Winter is the contemplative season. The days are shorter, trees and other plants go dormant, and the world seems to slow down. We are naturally less active, giving us a chance to turn our attention from the outer landscape to our inner heartscape. Perhaps we sleep more, and let the world of dreams speak to us. We sit. We read. We pray.

The gift of life at the Catholic Worker is the gift of freedom to be ourselves. Here, we are empowered to be who God created us to be – people in community, offering the world the gift of our authentic selves. It’s quite simple, what we do. In response to houselessness, we offer a room; in response to hunger, warm food; in a world of loneliness, community; amidst meaninglessness, prayer; in the face of nuclear madness, protest.

As wars rage and migrants and refugees seek a place to land, as the very ecosystems on which we depend unravel and countless species go extinct, as our houseless neighbors struggle for survival in the shadow of obscene material overabundance, how do we manifest our inherent connectedness in ways that bring hope and healing to a world that seems to be fraying at the seams? How do we strengthen the ties that bind us to one another so that we can be a refuge and home for those who lack such connections?

Our dear friend, Franciscan friar, and peacemaker Louis Vitale died. He helped found various peace initiatives, including the Nevada Desert Experience protesting the Nevada nuclear test site, as well as Pace e Bene, known for its training course in nonviolence. He was arrested on hundreds of occasions for nonviolent acts of civil disobedience against war. He took inspiration from Jesus of Nazareth, Francis of Assisi, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

This month we celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Catholic Worker. On May 1, 1933, the first issue of The Catholic Worker newspaper was printed and distributed in New York’s Union Square, and a movement was born. What started as an 8-page paper to report on the conditions of workers and the unemployed and to share the social teaching of the Catholic Church has evolved into an interfaith network of some 200+ houses of hospitality, farms, and yes, newspapers, blogs, and podcasts.

A friend recently invited me to join him at the Arlene Schnitzer concert hall in Portland for a performance by the Oregon Symphony, where we were treated to Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 5 and Symphony No 2. What an immersive experience! From our seats in the front row of the Orchestra section (A7 and A8), we didn’t so much listen to the music as absorb it with our bodies.