It is a new year which promises to be a year of big changes for the Gaudiumetspes22 blog as well as the Catholic Worker ministry which began on the farm and is now transitioning into a new urban mode. And as those of you who follow me know, those two ministries are deeply connected. And one of the ways that connection shows up is that I am deeply committed to keeping my articles and my podcasts utterly free of any monetary fee. In the spirit of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin I want to make my site as completely accessible as possible. I actually think it is one of the reasons why I really do not have a ton of official subscribers. Because I know from the analytics that thousands of people read my articles and watch the podcasts even though they are not subscribers. And that makes me happy even if I wished all of them were official subscribers. Because it means that my ministry (and I do consider what I do on the blog a vocational/missional ministry) is having an effect, no matter how miniscule, and I do think this is caused by the fact that nobody has to pay a penny for any article or podcast. Indeed, I quit writing for The Pillar, even though I love it and JD Flynn is a friend, because my essays were behind a paywall.
Nevertheless, the fact is that there are large costs associated with running the blog and those fees keep going up every year. In the year 2026 the total cost to me to keep the blog running will be around $4000. I do not have a pension since I liquidated my small professor’s pension in order to pay for the farm way back in 2013. The only income I have, outside of the small stipends I get for my writing, is a monthly social security check. My lovely wife Carrie has a good job working at St. Charles Seminary in Philadelphia – a job she is good at and which she adores – pays all of our bills, but really not much more. And our costs have gone up since purchasing the new house in Scranton. More on Scranton and our plans here in a bit.
Therefore, it is reaching a point where I do, once again, need to reach out to my loyal and wonderful followers, hat in hand, to ask for donations. We have had two fundraisers before and I am always convinced (just ask Carrie!) that we will be lucky to raise $500. But then the donations come in, some big, but most are modest, from some very generous donors who I cannot thank enough. I won’t embarrass them by mentioning their names, but they know who they are. I would humbly ask that my followers please consider donating to our ministry once again. And just as a reminder, the ministry is an official non-profit so your donations are tax deductible.
But we have other costs associated with our ministry that I would also like to bring to your attention. These costs are related to our new venture here in Scranton. The first and perhaps most important new venture is the food pantry we are opening up on Main Street one block away from our parish church (St. Thomas More, Ordinariate parish). This neighborhood, known as the “Providence” region of Scranton, is, by median income, one of the poorest zip codes in Pennsylvania. It is an area made up of the working poor, or the unemployed who are on public assistance, and there is a great need here for the Church to engage in the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Indeed, it is the poverty of this area that led our pastor, Fr. Eric Bergman, to choose this precise area for his new community of Ordinariate Catholics.
One of the most important ministries associated with the parish is a prolife pregnancy center – The Providence Pregnancy Center – which is run by the wonderful Jessica Freyne. You can read more about the pregnancy center here. Our new food pantry will be associated with the Pregnancy Center, although it will serve everyone in the neighborhood, and will be located in an unused garage beneath the main building. Unfortunately, the garage is in need of both basic repairs, but also needs upgrades such as flooring, painting, heating, insulating, sheetrocking, and so on. The estimated cost for all of this will be around $10,000. Needless to say, we don’t have $10,000! Which is why I am reaching out to all of you. This is a huge part of our new Catholic Worker ministry as we pivot from the farm to the city. And there is a tremendous need. Furthermore, there is the simple fact that theology is empty without associated works of mercy. And that has always been important to me. One of the main reasons I retired from the professorate was that I felt called to walk the walk and not just talk the talk.
And now we come to the “hospitality” aspect of the new venture here. My wife and I purchased an old rectory that is 4300 square feet, with 8 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, with the specific goal in view of being able to become a hub of fellowship and intellectual discourse. She and I certainly do not need all of those bedrooms! But they are there so that we can now do what we were never able to do on the farm: host anyone, including any of you who are reading this, free of charge, in order to provide a place for folks to come and pray in our lovely little chapel, talk about spiritual, cultural and theological topics, share our meals, and maybe have a libation or two.
Peter Maurin, the co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement, considered such fellowship gatherings to be a critical feature of the ministry since in his view Catholics in our modern times who have a common vision need to come together to support one another. He called such meetings “roundtable discussions” and so we envision our hospitality here at the house being part of that mission of spiritual and cultural support.
To that end, we had to renovate many of the bedrooms in this old house. Many of the rooms had disgusting old carpet which needed removal. Many needed light fixtures fixed by an electrician since they did not work. We also needed to purchase bedframes, mattresses, paint and so on. Much of that was paid for by a generous donation left over from last year. But there were unexpected expenses that exceeded that donation and those expenses had to go on my already overburdened credit card! We are asking for donations of $2000 to reimburse those expenses.
We also have a deck on the back of the house which is rotted and falling down and needs replacing. The estimate for that work from the contractor is $8000. The deck will be a major component of all future hospitality here at the house. Personally, I am not a “sit on the deck and stare at the trees” kind of guy. But we know from our time on the farm how important an outdoor deck is to all hospitality in the warm weather months.
Along these lines, we are asking for around $3000 in donations to pay for the costs associated with hosting individuals and small groups here. Once again, we want to provide our hospitality free of charge if we can, and if we do not get the donations to cover the costs we will just try our best to absorb the costs ourselves. That is how important we think turning our house into a hub of Communio/Catholic Worker discourse is. Our Church is in desperate need of such discourse and there are precious few venues for engaging in this kind of intellectual and spiritual fellowship that is of the depth we think is appropriate to the needs of our times. So we will go it alone financially if we have to. But it would be great if you all could help out with this in whatever ways you can.
Finally, we will be hosting our first major fellowship gathering this March here at the house. We are expecting around 25-30 participants. We are calling it “Spes Fest 2026”. There will be food and drink costs (the price of coffee is through the roof right now if you have noticed!) as well as other expenses. We estimate the cost to be around $5000 since there are more things to fix in this old house before then, as well as things as mundane as buying folding chairs. Some might say that I should just charge those attending for all of this. But they will be giving voluntary donations I am sure and they will also already have spent money on transportation and lodging. Therefore, I do not want to charge a “fee” for any of this. So once again, I turn to all of you for help!
I would also like to point out that the co-owner of our new house and an important participant in all we do here is the wonderful Father John Gribowich. He was the co-owner of our farm as well, and so we are thrilled he has agreed to join us in this new adventure. Many of you already know Fr. Gribowich (affectionally referred to by his friends as simply, “Grib”), and my hope is for many more of you to get to know him as well.
The total cost for all of these things is $35,000. You can send a check via the mail if you like made out to: Dorothy Day Catholic Worker. Our new address is on the blog, but here it is: 801 Taylor Avenue, Scranton PA 18510. You can also go to the donate button on my blog which now has a feature that allows you to specify which need you wish to donate to. I thank you all in advance!
I hope you can see a common thread in all of this. And that is the thread of creating a platform on the blog, on the food pantry, and in our hospitality, for spreading the profound truth of our Lord Jesus Christ as he comes to us in various ways. And access to those truths should not be hindered by needing to pay for things. Which is why, in the spirit of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, as well as so many great saints, we turn to all of you for donations.
All donations are tax-deductible through our non-profit called Dorothy Day Catholic Worker
