Greetings friends of SBCW,

In this wonderful week of Thanksgiving, we are so incredibly grateful for your support. Without your incredible generosity we could not walk with women survivors in need. Imagine our excitement when we learned that Pope Leo XIV’s Jubilee address acknowledged the very model of community that we are all building at St. Bakhita House. He states that, “Dorothy Day’s Catholic Worker houses, which continue today, are centers of charity and justice where they can call each other by name, get to know each other one by one, and transform indignation into communion and action.”

When I am blessed to speak at parishes and other gatherings, I often mention that Pope Benedict XVI referred to St. Bakhita as a model of hope. And in the address, Pope Leo XIV states that “Dorothy Day helped the needy through her Catholic Worker Movement; she served meals, gave clothes, dressed and ate like those she served: she united mind, heart, and hands. In this way, hope is taking a stand.” We try extremely hard to take that stand and to be that place of hope and healing. I would suggest that this great message of hope is critical in today’s sometimes fractured world.

So, as we enter the season of Advent, that wonderful time of HOPE, let the candles that we light remind us of that great fire to which we are all called. In the words of Pope Leo XIV, “To hope is to take a stand, like Jesus, with Jesus. His fire is our fire. May the Jubilee rekindle it in us and in the entire Church!” This invitation is to ALL people of goodwill, and that is us! Thank you for your great witness of support and hope.

We excitedly invite you to read the entire (brief) address:

https://www.osvnews.com/what-pope-leo-said-about-dorothy-day-in-his-jubilee-audience/

Blessings and peace,
Anne