the Holy Family, Chapel Hill. The CFW
moved to Granite Springs Farm on December 4th,
2015. There, we continue to pray the Daily Office,
practice the rhythms of hospitality, offer regular
community meals, and, now, were picking up the
skills of organic farming. This includes both the
Hambley and Sroka families, three other former
residents of the Maurin House, plus one gentleman
who was just recently living outside at St. Josephs
Episcopal Church. Three of the five bedrooms at
the farm are being used as Christ Rooms for our
current housemates and/or other poor folk we
meet in rural Pittsboro. Meanwhile, the Miller
family will remain in Durham, and have personally
rented a two-bedroom house for Concrete. Fr. Colin
is now transitioning to the Roman Catholic Church

by way of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of

St. Peter. As a result, a change in formal leadership
of the CFW was requested by all three families and
approved by the Bishop: Fr. Clarke French (Rector,
Church of the Holy Family, Chapel Hill) is our
clergy advisor, and Tyler Hambley and Joe Sroka
are the Lay Co-Missioners.

Thank you again for your prayers and
support. We look forward to welcoming you out to
The Community of the Franciscan Way at Granite
Springs Farm. As with previous iterations of the
CFW, this comes with both celebration and lament.
Even while we remain connectedthough in new
waysto Durham, St. Josephs Episcopal Church,
the Millers, and our many other homeless friends,
we will miss the old paHerns in and around Iredell
Street. And yet, we believe those very same
paHerns have yielded a new land, a new place, and
an old calling: Go to the land that I will show
you.+

SMART PHONE?
The idols of the heathen are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but they cannot speak;
eyes have they, but they cannot see;
They have ears, but they cannot hear;
noses; but they cannot smell;
They have hands, but they cannot feel;
feet, but they cannot walk;
they make no sound with their throat.
Those who make them are like them,
and so are all who put their trust in them.
Psalms 115:4-8 and 135:15-18

Credit: Manu Cornet

The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ 2015

"3

Building Relationships
The Rev. Timothy Callow
Newberry and Engadine United Methodist Churches, Newberry and Engadine, MI

I am done building relationships.

with my friends, my family, my dog, my local
Now, this may seem foolish; I am, after all,
government, and my computer. I even have a
a pastor in The United Methodist Church. Im
relationship with myself. So Id be spitting
told that the path to renewed vitality is to build
against the wind if relationships were the issue.
relationships. One of my colleagues confided to
It is not relationships that I have trouble with: its
me that he has bought over two hundred dollars
the sort of relationship that I get to build.
worth of books on church
Building
a
relationship
renewal and church vitality and
implies more than intentionality,
they all tell him to build
it also implies a managed
relationships with those outside
process with guaranteed results.
the church. So if I refuse to
In other words, once I set out to
build
relationships,
Im
build a relationship the only
rejecting what seems to be the
place where I can go wrong is in
consensus opinion in church
the planning. One may build a
renewal. Ive heard the same
relationship in this way with a
message at conferences and at
school, or a social agency, or the
church gatherings and Ive even
local chamber of commerce. All
had a mentor tell me that our
it takes to build that relationship
vocation
is
all
about
is a phone call and a lunch. As
relationships. If Im not up to
we continue to partner together
the
task
of
building
for our clients we come to trust
relationships, perhaps Ive put
each other more and the
myself out of a job.
partnership
extends
and
I am not, however, done
continues. Perhaps we should
with relationships themselves. I
share members on each others
am only done with building
boards, so we can better
them. Its hard to be done with
coordinate our efforts.
We
relationships themselves when
would say, then, that it builds.
the word is so plastic it has no
Lets call this partnership.
clear meaning. By plastic Im
I
have
helped
build
Credit: Ade Bethune
referring to Uwe Poerksens
partnerships with schools, but
identification of plastic words, or modular
I have never built a friendship with one. A
language. Plastic words do not derive any
friendship can only take place between two or
meaning from their context, and are without
more persons. I cannot be a friend with my
substance. These words are borrowed from the
computer, as my computer cannot show affection
realm of science but lack the precise meaning
to me. Friendships are extended, and accepted or
they would have in a scientific setting. Plastic
rejected. If they are accepted then they have
words do retain the authority of science and the
opportunity to grow. In my case friendships tend
connotation of importance. Relationship is a
to flourish by accident, not because I made the
plastic word because of its empty meaning but
necessary plans.
(continued on p. 5)
strong connotation. I can have a relationship
"
4

