November 8

Dorothy Day, Clinton Jones, and John Duns Scotus

Author

David Barnhart
November 08, 2025

Today marks the birthday, in 1897, of Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement and religious activist for economic and social justice. 

Today also marks the birthday, in 1916, of Clinton Jones, an Episcopal priest whose ministry centered on LGBTQ+ persons in a variety of contexts. We noted his death on June 3. 

Today is also the feast day of John Duns Scotus, who died on this day in 1308. 

Reflection: 

Dorothy Day wrote: 

“Whenever I groan within myself and think how hard it is to keep writing about love in these times of tension and strife which may at any moment become for us all a time of terror, I think to myself, "What else is the world interested in?" What else do we all want, each one of us, except to love and be loved, in our families, in our work, in all our relationships. God is Love. Love casts out fear. Even the most ardent revolutionist, seeking to change the world, to overturn the tables of the money changers, is trying to make a world where it is easier for people to love, to stand in that relationship with each other of love. We want with all our hearts to love, to be loved. And not just in the family but to look upon all as our mothers, sisters, brothers, children. It is when we love the most intensely and most humanly, that we can recognize how tepid is our love for others. The keenness and intensity of love brings with it suffering, of course, but joy too because it is a foretaste of heaven.”

and

“Don't worry about being effective. Just concentrate on being faithful to the truth.”

and

“The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us?”

and

“I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.”

Prayer: God, help us overcome our hatreds, even of our enemies, so that we may understand and love you even more. Show us this path of revolution of the heart. Amen.