TACOMA CATHOLIC WORKER

Guadalupe House of Hospitality

1417 South G Street, Tacoma WA 98405-4437

House Phone: (253)572-6582 Office Phone: (253)572-4247

Website: tacomacatholicworker.weebly.com Email: tacomacatholicworker@gmail.com

Remembering Father William ‘Bix’ Bichsel

1928-2015

Father Bix passed away peacefully

surrounded by his loving community

members on Saturday, February 28,

2015 at Jean’s House of Peace, part

of the Tacoma Catholic Worker.

Father Bix had been in a coma for

several days allowing a constant

stream of people from the community

to visit with him, say a prayer and say

good-bye.

Bix: A Loving Builder of Community A couple of years ago, a few neighbors and I decided it would be fun to walk around with Bix and talk about the neighborhood, our history, and all the things he had been a part of starting. We walked from house to house with a little camera and recorded Bix telling the stories that brought us to where we are. So many of the stories were about the work of constructing a place where commu-nity could happen; repairing or rebuilding every house on the block one by one. What struck me most about these stories was how Bix remembered each person, and each contribution to the whole, and felt it was important for these things to be remembered by us too. The people who donated lumber, sanded the drywall, the neighbors who brought food for the building crew were all recalled with gratitude. He was quick to identify his own failures, but held a deep hopefulness about the power of community. It must have felt precarious sometimes, to carry on welcom-ing friends off the street into houses that were under construction, with just enough money to keep the lights on. And yet somehow it was enough to get by, and slow-ly to grow. This community's story is about being carried through by Bix's hope-fulness and the care of friends. I saw these same traits shine brightly in the week before he died. When it was clear that his heart was failing and its progress could not be reversed, friends began to appear at his beside to express their love and thanks, to sing and to pray. This outpouring of love caught him by surprise, though I don't think it surprised anyone else. “Are you sure you are talking to the right person?” He joked several times with visitors. Even when he could no longer open his eyes, his lips shaped the words to “This Little Light of Mine” while we sang. He was joyful, and grateful for the love of friends. Bix has loved his neighbor as himself, even difficult and contrary neighbors (and we have all been in this category at some point, including Bix). Along the way has helped his neighbors to love one another. His has been the continual voice of faith, calling us to risk and to trust in God and our brothers and sisters. He has washed his last of many many dishes at the Guadalupe House kitchen sink, has celebrated his last mass on the wooden crate in the backyard, has cut through the fence for the last time. Bix has laid his burden down. We will miss our friend terribly. And because he is not here, we take up our community's work in a deeper way. With a greater awareness of the power of relationship, with gratitude for those who came before us, with an abiding hopefulness.

by Nora Leider

“But without faith in each

other, we cannot go on. With-

out hope we cannot go on.

Without hope we cannot live.

To those who are without

hope, I remind you of Christ,

your brother.” - Dorothy Day

With the continuous violence being voiced in our news

outlets, millions across the nations locked away in mass

incarceration and detention facilities, and increasing

gaps of wealth distribution, our world can seem dark at

times. Amongst all of this though, we must be voices for

hope together. We cannot do this alone. This is why I

have found to love the Catholic Worker movement be-

cause we are a family. Christ is our brother as well.

Through relationships with one another, standing with

one in another in struggle, and finding joy within that, is

where I see Hope. I saw this in the life of Father Bix

(Presente!), who I feel would urge us to continue carry-

ing the work of spreading the message of hope, to one

another. By Megan Capes

28 Simple Ways to Become Compassionate By Mark Votava

At the Tacoma Catholic Worker we live in relationship with so many who are marginalized and have no voice in

our culture. This saddens me because the poor have so much to offer us. Many of them no longer believe that

others care about what they have to say or who they are. Even though we do many services for those on the

margins, we are reluctant to really listen to them and the things they care about.

This week at our Tuesday night liturgy meal, I facilitated a conversation with a bunch of people about their

thoughts on a specific question. The question I came up with was: How can we become more compassionate

people? On this day I found out that those who feel like they have no voice have some prophetic things to say to

us. I am coming to see that there is no salvation outside the poor. It is the poor who save us from the illusion of

the affluent life of meaninglessness that it seem many of us pursue on a path of upward mobility. Why are we so

afraid to listen to the cries of the poor?

Here are 28 ways that were expressed in our conversation about how we can become more compassionate to-

ward those who feel marginalized:

Focus on what we have in common

Show love and respect

Share some food together

Don’t be so judgmental

Take a posture of understanding

Listen and hear others

Have more availability for others to take

showers in our homes

Engage in action that comes from the heart

Become open to the wisdom they bring to us

Be compassionate toward yourself first

Live for the benefit of others

Find ways to be together

Share our assets

Daily acts of kindness and reflection

Patience

Have a true motive of genuine care

Come out of your own box

Respond to suffering

Get to know each other

Share our thoughts and stories

Share our lives together

Engage in the process and conversion of

compassion

Walk with others

Take it slow

Stop to pause before we immediately

respond to someone

Realize that we all want the same thing, not

to be dehumanized

Help someone out while feeling with emotion

Refuse to be bitter and hateful

A Triduum Poem By Bill Bischel Apri 4, 1990

Earth filled man,

they dragged you

on the way

to your death.

They stretched you

out on a cross

like a jack-rabbit

and punctured

your body

with ruddy wounds.

Pain poured into every

cell and fiber

of your being

and broke

your body and spirit.

Your desperate cry

of abandonment

faded into heavy gasps

and, finally,

with your head

hanging limp

you breathed out

your life.