The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ 2015

Friendship finds itself in the flowering of affection that may one day bear the fruit of Christian charity. That
is, that we would will with one will what God wills for us.
These two thingspartnerships and friendshipsare two very different sorts of relationships. But
when we say that we must build relationships the two become conflated. This is the character of the
worlds plasticity. Many people, when they hear relationship, imagine the flowering of friendship, and
certainly friendship is a possibility. But in practice partnerships are formed, and these partnerships are not
the task of the Church. The danger is that we will form partnerships with systems, and build the
relationship of client with the poor. Why else would we form a partnership if it were not to mutually
benefit our clients? And a client relationship is a relationship wherein we maintain the power to serve those
who lack material resources by efficiently distributing those resources. Neither is the peculiar task of the
Church. Neither are the sort of relationship made possible by Christs blood.
In The Externally Focused Church, Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson have a chapter on relationships called
Nothing Happens Outside of Relationships. They open the chapter with a moving account of how the
early Church personally served the poor, and sick, and outcast at a sacrifice. They then pivot to the modern
day where they illustrate examples of relationship building, one church works with the fire station, and
another church works with the school. The book moves from agape to partnership. It can do this because the
word relationship is so plastic that it can subsume both meanings. But when we fail to be specific, it is the
world of the partnership that wins.

Credit: Fritz Eichenberg

So yes, I am done with building relationships. I am done with building relationships because Jesus
Christ did not build a relationship with humanity. Rather, in the fullness of time Our Lord was born from a
woman, suffering the indignity of human birth, that he might extend his hand in friendship to those who
have eyes to see and ears to hear. He gave himself for us, and in imitation we ought to give to others at a
personal sacrifice. When we build relationships with schools and make the poor our clients, we fail to
cultivate the sort of friendships made possible in the body of Christ, the friendship modeled for us in the
Eucharist. Jesus did not make us his clients, he did not make us his partners, but instead he calls us friends.
I have called you friends (John 15:15).+

The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ 2015

"5

The worst is trying to help somebody thats trying to kill you

Tyler Hambley - Catholic Worker, CFW, Pittsboro, NC
and Youth Minister, Church of the Holy Family, Chapel Hill, NC
A homily on the occasion of Fr. Colins
final celebration of the Holy Eucharist
at St. Clare Chapel 20 November 2015
Well, this will be the last celebration of the
6:25am Mass here at St. Clare Chapel in the Peter
Maurin Catholic Worker House. Even to say that
comes with a great sense of sadness. It is, at the
very least, bittersweet: bitter because we are
leaving, heading in new directions; sweet because
those new directions were
nurtured
under
the
candlelight of this place.
For the last three-and-ahalf years we have
gathered here time and
again to do no less than
worship almighty God.
Here, we have tasted and
seen that our Lord is
good.
As
Fr.
Justin
Fletcher has said, We
Christians worship God
for no reason. That is to
say, worship is not a
means to some other end.
It is not a program for
self-improvement. It does
not bolster some ideology of social justice, nor is it
merely the tag along to something called
hospitality. In fact, it is a misnomer to call this
place a hospitality house; it is first and foremost, a
place of worship. You see, worship is itself the
beginning and end of the Christian journey. We
were created to adore God.
Now, it just so happens that if one submits
their life to prayer and worship in this way, certain
other things usually follow suit, even if a bit
indirectly.
For though Christian worship is
primary, and though it takes us up into a different
kind of time and space, it is not a self-contained
"
6

