With hard times mounting in the streets outside the Amistad Catholic Worker house in the Hill, residents, guests and suburban visitors were inside building a community based on love and generosity.
The occasion for the gathering Monday night on Rosette Street was the monthly house Mass, presided over on this evening by the Rev. Jim Richardson (pictured) of nearby Sacred Heart church.
People of different economic and racial backgrounds listened to Bible readings in Spanish and English, and passed around the plate of communion wafers and the cup of grape juice serving as wine. Even the young children settled down to listen or daydream — perhaps about what might be under the Amistad Christmas tree for them a week hence.
Participants in the Catholic Worker movement believe in sharing the lives of the poor, marginalized and often abandoned people who are considered at best invisible, or a nuisance, or at worst a threat to the society. For the past 14 years Luz and Mark Colville and their children (that’s Isaiah on the left with two friends in the photo) have been sharing their home and hearth with those needing food, clothing, shelter and a little compassion. Their philosophy includes taking direct, non-violent action against war and other social evils they see. (Click here for a story about Mark’s arrest at an action against Blackwater, the contracting company accused of killing innocent Iraqis.)
After the informal service Monday night, the two dozen people who had lined the small living room then lined up in the hallway. They picked up plates and passed through the kitchen, where members of the social action group from Hamden’s Ascension Roman Catholic Church had set up a soup kitchen-type buffet. They served salad, chicken, sausage and beans, vegetarian lasagna, and macaroni and cheese. Fudge cake and chocolate brownies followed for those who weren’t already full up to their eyeballs. Some diners took dessert home in small bags.
Marilyn Sagnella (pictured, partly obscured at the end of the line of women serving) said the group has been coming to the Catholic Worker House once a month for years. Each person makes one part of the meal at home (she made the mac & cheese), then they bring the food, join in the Mass, and serve afterward.
“We help support what Amistad is doing for the unfortunate — people who need a meal,” she said. “And we enjoy the camaraderie. We also help throughout the year with other functions. We bring clothing to them, we bring Christmas presents, and we support them on a monthly basis financially.”
Mark Colville (pictured) said, “We try to have a gathering in which we blur the lines between people who are serving and those being served.”
Luz said that members of her family and other residents used to cook three meals a day, but they’ve had less help recently and have cut back to serving breakfast Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., and dinner Sunday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. to anyone who walks in the door.
But she adds that, at least as important as providing food for the body is the chance for visitors to meet and mingle with the guests “and hear their stories. People can cook at home and bring food in or come to the house an hour beforehand and cook here, but mostly I want them to get to know the people they’re serving, to break bread with them.”
Both Mark and Luz noted an increase in crime in their neighborhood. That includes a gang rape, some brutal beatings of young men, several shootings and muggings. “We haven’t seen anything like this in years,” Luz said.
Through it all, their home stands as a beacon of hope and hospitality to all comers. In fact, Catholic Worker houses around the world are known as “houses of hospitality.” And they welcome hospitality from others, whatever form that takes. To volunteer, visit their website or call them at (203) 624‑5517.