Remarks by Dr. Paul R. Ahr, Camillus House President & CEO

November 20, 2009
Final report of the Vatican First Integrated European Meeting for the Pastoral Care of the Road/Street
Last Thursday, November 5, 2009, the Vatican released the final report of the First Integrated European Meeting for the Pastoral Care of the Road/Street. This meeting was held... Read...

September 30, 2009

Remarks of Camillus House President and CEO Dr. Paul R. Ahr ISPA Graduation September 26, 2009 Our program says that each of you is a miracle. Could it be that today we... Read...

September 02, 2009

On behalf of the Brothers of the Good Shepherd, the Boards of Directors and staff of Camillus House and Camillus Health Concern, it is my great pleasure to congratulate Dr. Pedro... Read...

April 09, 2009
Embrace hope, embrace dignity, embrace healing, for you are in the embrace of your community.
This Lent we investigated whether Camillus House offers hope, dignity, healing and community to persons who are poor and homeless in Miami. The promise of these gifts constitutes... Read...

April 02, 2009
Abandon isolation all who enter here; we offer you community.
If, as Mother Teresa teaches us, “loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty,” then many of the persons who live on the streets of Miami are doubly... Read...

March 27, 2009
Abandon hurt all who enter here; we offer you healing.
Before and above all things, care must be taken of the sick, that they be served in very truth as Christ is served, because He hath said, “I was sick and you visited Me” (Mt 25:36)... Read...

March 19, 2009
Our Saints are Mindful of Our Needs
Persons who we would identify as suffering from a physical or mental illness have long relied on the charity of family, friends and strangers and the intercession of Saints to... Read...

March 13, 2009
Abandon shame all who enter here; we offer you dignity.
During last week’s interviews on the subject of fear, Angel, Ivan, William and Marshall (aka Emmett) discussed another source of fear while being homeless: the fear of encountering... Read...

March 05, 2009
Abandon fear all who enter here; we offer you hope.
Some readers may find it peculiar for me to be writing about the fear experienced by persons who are homeless rather than a fear of persons who are homeless. In... Read...

February 25, 2009
Signs, plaques and banners.
Today is Ash Wednesday 2009. When my sons Tom and Andy were preschoolers, the music of Sesame Street filled our house for hours each day. One of their favorite songs was... Read...

January 06, 2009

Remarks of Dr. Paul R. Ahr President and CEO, Camillus House, Inc. FPL Group Foundation Gift Announcement 12-18-08 Welcome, welcome, welcome. Welcome to our Courtyard... Read...

April 24, 2008
Reflections on the Visit of Pope Benedict XVI to America
It was purely a coincidence that Pat Cawley and I landed in Washington, DC, minutes after Pope Benedict XVI landed at nearby Andrews Air Force Base. We were there to meet with... Read...

March 20, 2008
To love the poor.
Today is Holy Thursday, the eve of the day on which our Savior voluntarily redeemed humanity with the gift of His life. Brother Bill Osmanski, BGS often reminds us that... Read...

March 13, 2008
To bury the dead.
Once again we touch on the theme of dying, death and our obligations to those who have died. Over the past year we have said goodbye to ones close to us such as: Annette Jackson;... Read...

March 06, 2008
“…I was constrained and you helped me become free…”
Several months ago, staff of Camillus Health Concern and Camillus House attended the funeral of Lourdes Collazo-Harris, sister of Dr. Ross Collazo and cousin of Alina Perez-Stable... Read...

February 22, 2008
“…I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me …”
In the early 1970s, our founder, Brother Mathias Barrett, BGS wrote to Miami Archbishop Coleman Carroll. In his letter, Brother Mathias described his dream to establish at Camillus... Read...

February 12, 2008
Forty Days and Counting
It seems that we have hardly gotten out of January, and here we are already in Lent 2008. I must admit, I long thought that Lent was an odd term to describe the 40+ days... Read...

June 04, 2007
We are with the poor and the poor are with us.
I am often asked why I steadfastly present a vision of ending homelessness in our community, when Jesus Himself said that, “The poor you will always have with you…” (MT 26:11).... Read...

April 05, 2007
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called a child of God.
For most of my life, I have been a big proponent of peace. Growing up with four brothers, there seemed to be two kinds of peace. One was akin to being well-behaved. “Can we... Read...

