Spirituality & Centering Prayer

Christmas Appeal: Hope: If We Follow the Spirit, Great Things Will Come to Pass.


December 17th, 2010

We are again in need of your support, to feed the poor, and maintain our community. The Christian Faith as well as the great mystical traditions put so much emphasis on hope. It is one thing to have faith in … Continue reading



Everything Old is New Again


December 17th, 2009

Ancient Christian practices are finding a home in post-modern Christianity by Brian McLaren I was raised Plymouth Brethren in the 1950s and 1960s, a group that has taken some pride in skipping over the centuries of church history between about … Continue reading



Our Christmas appeal: Pray for God’s Plan


December 16th, 2009

What is your plan? How are you going to survive? I would ask while serving soup to the poor, or washing dishes at every Catholic Worker house, I visited across the country a few years ago. Many of the workers, … Continue reading



What the Catholic Worker Believes


December 1st, 2009

What the Catholic Worker Believes The Catholic Worker believes in the gentle personalism of traditional Catholicism. The Catholic Worker believes in the personal obligation of looking after the needs of our brother. The Catholic Worker believes in the daily practice … Continue reading



A Vision of Nonviolent Resistance


December 13th, 2008

One morning this past summer I was seated on the back porch of our house, meeting with the nonviolent discussion group for the Center for the Working Poor, when I was seized by a vision of nonviolent resistance that resonated … Continue reading



The Fast for Our Future and the Future of Our Center


December 13th, 2008

I know it has been a full year since you last received a copy of The Burning Bush, and many of our readers may have been wondering just what we at the Center for the Working Poor have been doing. … Continue reading



The Easy Essays of Peter Maurin Define the Catholic Worker Movement


November 28th, 2007

By Peter Maurin, Co-Founder of the Movement The Law of Holiness “No man can serve two masters, God and Mammon.” “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” “If you want to be perfect sell all you have, give it … Continue reading



The Works of Mercy


November 27th, 2007

The Works of Mercy are an abiding norm for the Catholic Worker Movement. Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin lived lives of “active love” built on these precepts. In Christian tradition they are. . . The corporal works of mercy: feeding … Continue reading



Trent’s Burning Bush Article


November 27th, 2007

11/19/07 I was walking down the street the other day here in Los Angeles, and I saw a billboard that stopped me in my tracks. On the bottom was the familiar image of a half-naked couple in an embrace. Above … Continue reading



Centering Prayer as Divine Therapy


November 27th, 2007

Father Thomas Keating has devoted a lifetime to understanding and teaching the practice of Centering Prayer. In this conversation, he explores the techniques and the benefits of this modern application of an ancient spiritual discipline. Thomas Keating: Centering Prayer as … Continue reading



The Catholic Worker Movement: Intellectual And Spiritual Origins (Paperback)


September 5th, 2007

by Mark Zwick (Author), Louise Zwick In the 1990s, a prominent American Catholic journal pronounced, “the Catholic Worker movement is dead,” a decade and a half after the death of the movement’s renowned co-founder, Dorothy Day. Such a sweeping declaration … Continue reading



The Irresistible Revolution (Forward)


September 5th, 2007

Shane Claiborne is a good example of the old adage, “Be careful what you pray for.” Evangelicals like to pray that Christian young people will learn to love Jesus and follow in his steps. Well, that’s exactly what this young … Continue reading



Starting The Center for the Working Poor: Don’t Mess With God’s Crazy Plan


November 22nd, 2006

By Paul Engler The Summary I still run the Center for the Working Poor, delivering food to impoverished workers, writing, speaking at churches, and supporting living wage boycotts. While doing this, the House of Representatives passed a law designed to … Continue reading



The Birth of The Burning Bush: The Center for the Working Poor


May 12th, 2006

BY PAUL ENGLER Our project is called The Burning Bush: Center for the Working Poor, and has a fancy new website which can be reached at: centerfortheworkingpoor.org. We take our biblical name from the unexpected signal God gave Moses to … Continue reading



The Catholic Worker Movement


March 29th, 2006

This essay was written by Jim Forest on the Catholic Worker Movement for The Encyclopedia of American Catholic History to be published by the Liturgical Press. Jim Forest, once a managing editor of The Catholic Worker, is the author of … Continue reading







Paul Engler Update: The Story Which Needs To Be Told

December 23rd, 2009

I apologize for the long wait for an update about myself and the Center for the Working Poor, the Burning Bush community. We have been very busy. This year we are serving more families than ever due to the economy, … Continue reading

In His Mother’s Footsteps: California Man Jailed for Five Days After Sit-In at Blue Cross Office in Los Angeles

December 15th, 2009

On Thursday, Sam Pullen was arrested at the Los Angeles offices of the insurance giant Blue Cross. He refused to give his information to police and vowed to remain in prison until Blue Cross agreed to hear demands that it … Continue reading

In These Times

December 12th, 2009

Sitting in for Healthcare A new group takes the fight for a single-payer system directly to insurers—and politicians. By Diana Novak November 16, 2009 Since September 29, when Mobilization for Health Care for All organized its first sit-in at health … Continue reading

46 Million Reasons for Health-Care Reform

December 5th, 2009

The moral imperatives for change. by Jim Wallis, John DiIulio Jr., Carol Keehan, E.J. Dionne Jr., Janelle Goetcheus, Rose Marie Berger, Tom Sine, and Arthur Waskow printer-friendly version For the Healing of the Nation: 46 million reasons for health-care reform … Continue reading

What the Catholic Worker Believes

December 1st, 2009

What the Catholic Worker Believes The Catholic Worker believes in the gentle personalism of traditional Catholicism. The Catholic Worker believes in the personal obligation of looking after the needs of our brother. The Catholic Worker believes in the daily practice … Continue reading

Starting The Center for the Working Poor: Don’t Mess With God’s Crazy Plan

November 22nd, 2006

By Paul Engler The Summary I still run the Center for the Working Poor, delivering food to impoverished workers, writing, speaking at churches, and supporting living wage boycotts. While doing this, the House of Representatives passed a law designed to … Continue reading