Mary Ellen Mitchell

By Mary Ellen Mitchell If you’ve ever looked closely at our publications, you’ll see that we offer “Hospitality in the Catholic Worker Tradition.” The Catholic Worker is a model that Meridith and I drew inspiration from in our young years of formation when we volunteered at the Open Door Catholic Worker Community in Atlanta, Georgia, serving grits and boiled eggs to folks in their breakfast soup kitchen. Meridith went on to live with this community for several years as a resident volunteer. Different than a typical non-profit, Catholic Worker houses are typically founded by a small group or community of

By Mary Ellen Mitchell In our children’s atrium program we sing a song about the liturgical year and corresponding colors: purple is for preparation, white is for celebration, green is for the growing time, red is for Pentecost. Because our program ran October – May over the last year, we tended toward all the colors but green. Green, however, as our liturgical calendar wheel makes clear, is the bulk of the year. In a European growing cycle this time is also the time when you grow and harvest; outside of an agricultural framework we know it as “ordinary time.” As

by Mary Ellen Mitchell, Lydia’s House Co Director Mary Ellen just completed a 5 month sabbatical and returned to work at Lydia’s House Jan 2. Here’s her final reflection on the time away. It’s, effectively, the last night of this sabbatical. Sam and I leave Mexico tomorrow, and I’ll start back into Lydia’s House rotations January 2. To end this time our family took a walk on the beach, to watch the sunset. We did so in gratitude, first for the many people who hold the work we do at home so we can be here, and also for God,

By Mary Ellen Mitchell When we first started Lydia’s house we had a category of volunteer that we called “Bread and Roses.” Meridith came up with it, with the thought that we needed a place for people that would bring both practical and nice things to the guests. A few months back I cleaned out the old volunteer folder and got rid of that job, thinking “well that never panned out.” And then I paused and reconsidered… actually it did, surprisingly well with one person, Anne. The term Bread and Roses—a Catholic Worker Favorite—has a storied history. It started in