We Are Only Saved Together: Living the Revolutionary Vision of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement

by Colin Miller, Seth Haines (foreword)

Genres: Christian Living

192 pages, Paperback

Published August 2, 2024

Reviews

[Mort · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there were nuggets of goodness within the book and I enjoyed hearing about the authors story with making his own Catholic Worker like community, I would not recommend it. I have read Dorthy Days autobiography and I would HIGHLY recommend that as a starting point over this book. The book was very slow at some points and seemed a little repetitive. I also completely agree that Christians are called to detachment from the world and material goods, but I would also emphasize that not working a real job and relying on others is not always virtuous. He also made an argument that some jobs are not fulfilling for the soul, which I can understand, but those jobs are still essential for the community. I think the book would have been better if it had more practical advice for the average person. I skipped the conclusion because I felt like I had heard the same themes too many times and I was ready to move on to another book.

[Trey Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thank Colin for giving me his book, it articulates matters of my concern in a way I never thought possible. As one who has theorized on these matters, I have never seen anyone carry out their principles so thoroughly as the Millers; it cannot be overstated how impressed I am. This work articulates the origination of much of our social ills, and shows that one can indeed break free from many of them with a radical effort; it will take time, but it can be done. Eventually, one will come to realize that community has been built, and such community will be one which outpours from the sacramental life of the Church. The vision of Miller is clear, and it reflects what our Lord said: “Another parable he spoke to them: The kingdom of heaven is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.”
‭‭St Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭33‬ ‭DRC1752‬

[Renée · Rating 5 out of 5]

People often ask me: "What's a good first book to read on the Catholic Worker, Peter Maurin, or Dorothy Day?" My new response is: this one.

In the first few pages, Colin dismantles objections that the message and practice of the Catholic Worker is for the crunchy granola Christians only or the activists haunted by a sacramental vision. It's about living the Gospel. It's about what taking the Gospel seriously as Christians looks like in the US of A. Hint: it's not a social service or a social club, it's this third thing, "community," which we are all yearning for. Community is based on beauty, it's based on friendship, and Christian community is modeled on the God who was friends with the marginalized, the despised. Shouldn't we be, too?

What orders our lives and determines our day is what we worship. It is the logos - or ordering principle - of our lives. The Gospel of John calls Jesus the logos. But is Jesus the ordering principle of our lives? Our our days guided by the Sermon on the Mount and the Works of Mercy, or are they more often dictated by the pursuit of wages and orchestrated by technology. These are the questions Colin asks.

Colin tells the story of the Catholic Worker and its founders and its founding, woven through the story of the community that developed around prayer and breakfast with some rough sleepers in Durham. He tells the stories of the friendships that change them, and how maybe sitting down and sharing a meal will change your life and help you see Christ and actually want to seek him as well.

Read more: https://sweetunrest.substack.com/p/ju...

[Alicia Lacroix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best Catholic book on striving to leave everything and follow Christ that I have read since Fr. Dubay’s “Happy Are you Poor. The Voluntary Poverty chapter is not to be missed…or any of the others.

“For Peter [Maurin], what’s missing from the modern world is not traditional vale’s, a sense of the transcendent, religion, or even God, but the social reality of the Church as a distinctive people.”

“I wanted a Christianity that would run smoothly along the rest of my life -one that would be safe. Tony pointed out this was like wanting to be a firefighter without facing any fire - without taking on any risk. “

[Joey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was prepared to adore this book. A very good friend and one of the most intelligent and inspiring persons I know suggested it after she saw him speak. There’s something about some converts to Catholicism that seems a very common theme. JD Vance is a recent convert and his understanding of the faith is twisted and deformed. Same with Gwen Stefani, Rob Schneider and Russel Brand. Being a cradle Catholic, maybe I’m the one missing something. But what I have found is that converts, especially rather recent converts, have what I call Seminar Enthusiasm. It’s the phenomenon of caring about minutiae that the day before nobody cared about and that in a month, nobody will care about again. They become hyper focused on things that absolutely boggle my mind.

Catholicism isn’t an easy faith. But it’s also incredibly simple when you stop caring about the holy bullshit. Was Jesus God or man or a purple sparrow? Who cares. Honestly. It’s irrelevant. St. Paul maybe thought that our faith was meaningless but for Jesus’ resurrection. Well, he was an idiot too. If after everything you read, especially the pragmatic parts of the Gospels, does not inspire a change in attitude, priorities and lifestyle, then why bother? One should want to be good, decent, kind, compassionate, empathetic and noble for their own sake…not because of a heavenly reward or some overly complicated crap about holiness.

For me, my understanding of my faith has always been one of anonymous good. My prayer? Private. Silent. My good works? Nobody else’s business. My charitable giving? My own concern.

I am not saying this author doesn’t get it. But he has an infantile understanding of what it means to be holy and Catholic. I don’t need a community to help save me. We are only saved together? No. Our “salvation” begins and ends with our own heart. If you require some kind of self-righteous posse to be a good person, then what is it you are actually doing? What I need, all I need is to know what Jesus taught, commit it to memory, and then go and do it. No one else needs to know. No one else needs ro help. No one else has to even pay me honor for it. Probably better that they don’t.

If you want to be a Christian Worker, great. Good for you. But don’t you dare sit on some pedestal and say that if others don’t do exactly like you, they aren’t doing it correctly. The only incorrect way to be a Christian is to forget about others and to live like Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, Joel Osteen…Maybe a better teaching would be “We are only saved when we’re not all assholes.” I would say someone should write that book, but someone did. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

[Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

We Are Only Saved Together is unsettling. Colin Miller invites us to reconsider how we do life as Christ followers, focusing on the traditions of the Catholic Worker Movement. He tells the story of his own journey establishing and living in a hospitality house, sharing his life with people who were previously homeless. Because of his experience, this book does not view ‘voluntary poverty’ through rose-tinted glasses. There are realistic descriptions of conflict and forgiveness, of financial stress and failed plans. Practical ideas are interwoven with deep theological thought. Be warned – this book is a challenging invitation to change your way of living, in whatever way God is leading you.

[Meg Hunter-Kilmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel compelled to warn you: this is not a book that can be read casually. If you’re curious about Dorothy Day or vaguely interested in “the poor” as a concept, you might want to keep your distance. Miller has not given us a memoir that leaves the reader mildly impressed and ready to return to life as it was.

No, this book is an examination of conscience, an invitation not merely to evaluate my tithing but to reconsider every element of my life: the work I do, the food I eat, the place I live. We who seek to follow Jesus can’t live ordinary lives of big box stores and travel soccer with a visit to Church most Sundays. No, the Gospel has to change us, to transform us so radically that no part of our lives is untouched.

This is a dangerous book. Which is just why I hope you read it.

[Anna Coyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five stars for the ideas, three stars for the writing style, thus the four star review.