vacuum. After all, we are people sitting here, and

people are bodily creatures who think, move, and
act in accordance with their desires. So if those
desires have been shaped in a certain way over
time in a worship setting such as this, then one
cannot help but leave here a different kind of agent
in this world. One will start to love the things God
loves. Around here, we call that kind of person a
liturgical agent.
Well, there is one such
liturgical agent sitting
here today whom we
would like to recognize
and thank. Fr. Colin you
have led us back to this
place time and again.
And because of that, our
lives
have
been
transformed.
Not
influenced. Not slightly
altered.
Transformed!
How does one avoid
getting sentimental here?
After all, Fr. Colin is one
of the least sentimental
people I know (at least,
ostensibly). So without
throwing
too
many
superlatives at him (thats an inside joke), I thought
we might retell a few Colinisms:
Major in the majors, minor in the
minors.
God has plenty of money.
Eh, itll all come out in the wash.
Well, you dont need it.
Behold, the Lamb of God!
That last one was, of course, a reference to
Concrete. And if Colin is uncomfortable being in
the spotlight here, Im about to give him some
company.
(continued on p. 7)
The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ 2015

You see we cant laud Colin without recognizing

his friendship with Crete.
Fr. Colin began a friendship with "Crete" up
at St. Joseph's around 9 or 10 years ago. While still
in grad school, Colin prayed the Daily Office at St.
Joe's, and as a result, the church's prayers led him
to get to know some of the homeless folks hanging
out around the church. Concrete, who has a rather
hard-looking exterior, surprised Colin with his
extreme generosity, selfless spirit, and cryptic but
prophetic language. In the years since, many of us
have also become friends with Concrete. We refer
to him as the "Saint" or the "Lamb of God" because
of the way he mediates the charity of Christ to all
of us. Crete is someone who will fold your
laundry for you without you ever knowing he did
it (I've caught him in the act, though, several
times). Beyond that, he always reminds us that we
remain stuck in a system that constantly tries to
"kill him" in dubious ways. It's no exaggeration to
say Concrete has been the central figure of the
CFW for the past eight years.
Well, because we are moving out to the
farm, Crete has chosen to stay in Durham. This is
mostly because he's lived in Durham his whole life
and he has friends and relationships here that
stretch far beyond the CFW. For me personally,
losing Concrete as a housemate is a tremendous
sadness, but I also know that God's abundance
stretches far beyond the walls of the Maurin
House, both for me and for Concrete. We will
remain life-long friends.
Colin, you have taught us that what we do
around here, as quaint as it may seem to an
outsider, is no less than fighting the demons of our
modern world.
Related to that, but more
importantly, your prayer and worship has given
you the eyes to see Concrete, and to behold him as
the Lamb of God. In so doing, you have invited
us into those same rhythms of worship, and,
consequently, to share a friendship with Concrete.
For that, we are all deeply grateful!
Last night I overheard Crete say, The worst
is trying to help somebody thats trying to kill
you. Well, as we all know, thats a reference both
The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ 2015

to his other homeless friends as well as to those of

us privileged folk whose souls Crete is trying to
save. It is a sobering statement because it keeps us
from thinking we have finally made it in holiness.
Far from the truth! We have only just begun to
recognize the depth of our violence to the poor.
And yet, Cretes line is also a great comfort, for
even though we participate in a world that blindly
walks all over someone like him, he has not given
up loving the world and those of us in it.
The worst is trying to help somebody thats
trying to kill you.
That line, full of indictment and grace,
might just as well have been uttered by the Son of
God on a Friday long ago. Or, it might fit well
with our Gospel reading this morning, My house
shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a
den of thieves. This house may still hold a den of
thieveseach of us in their own waybut
hopefully, weve learned a little something about
prayer along the way. Our worship has helped us
see Christ in Concrete. Crete has helped us see
Christ in our every day lives. And so, at the end of
each evening at Compline we can honestly say the
words, Lord, you now have set your servant free
to go in peace as you have promised; For these
eyes of mine have seen the Savior, whom you have
prepared for all the world to see.
Colin, thank you for helping us to see. As a
token of our deep gratitude we are giving you an
Icon of Mary and Jesus. May it remind you of the
many lives who have been nurtured in this place.
You may never become a New Testament
professor, but thats okay. Your leading us here is
a far greater legacy. Our lives will never be the
same!
With that, lets end with a little CFW
tradition as we raise the chalice one last time.
To the King!
And God save the Queen.
Hail Mary
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen.+

"7

Easy Essays
by Peter Maurin (1877-1949)
Founder of the Catholic Worker

What the Unemployed Need

1. The unemployed
need free rent;
they can have that
on a Farming Commune.
2. The unemployed
need free food;
they can raise that
on a Farming Commune.
3. The unemployed
need free fuel;
they can cut that
on a Farming Commune.
4. The unemployed
need to acquire skill;
they can do that
on a Farming Commune.
5. The unemployed
need to improve
their minds;
they can do that
on a Farming Commune.
6. The unemployed
need spiritual guidance;
they can have that
on a Farming Commune.

