A Simple House in Washington, DC

One of the real privileges of my work is meeting fascinating people whom God is leading in remarkable ways.

One such group are the young men and women of A Simple House in Washington DC. Four of the five community members, all in their 20's, attended the Day of Discernment that I put on Saturday for the Young Adult leaders of the Archdiocese. The founder, who is the grand old man at 31, wasn't there so I didn't have the chance to meet him.

The Mission of a Simple House is to:

* wonderfully and radically fall upon the cross of Christ for grace and support;
* serve the poor, volunteers, and sponsors by proclaiming the gospel through acts of faith, love, and charity;
* sanctify volunteers through friendship with the Lord, observance of poverty, and obedience to the Holy Catholic Church.

A Summary of Our Philosophy

Friendship evangelization is the method we use to spread the Gospel. This evangelization is performed through words, actions, and relationships. We meet each individual on a personal level addressing their unique needs.

We also believe in complete Christian almsgiving which encompasses sacrifice, building a relationship, and meeting a need. Encouraging a spirit of sacrifice and friendship between donors, volunteers, and the poor is fundamental to our ministry.

Our motto is to ‘wonderfully and radically fall upon the cross of Christ for grace and support.’ This fall must include an obvious reliance upon God’s providence. We rely on providence by practicing personal and corporate poverty.

Volunteers do not financially profit from their work, and the organization has renounced endowments and savings accounts. As a general rule, A Simple House tries to have no more than three months operating expenses at any one time."

A couple of the Simple House volunteers told of befriending a homeless, unemployed mother of eight, who is now fully employed, has gone through quite a conversion and has been received into the Church with all her children.