Crunchy Catholic Mom: Nativity House Update

Nativity House.

Nativity House is an intentional Catholic community.

Nativity House is an intentional Catholic community and house of hospitality.

Nativity House is an intentional Catholic Community and house of hospitality for expectant mothers.

Nativity House is an intentional Catholic community and house of hospitality for expectant mothers rooted in the tradition of the Catholic Worker Farm.

Each step along the way of this journey, when given the opportunity for reflection, I sit and marvel at the ways in which God works. During the fall months, when people would inquire about the progress of Nativity House, I would explain how it is not possible for us to offer hospitality until we have an intern(s). I would then ask for them to pray for our first intern(s).

A New Chapter

One day in early December, as I was engaging in morning prayer, I heard the word "intern" loud and clear. "Ok God, I am praying for an intern. Thanks for the reminder..." A few short hours later, immersed in my DRE work, I received a call on my cell phone from a young woman inquiring about the internship position at Nativity House. We invited her over for dinner and about a week later received her application and letters of reference. The board read her file and approved her application a few days after the New Year.

Justin and some hardworking family members worked very hard at getting the Carriage House (apartment over the garage) ready for inhabitants.

The Carriage House is now ready! And Margaret will be moving in January 31. With Margaret moving in we are ushering in a new chapter of Nativity House. For the last year and a half we have been preparing the house welcoming community. It's now time to prepare our hearts and mind for the work of hospitality.

Intentional Community

We are giving ourselves the month of February to come together as intentional community.

What does that mean? What is intentional community? Live together, pray together, gathered around the work of hospitality and farming. We will take the month to intensify our prayer around the mission of Nativity House and being present to each other during this process.

We will be on retreat the final weekend of February. Please hold us in prayer as we begin this journey.

CSA

In other news, we are gearing for our community supported agriculture project - year 2! We have plans to double our garden space and take up to 10 families this year. We ordered a larger variety of vegetables this year including: broccoli, potatoes (three types), turnips, parsnips, spinach, eggplant. And all of the old reliables: tomatoes, cukes, lettuces, beets, carrots, green beans, peppers, strawberries!

If you are interested in joining us this year we would love to have you! Here are the details!

1. Between February - April - Monthly or Bi-Weekly work days, come as you can -TBA
2. The month of May - Saturday Meetings - 8-10am - come as you can
3.From June - September - Weekly workdays Thursdays from 6-8pm or Saturdays from 8-10am (You choose one per week to attend - idealy we have 3 Thursday Families and 3 Saturday Families) At the end of each work day each family will take home a share of the produce
4. From October-November - Bi-weekly workdays - TBA

What will we be planting?

Night Shade Family: Peppers (sweet and hot) Tomatoes, (Varieties good for:cherry, sauce, sandwich) Eggplant
Greens: spinach, lettuce, chard
Roots: beet, carrot, onions, potatoes, turnips
Squash Family: pumpkins, gords, summer, cucumber
Beans: French & Pole bean
Herbs: Basil, cilantro, thyme, parsley
Strawberries