This Saturday, Nov. 16, from 9 am to 4 pm in Ossining, New York, all four Maryknoll entities are jointly hosting a Maryknoll Symposium on Dorothy Day with Kate Hennessy, Robert Ellsberg and Pat and Kathleen DeSutter Jordan.
The Maryknoll organizers have just announced that the symposium will be livestreamed at maryknollsisters.org/livestream/
November is the month Dorothy Day was born (Nov. 8, 1897) and the month she entered eternal life (Nov. 29, 1980). Titled “An Undivided Heart,” this day of reflection will focus on Dorothy’s example and prophetic witness — their blessings and challenges for us today — with people who knew, loved and worked closely with her.
After a showing of the film “Don’t Call Me a Saint,” Orbis Books publisher Robert Ellsberg will talk at 10 a.m. about “What I Have Learned from Dorothy Day.” Robert worked with Dorothy Day at the New York Catholic Worker, incl. as managing editor of the Catholic Worker newspaper. Robert edited Dorothy Day’s diaries, letters and selected writings, incl. The Duty of Delight: The Diaries of Dorothy Day (Image). His most recent book is A Living Gospel: Reading God’s Story in Holy Lives (Orbis).
Patrick and Kathleen DeSutter Jordan will follow at about 11:10 a.m., presenting on “The Dailiness of Grace.” The two were members of the New York Catholic Worker from 1968 to 1975 and later assisted Dorothy at Spanish Camp on Staten Island. Both served as editors of the Catholic Worker newspaper. Kathleen is a registered nurse, and Pat was an editor at Commonweal. He is the author of Dorothy Day: Love in Action (Liturgical Press) and edited a collection of her Commonweal writings under the title Hold Nothing Back (Liturgical Press).
After a lunch break, at about 1:30 p.m. several current Catholic Workers will reflect on “The Catholic Worker Today.”
The day’s program will conclude with Kate Hennessy presenting and discussing her book Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty – An Intimate Portrait of My Grandmother. (Scribner). Kate is the youngest of nine grandchildren of Dorothy Day. In addition to The World Will Be Saved by Beauty, she also collaborated with the photographer Vivian Cherry on Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker: The Miracle of Our Continuance (Empire State). Kate divides her time between Ireland and Vermont.
The symposium, held in the Asia Room of the Maryknoll Society, is sponsored by Maryknoll Lay Missioners, Maryknoll Sisters, Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, and Maryknoll Affiliates.
For more information, see flyer here.
Compelled by faith to engage with people across cultures and ethnicities, Maryknoll lay missioners live, love and work with communities on the margins to promote active nonviolence and healing.