"
8

By Kelly Steele

What the Catholic Worker Believes

1. The Catholic Worker believes
in the gentle personalism
of traditional Catholicism.
2. The Catholic Worker believes
in the personal obligation
of looking after
the needs of our brother.
3. The Catholic Worker believes
in the daily practice
of the Works of Mercy.
4. The Catholic Worker believes
in Houses of Hospitality
for the immediate relief
of those who are in need.
5. The Catholic Worker believes
in the establishment
of Farming Communes
where each one works
according to his ability
and gets according to his need.
6. The Catholic Worker believes
in creating a new society
within the shell of the old
with the philosophy of the new,
which is not a new philosophy
but a very old philosophy,
a philosophy so old
that is looks like new.
The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ 2015

A Selection from Farming Communes

by Dorothy Day (1897-1980)
Founder of the Catholic Worker
Reprinted from The Catholic Worker newspaper, February 1944
Peter is proud of being a peasant and calls
attention to it. My word is tradition, he says. He looks
as though he were rooted to the ground, gnarled,
strong, weatherbeaten as he is. He reminds me of a tree
trunk, of a rock. His shoulders are broad, he has a chest
like a barrel, his head is square and so is his face.
A man has a mission, a calling, a vocation, he
says. We must get people away from being jobminded, wage-minded. A man must find out the work
he is best fitted to do in the world,
and then do it as best he can,
single-mindedly. An artist does
this. A musician does this. They
are willing to accept voluntary
poverty as the cost of their
freedom to follow their call. Of
course, if man were human to
man, he would take care of his
brother who had a call that did
not bring him in the necessities of
life. A priest, a sister, are taken
care of in their work. The layman
says,They have security." Yes,
they have the security which
comes with community. But it is
not always so. St.Paul maintained
himself by the labor of his hands;
he was a tentmaker. Just the same,
he said, The laborer is worthy of
his hire. All the apostles emphasized hospitality,
generosity one to another. They immediately began
serving one another, serving the poor, serving those
who gave up all to follow Christ. They were so busy
they had to appoint deacons right away to do these
works of mercy.
No, they do not always have security. Look at
the missions, and the work priests do with nothing but
their bare hands. Look at the missions set up in this
country by the Franciscans, the Jesuits. Look at the
foundations of the sisters. Look at the Benedictine
monasteries, the Trappist monasteries. They started
work with usually the worst kind of soil. They took
deep woods, swamps, the places no one else wanted.
Read about St.Bernard and his work, how he took a
dozen warriors away from the siege of a city and built
The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ 2015

up a foundation in the wilderness. Of course they went

hungry at first. They had no security until they made it
with their labor and suffering.
In time of chaos and persecution, men escape
to the desert. One of the fathers of the desert, Abbot
Allois, said, A man cannot find true repose or
satisfaction in this life unless he reckons that there is
only God and himself in the world. Thats personalism.
On the other hand, With our neighbor, St. Anthony
says, is life and death. He was
another desert father, and he was
a communitarian. He started the
foundation of monasteries, he
and St.Basil, who wrote the first
rule. Then St. Benedict came
along and his rule is still being
used by tens of thousands of
monks all over the world. You can
buy a copy of the rule at
Brentanos or at Barnes and
Nobles, on Fifth Avenue, or at
the book stores on Barclay St.This
rule, written thirteen hundred
years ago, is still animating the
lives of men. And it was a rule,
written not for priests, but for
laymen. Of course now it is used
by priests and lay brothers, but
why cannot it be used by the
family? It is indeed used by Benedictine oblates who are
living a Christian life in the world. But so far, it has
never been used by groups of families living together.
To bring back the communal aspects of
Christianity, this is part of Peters great mission. A
heresy comes about, he said, because people have
neglected one aspect of the truth, or distorted it.
Communism is just such a heresy. We have neglected
the communal aspect of Christianity, we have even
denied that property was proper to man. We have
allowed property to accumulate in the hands of the few,
and so a denial of private property has come about,
ostensibly for the sake of the common good. St.Thomas
says a certain amount of goods is necessary to lead a
good life.
(continued on p. 10)
"9