March 28, 2007
Blessed are the pure of heart: for they shall see God
I have on my desk a photograph of my grandson Matthew, then just 3 years old, holding his newborn brother, Brian. When I think about being “pure of heart,” my eyes and mind quickly... Read...

March 21, 2007
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
I have joined together here the fourth and eighth Beatitudes, both of which focus on the important issue: the pursuit of justice. As a psychologist, I am struck that the fourth... Read...

March 08, 2007
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
I have been close to grieving persons since childhood. My grandfather and father built a prosperous funeral business in Essex County, NJ, where, for a while during my college... Read...

March 06, 2007
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek: for they will inherit the land.
The Beatitudes (MT: 5, 3-10) form only the first set of lessons given by Jesus on the top of Mt. Eremos. Later in Chapter 5, Jesus refers to His followers as “the salt of the earth,”... Read...

February 20, 2007
We prepare for the blessings of Easter in the season of Lent.
As I drove to my office to write this piece, I was listening to a radio interview conducted by travel writer Rick Steves. He was speaking with a woman who owns a hat shop in the... Read...

April 25, 2006
Remarks of Dr. Paul R. Ahr, President of Camillus House, Spark of Hope Dinner
I want to welcome and thank all of you for being here tonight. Each of you is an investor with and an investor in the work of Camillus House. Ours is a quirky language: one... Read...

April 12, 2006
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. (Article 7, Lent 2006)
Pope John Paul II died on the evening of April 2, 2005, shortly after celebrating the liturgy for the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday. In 1980, the Pope established this Feast as... Read...

April 06, 2006
Our Saints are our guides. (Article 6, Lent 2006)
For the past two weeks, within the context of the encyclicals of Pope John Paul II, we have had the opportunity to address two of the five charisms of the Congregation of the Little... Read...

March 29, 2006
Human suffering affords us the privilege to be as available as the Good Samaritan. (Article 5, Lent 2006)
Why does a compassionate God permit suffering to exist in the world? In fact, why would a compassionate Father allow his only Son to suffer a cruel and humiliating death, especially... Read...

March 28, 2006
We are profoundly consistent in our promotion of human dignity for all. (Article 4, Lent 2006)
Those familiar with the Charisms of the Brothers of the Good Shepherd that orient Camillus House’s work in the world know that they are five: hospitality (which we addressed at... Read...

March 16, 2006
We surround ourselves with examples of ordinary people who lived extraordinary lives. (Article 3, Lent 2006)
Earlier this year, the Brothers of the Good Shepherd responded favorably to our request to rename several of our facilities to honor persons revered by the Roman Catholic Church... Read...

March 08, 2006
On the nature and value of work. (Article 2, Lent 2006)
Why we work According to Genesis (3:19), work is the penalty assessed against all the descendents of Adam and Eve for their disobeying God's will in the Garden of Eden. Because... Read...

March 01, 2006
We restart our Lenten journey calling to mind our own mortality. (Article 1, Lent 2006)
Today is the first day of Lent, known in the Christian world as Ash Wednesday. Today is the first day of Lent, known in the Christian world as Ash Wednesday. At precisely midnight... Read...

November 04, 2005
Message from Dr. Paul Ahr, President of Camillus House
Camillus House responds to the needs of our community's poor and homeless populations in the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma. Dear Camillus House Friend, As our community... Read...

September 15, 2005
Remarks of Paul R. Ahr, Ph.D., President of Camillus House, Inc.
PRESS CONFERENCE: TO ANNOUNCE THAT CAMILLUS HOUSE AND THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI HAVE AGREED TO A LAND SWAP FOR DEVELOPMENT OF A MEDICAL-BIOSCIENCE CENTER AND EXPANSION OF CAMILLUS... Read...

March 03, 2005
Hospitality Toward Others
Homeless but not hopeless, our guests are pilgrims seeking our hospitality before setting out again on the journey of life.

From ancient times,... Read...

February 03, 2005
Dignity And Work
At Camillus House we are blessed to work alongside four Brothers of the Good Shepherd. In addition to carrying out their regular duties, the Brothers also protect and project... Read...

November 29, 2004
A Golden Opportunity
Although I watch a fair amount of television, I don’t pay much attention to commercials. Recently one commercial did catch my attention.  A young man was pitching a new food product... Read...