You were dead.

You were supposed

to stay dead

as all broken do.

But,

Earth filled man,

in the dark and dank

of Joseph’s cave -

far away from Bethlehem –

you began

to quicken

like a potato bud

in a root cellar.

Life began oozing

in your veins

and your toes and brain

began to feel

the trickle

of energy.

The pace stepped up

and laughing life

river rushing

through a broken dam

into every artery

and synapse

of yourself.

And you felt joy

and laughed.

Your wrapped hand

pressed against

your clothed thigh

and you began

to unwrap

the prison clothes

that bound you.

You rose naked

from your stone slab

and felt your

open wounds

which did not smart

and ran your hands

through your

bloody matted hair.

The laugh

of cascading spring water

broke out of your mouth

and your raised

your arms

and sang

your joyful halleluiah song

to your

delighted God.

With hands and shoulder

against the boulder

and feet braced

against the stone slab

and power racing in your

sinews

you pushed mightily

against the rock

and moved it aside.

You strode

naked and singing

through the crypt en-

trance

out into

early sunlight

and blossoming time.

out into

Earth filled man.

Your cross brought

your halleluiah song.

Help me

not shrink

from mine.

Teach me

to unwrap

the cloth

I’ve woven

around myself.

Strengthen me

to push against

the stone

that blocks

my walking naked

and singing

into your sunlight.

Rekindling our Flames by Kate Maguire

The winter, especially in these past few months, has consisted of repeated patterns of loss. Cur-

rently in those ashes, new life and blessings are sprouting up as reminders of life. While still

grieving what is being freshly been laid to rest, we need to hold each other more gently and with

more kindness. We must also hold out our hands to Creator God so we may become receptive and

receiving of the constant cycle of change. We are doing this emotionally, spiritually and environ-

mentally in the midst of early spring- we have lost things in the darkness and released some

things as well. Now is the time to take a step out in order to be present in Light, in Life, and in Love

as we are called to.

The Spring possesses great healing, and new growing things spark a flame in our hearts. It is be-

cause of this that we would do well to ask ourselves- what lights a fire inside of us? What fires do

we need to feed and tend to? The Celtic deity Brigid (and later Saint Brigid) was very widespread

and known for her fiery characteristics. She was honored in the springtime, symbolizing the re-

turn of life and abundance and growing things to the earth. She represented, encouraged and

pursued the fires in life-- fire of creativity,fire of the crafts, fire of healing, which was honored

through both her centuries-old eternal flame in Kildare, and through lively spirit, passionate inspi-

rations, and fostering the beauty of life.

As we emerge from the shadows into the light this spring, what do we choose to take with us?

What do we need to leave behind in order to grow in spirit? We take with us is what we choose to

continue to honor. Continue feeding the flames of yours that bear goodness, and honor the vibran-

cy that burns within yourself.

No Glory for the Genuine

Darkness to light, or so I hope

The unknowable feeds life

There shall be no glory for the genuine

Not a soul can understand the book of life

We all are bound by the chains of our cultures

Thieves are simply those who lost the game

While innocence is merely a flawless drawing

waiting to be smudged

Wait, don’t you get it yet?

You can’t be picky here my dear

Because anyone, including you, could be poisoned

by your red apple

So be brave and crazy I say, for the night is not al-

ways so tender

And finally, take off your mask so we may all

know who you truly are

Kristen Sandholm

March 11, 2015

Living with Bix: Solidarity, Resistance, and Jesus’s Heart

I have had the privilege and the blessing to live in community with Bix at the Tacoma Catholic Worker for a year. On November 9th 2014, Bix excitedly told me the Gospel reading for that day, John ch 2. Where Jesus enters the Temple to see the people disgracing the place by selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Jesus makes them leave and pours out the coins from the money collectors and overturns the tables, he says “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” “We are going to overturn tables”! Bix exclaims. This was the day before I boarded an airplane to fly with Bix and 8 others to Jeju Island, S.Korea to join a community in solidarity in resisting the American Empire. To stand with peo-ple I have yet to meet, but who ended up being brothers and sisters. Each day we sat in protest in front of the military base being built, while listening to Mass. Each day we took communion in front of the base. “ This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me. This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” Doing this everyday amongst a community struggling to fight the overpowering rule of the American military that is invading their home, became a sign of Jesus’ presence and love for this community, His resistance with them. “Eucharistic Resistance” is what Bix called this. The powerful presence of Jesus was alive in this village and these people, and Bix could see that. Bix thrived off of this power. I came to notice it also, that solidarity and resistance are part of Jesus’s heart. Jesus overturned the tables in the Temple, the tables of the people who are ruling the land. Bix lived this out in the truest sense. He would stand and fight against what he saw were in-justices. I feel so incredibly blessed to have been able to take that journey to Jeju, and witness along side of Bix the beauty and powerful presence of Jesus and Resistance at the sight of de-struction, militarization and death. To learn that there is power in the Eucharist. And as Bix always said “keep up the good fight”. By Melissa Yeager

Save The Date

Saturday, April 25th at 6 pm

The Guadalupe House ‘Spectacular Spectacular’

Dinner * Auction * Fundraiser

At Holy Cross Parish Hall 5510 N. 44th St. Tacoma, WA 98407

Come Celebrate the Legacy of Father Bix and

the return of the “AMAZING ROUDINI” as he will attempt to

escape from Yes—a giant garbage can.

Come help us raise money to support the ongoing work of

providing transitional housing and other services for home-

less folks in Tacoma.

PLEASE COME!