Once when some Quaker friends came to visit us at the farming commune at Easton, they told us we
had two great assets in our work on the farm: one, our poverty, and two, our lack of leadership. We were
much startled to hear this and much encouraged. It is true that our poverty should force us to use the means
at hand, whether it be stone or earth for houses, if there is lacking wood. It is true our poverty should force
us to work for food and clothing. It is true that when there is no educated, strong, and spiritual leadership,
each man has to depend on himself.
Perhaps they were thinking of various Quaker and socialistic experiments of the past where wealth
made things easy so that the poor did not exert themselves, and good leadership made the rank and file lean
too heavily and depend too much on one man. So that when both funds and leadership were withdrawn,
there was little hope for continuance of communities working together, and every man would be on his own
again. Too little indoctrination, Peter says.
But our Quaker visitors were not right. We did not have enough voluntary poverty. While professing
poverty to the extent of going without salary, wearing cast-off clothes, sleeping in vermin-ridden and cold
tenements,still we clung to such comforts as the food we liked, the cigarettes we craved, magazines,
newspapers, moviesthe artificial tastes and desires built up in us by modern advertisers.
The issue of food is an important one, what with our running breadlines all over the country, and
spending a great amount of money, running into tens of thousands of dollars, on food alone.

Peter remarked succinctly, Eat what you raise, and raise what you eat, on farming communes.
Given more land, we could raise pigs and corn and wheat on the soil we had at Easton, not to speak
of cows, goats, and chickens, rabbits and bees. Such a principle would allow us bacon and ham, corn and
wheat bread, honey, dairy products, fowl and eggs, and all the vegetables we could raise.
But to raise the food it was necessary to work, and those who were boss-minded and job-minded and
were used to the cities, had a hard time adjusting themselves to work at the lands pace, and at the hours
required by the seasons. The more people there were around, the less got done. Some cooked, washed
dishes, carpentered, worked in the garden and tended the animals. But none worked hard enough. No one
worked as I have seen sisters and brothers in monasteries work.
Food was the greatest trouble. You could not eat the brood sow, nor could you eat the pig you were
fattening for slaughter later. You could not eat the chicks, nor did they begin to lay eggs at once. Cows eat
much feed and do not give much milk at some seasons. You could not fatten the calf and eat it and still have
the money for tools and seed.
So to make any beginning, without subsidies of any kind, voluntary poverty and asceticism of a kind
were needed. One could of course live on bread and vegetables and oil or fat and wine. We had to rule out
the latter at once because there were too many amongst us with a weakness, and St.Paul says to do without
what causes your brother to stumble. So that brought us down to bread, fats and vegetables. And there were
plenty of fruits in the summer. But most of us could not do without our tea and coffee. And the bread had to
be a certain kind of bread, and the cereal a certain kind of cereal.
Corn meal mush was fit only for chickens! The yellow fresh-ground corn meal was too coarse for
human consumption! When I was traveling throughout California visiting migrant camps, I saw the
southerners who were staying in the government camp use the corn meal to make a paste to stop up the
drafts around the floors of their ugly shanties.
The mother of one of the families on the farm made bread for all who lived on the farm, but there
were those who could not eat it because it was not like store bread!
And the same family that made the bread would not use anything but refined white flour, because
the children would not eat whole wheat.
(continued on p. 11)
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The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ 2015

Peter inveighed against packaged foods and canned goods, but those who came to us were not hermits
and ascetics,they were the poor and the bourgeois of a rich country, the poor who were used to some form of
relief, the poor who with their pennies bought liquor and store foods, canned and packaged goods, because they
didnt know anything about cooking, nor about foods.

