A Commitment to the Poor in Practice
Pope Benedict XVI declared in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est that “A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented” (Deus Caritas Est, n.14. ). Whenever we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, welcome the stranger, we encounter Christ, Who assures that whatever you have done to the least among you, you do for me (cf. Matthew 25:31-46). Our panel of practitioners and academics who will delve into what it means to put our Eucharistic commitment to the poor into practice.
Experience the Event
Meet the Speaker: Rubén García
Rubén García is director of Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas. He founded it with four others in 1978 under the dual inspiration of Mother Theresa of Calcutta and Dorothy Day. Seeking to serve the poor in the spirit of the Gospel, the group was led to practice the works of mercy on behalf of migrants and refugees crossing the border, mainly from Mexico and Central America. In the decades since, Annunciation House has developed into an apostolate that serves people on both sides of the border—more than 500,000 from forty countries, by a recent count—and participates in advocacy and education around immigration issues. Led by Mr. García, the volunteers of Annunciation House practice voluntary poverty and accompany people facing threats of incarceration, deportation, and separation from family, even as they themselves face legal attempts to shut down their work, most recently by the Attorney General of Texas. With the full support of Bishop Seitz of El Paso, Mr. García calmly but stoutly replied in a press release that the work of Annunciation House is grounded in the Gospel mandate to welcome the stranger (Cf. Matthew 25:31-46).
Meet the Speaker: Benjamin Peters, Ph.D.
Benjamin Peters Ph.D. is a professor of religious studies at the University of St. Joseph in Connecticut. He is the author of Called to be Saints: John Hugo, the Catholic Worker, and a Theology of Radical Christianity, and is currently writing a book on the life and work of Gordon Zahn. Prior to graduate school, Peters helped start the St. Peter Claver Catholic Worker in South Bend. He and his wife Liza are the parents of four children, all of whom attend Catholic schools.
Meet the Speaker: Renée Darline Roden '14, '18 M.A.
Renée Darline Roden holds degrees in theology from the University of Notre Dame and in journalism from Columbia University. She has taught theatre for nearly two decades, to preschool thespians, high school students, college students and seminarians. She is a Catholic Worker and a freelance journalist currently based in Chicago. Her writing has appeared in The Nation, The Associated Press, Notre Dame Magazine, U.S. Catholic, Christianity Today, Sojourners, America, and The Washington Post.