My dear friend Bobby Guthro died in the hospital Thursday after some months of illness. He inspired everyone he met with his sunny disposition, goofy sense of humor, and fortitude. He faced a lot of challenges but also got a lot done—of the people I’ve known, one of those who fulfilled his potential most fully. He was a Mustard Seed volunteer for 40 years—I volunteered almost 3,000 hours with him, only a drop in the bucket of his own contribution to the Seed and the city.
Category: Hagiography
Gerard L’Esperance, 1929-2020, RIP
Gerard L’Esperance, long-time member of the Mustard Seed Catholic Worker community, has died.
He was a very sweet person and will be missed.
Many years back I did a quick interview with him for this blog, which gives a sense of his gentleness.
Franz Jägerstätter shirts
I’m collaborating on some t-shirts celebrating the martyr Franz Jägerstätter, a farmer from Sankt Radegund, Austria, who was beheaded for refusing to fight for the Nazis. Here’s the first version of the shirt.
Blessed Franz has long been an interest and celebrated on this blog down through the years.
The great Terrence Malick has a movie about him coming out next week. Till then, enjoy an Austrian TV movie on his life from the early 1970s:
Bob Waldrop, 1952-2019
“We will not damn our souls to hell to satisfy corrupt politicians.”
Legendary Oklahoma Catholic Worker (and friend of this blog) Bob Waldrop has died at 67.
Bob was buried in his overalls.
Hundreds of mourners gathered Saturday at Epiphany of the Lord Catholic Church in Oklahoma City for the funeral Mass of Robert Max Augustine Waldrop, who served as the church’s director of music and liturgy, was a champion of the poor and started the Oscar Romero Catholic Worker House.
Michael True, 1933-2019, RIP
Michael True, Worcester activist, writer, and educator, has died. His intelligence, diligence, generosity, and kindness will not be forgotten by those who knew him.
His funeral and burial will be in Minnesota. There will be a celebration of his life in Worcester June 1 at Mechanics Hall.
Continue reading “Michael True, 1933-2019, RIP”
Ron Wehrle, 1936-2014, RIP
Ron Wehrle, beloved member of Worcester’s Catholic Worker community, passed away on Monday. His funeral was this morning.
For some classic shots of Ron brandishing his cigar, re-watch this lovely video about Worcester’s Catholic Workers:
A Life Worth Living from Doug Rogers on Vimeo.
Carl Paulson, RIP
Carl Paulson, legendary stained glass artist and Catholic Worker, has died.
Carl Paulson and Worcester Bishop Robert J. McManus at the 2008 Catholic Worker National Gathering in Worcester. Carl was recognized at the event as “the oldest Catholic Worker.”
The obituary below was sent in by Ken Paulson.
Continue reading “Carl Paulson, RIP”
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!
It’s an annual tradition here at Pie & Coffee to repost this video of “The Real Saint Patrick.”
In today’s Give Us This Day essay on St. Patrick, Robert Ellsberg writes:
Patrick’s thirty years as a wandering bishop are the stuff of legend. He is justly honored as the patron of Ireland. But it is well to remember that Patrick was the victim of Irish injustice before he became the symbol of Irish pride. His spiritual conquest of Ireland followed the prior victory of love over the anger and bitterness in his own heart.
Rocco Palmo covers the feast day in the Saint Patrick’s Day Capital of the World, New York City.
This week in Worcester Magazine, Scott Schaeffer-Duffy noted it’s the 15th (I think) anniversary of the local Catholic Workers being banned from the St. Patrick’s Day parade:
As a proud Irish-American, Worcesterite, and avid runner, I am delighted to see Worcester’s Saint Patrick’s Day Parade grow with the addition of the Celtic 5K Road Race. As a member of the Saints Francis & Thérèse Catholic Worker community, I still do not understand why the Parade Committee banned us from carrying an icon of the saint with his words, “Killing cannot be with Christ.†That banner was carried in two parades prior to it being banned, and the Parade Committee gave us the Spirit of Peace trophy in 1994 and Book of Kells Award in 1995. The idea that excluding Saint Patrick’s call for nonviolence makes the parade, which includes many military units, more “fun,†as the current Committee Chair suggested in WoMag, is sad, especially in the context of Ireland’s long bloody struggle and our own wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Irish winner of the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, joined many others in appealing unsuccessfully to the Worcester Parade Committee to welcome our banner. It still mystifies me why they do not.
(This banner is still held at the side of the parade, and various local dignitaries still stop by for a kind word. This St. Patrick’s Day politics is weird stuff.)
Also, here’s the only known audio of Catholic Worker co-founder Peter Maurin. He’s reading his essay “Makers of Europe,” also known as “When the Irish Were Irish.”
Cardinal Newman talk at Worcester Catholic Worker
The Significance of Cardinal Newman
Come see a slide presentation by Mike True on the recently beatified John Henry Cardinal Newman, Catholic convert, theologian, and extraordinary voice for conscience and faith.
Wednesday, May 18: 7:00 pm
SS. Francis and Therese Catholic Worker
52 Mason Street, Worcester, MA 508 753-3588
Refreshments to follow. Free and open to the public.
Mike True, a professor emeritus of English at Assumption College, is a devoted admirer and student of Newman.
Bernard E. Gilgun: Worcester’s Catholic Worker Priest
Father Bernie Gilgun, at age 84, quietly breathed his earthly last in the company of family and friends at the Grenon ICU Center of the University of Massachusetts Hospital in Worcester in the early afternoon of Easter Monday, April 25, 2011. Father Gilgun was widely known for his holiness, his preaching, and his love of the poor. His loss is acutely felt by his followers who viewed him as wise priest, expert leader in prayer, and teacher.
Continue reading “Bernard E. Gilgun: Worcester’s Catholic Worker Priest”