They did not like fish, they did not like liver and kidneys nor anything but the red meat of an animal.
They did not like salads or greens (fit for cows). And most certainly they did not like either whole wheat bread or
corn meal mush.
Let me lay the blame where it belongs, and that is on the women, first of all, nor do I think I am being
faithless to my sex in so saying. It was not the women who did the cooking in our houses of hospitality and our
farming communes. It was the men. They did what they could, with the materials they were used to. But the
result was that more time was spent in complaining about food, or doing without food, or spending money on
food that should have been used to better purpose in building up the community.
Perhaps, having so nobly taken the blame on my own sex, we can put some of it on Peter too.
He was always willing, for the sake of making his point, to sacrifice order and success. He was always
afraid of the argument of the pragmatist.
Be what you want the other fellow to be, he kept on saying. Dont criticize what is not being done. See
what there is to do, fit yourself to do it, then do it. Find the work you can perform, fit yourself to perform it, and
then do it.
It was not that he did not know how things ought to be, so that he could have said, do this, do that. His
own life showed how he thought things ought to be.
Everyone taking less, so that others can have more.
The worker a scholar, and the scholar a worker.
Each being the servant of all; each taking the least place.
A leader leading by example as well as by word.
When Peter was asked questions, he answered them if he felt strongly enough about it. If the question
was too obvious, if he felt that it was not in his sphere of ethics and morality, he said, I am not a question box.
One question he always answered.
I do not believe in majority rule. I do not believe in having meetings and elections. Then there would be
confusion worse confounded, with lobbying, electioneering and people divided into factions.
No, the ideal rule was such as that of the monasteries, with an abbot and subjects. An abbot accepted by
others and his authority obeyed with a perfect obedience. An abbot making the decisions, after accepting counsel
of all, the youngest with the oldest.
But a farming commune, an agronomic university, was not a monastery. It should be a gathering together
of families, a group of teachers whose authority was accepted, each in his own field. A baker would have charge
of the bakery, the shoemaker of the shoes, the farmer of the fields, the carpenter of building.
But what if the baker makes white bread? What if the carpenter refused to use the materials God sends in
the way of logs or second-hand lumber, and will not work except with the best and most expensive, and
according to government specifications?
Well, they are not educated to be leaders. The work of education comes first. The work of education will
be long. Meanwhile we learn by our mistakes. We learn the hard way. But is there any other way? And what if
there are no leaders to direct the others?
We must build up leaders. And the leaders must first of all change themselves. And the job is so hard, so
gigantic in this our day of chaos, that there is only one motive that can make it possible for us to live in hope,
that motive, love of God. There is a natural love for our fellow human being but that does not endure unless it is
animated by the love of God. And even the love of family cannot endure without the love of God.
And if we do not live in love we are dead indeed, and there is no life in us.
Do you ever become discouraged when you see our failures? I asked Peter.
No, because I know how deep-rooted the evil is. I am a radical and know that we must get down to the
roots of the evil. And the gentle smile he turned on me was as though he said, Wherefore lift up the hands
which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight steps and follow peace with all men (Hebrews
12:12-14).+
The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ 2015

