Religion

The goal is to get your a basic level of understanding of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement so that you are ready for our guest speaker.

1. Watch this video first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZOOWZTaFNA 

2. Read this short biography of Dorothy Day: http://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/life-and-spirituality.html

3. Read the excerpts from Dorothy Day's own writings in the attachment

Instructions

We're studying Dorothy Day as the first of 2 examples of what a Christian disciple can look like. As you watch the video and read the 2 readings, you should get a pretty good sense of how she devoted her life to trying to follow what Jesus did/taught in the Gospels.

This assignment is worth 20 points instead of the usual 10, so be sure to take it seriously.

Here are the questions for this week:

1. In the video interview with Day, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZOOWZTaFNA, she talks about how being a Christian involves more than just reciting lines from the Bible. Give an example from the video that illustrates that point.

The next set of questions all relate to the pdf of the selections from Day's own writings, Little By Little:

2. Why does she call her time with Forster a time of "peace... divided against itself"? 

3. Day talks about how she found herself praying but also had doubts about prayer. In your own words, explain what she doubted and how she justified continuing to pray despite those doubts.

4. Simply find 1 quote from the article that supports the idea that Day found God in part through the beauty of nature. Copy the quote as your answer here and indicate the page number where you found it.

5. Why did Day decide to have her child baptized a Catholic?

6. What made Day doubt the Sisters of Charity who lived at St. Joseph's home?

7. Why was Day unhappy with the priest who asked her to write about her conversion?

8. As she watched a hunger march in 1932, Day felt a deep tension (she felt pulled in 2 different directions). What was she struggling with and how was her prayer about that struggle answered?

This next question pertains to both the Little by Little reading and the biography reading, which can be found at this link: http://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/life-and-spirituality.html

9. Write a short paragraph (3-5 sentences) about Day's relationship with Peter Maurin. Your paragraph must show that you read both readings, not just one. 

Finally...

10. Formulate a thoughtful question you have about Dorothy Day and her Catholic Worker movement that you can ask our guest speaker during class on April 18. Write that question as your answer for this question.