" 11

Panhandling and Community News

Joe Sroka - Catholic Worker, CFW, Pittsboro, NC
Until our next child is born, the big news this month is our move to Granite Springs Farm. Moving day
would not have been possible without the Bruderhofs, the Millers, Bill, Teri, Sawyer, Phil, Celeste, and Nicole.
At the time of this printing, we have been at the farm for two weeks and it has been more than we could have
imagined. Weve been noticing that our life these days looks a lot like pray, eat, work, a spoof of the recent
memoir Eat, Pray, Love.
First, our prayer life in a new chapel with new people is different. We no longer have the daily
celebration of the Holy Eucharist to sustain and discipline our lives. We are, though, continuing the habit that
many of you have taught us - regular, public recitation of the Daily Office. Morning Prayer, Noonday, Evening
Prayer, and Compline frame our days. And with less people at the farm than were in the city, we have to put
forth more personal responsibility to attend to the Lord in this way.
All of us around the community are used to eating often with each other. However, the farm has
increased the frequency of our household meals. For two weeks now, we have been sharing together no less
than two meals per day. It used to be that in the city that many of us were drawn to other places and other
people for our meals. At the farm, all we have is each other. And to be exact, each other is ten of us. Three
guys from the Maurin House and one from St. Josephs came out to the farm.
Another welcome but unexpected change at the farm is the work. An organic farm simply presents lots
of opportunities for good, manual labor. The first week we were here we raked the leaves in the yard. This not
only cleaned up the front and back of the house but, once we shredded the leaves, we have the beginnings of
our mulch supply for spring planting. Not much is wasted at the farm. Leaves become mulch, our organic food
scraps become compost, and lest we forget how we are warmed in the winter, downed trees become our heat
source twice. Once while gathering, cutting, and splitting the wood, and again when the wood is burned in the
houses stove and boiler. Our common life is tied to the land we live on in new and holistic ways. In fact, weve
yet to discuss responsibilities and chores, because the guys have jumped right into eating and working, even
heading outside early each morning to see what they might participate in doing. Its only been two weeks, but
because of so much shared experience at the farm, we look more like a monastery or family than we ever have
in the past.
We think that what is happening with the CFW at the farm is no small miracle. We are grateful to our
friends who are making it possible. We beg for your charity to fund this grand experiment. Between the ten of
us, 2 have some form of outside paying employment. The rest of us are usefully unemployed at the farm and
depend on your generosity. All of us, now, depend on the land to sustain ourselves. If you would like your
financial contribution to be credited to 2015, please postmark by December 31.+

BOOKS WEVE BEEN

READING
Emma, Jane Austen
The Rule of St. Benedict
Cavell, Companionship, and Christian Theology, Peter Dula
Living Gently in a Violent World, Stanley Hauerwas and
Jean Vanier
Rivers North of the Future, Ivan Illich as told to David
Cayley
Minding the Modern, Thomas Pfau
Family Friendly Farming, Joel Salatin
"
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The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ 2015

Weekly Schedule
At Granite Springs Farm
(266 Granite Springs, Pittsboro)
Morning Prayer and Breakfast: 7:00 am Tues-Fri
Noonday Prayer: 12:00 noon Tues-Fri
Evening Prayer*: 5:30 pm Tues-Fri
Evensong and Supper: 5:30 pm Friday
Compline: 8:00 pm Fri
Saturday workdays and prayers as announced.
*Evensong on Holy Days and other Major Feasts.

Donate These Things!

Twin bed frame and mattress (3)
Milk and Cereal
Plumbing/carpentry help
Coffee
Laundry detergent
Dish soap
Toilet paper
13-gallon trash bags
Grocery cards
Wheat sandwich bread

Editors
Dr. Crystal Hambley
Joe Sroka
Tyler Hambley
Michelle Sroka
Fr. Mac Stewart

Contact Us
The best way to get involved is to come to the
Daily Office at the Farm, Tuesday through
Friday at 7:00am and 5:30pm.

The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ 2015

" 13

The Little Way is theregularpublication of The Community of the Franciscan Way, a Catholic Worker and Mission of
the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. We seek a life of prayer, humility, simplicity, and voluntary poverty
alongside the poor. Committed to theCatholic Worker movement, founded in 1933 by Peter Maurin and Dorothy Day,
we advocate forpersonalism, a decentralized society, and a green revolution through nonviolence, the works of mercy,
manual labor, and voluntary poverty. Ten permanent residents currently live inour Catholic Worker House. Funds
and donations are directly used for the performance of the corporeal and spiritual works of mercy, and no one in the
Community draws any compensation from contributions.

Moving Day Crew.

The Corporal Works of Mercy

To feed the hungry
To give drink to the thirsty
To clothe the naked
To harbor the harborless
To visit the sick
To ransom the captive
To bury the dead

The Community of the Franciscan Way

266 Granite Springs

Pittsboro, NC 27312
cfw.dionc.org

At the Bruderhofs Carol Sing.

The Spiritual Works of Mercy

To instruct the uninformed
To counsel the doubtful
To admonish sinners
To bear wrongs patiently
To forgive offenses willingly
To comfort the afflicted
To pray for the living and the dead