{"id":10077,"date":"2014-07-23T10:01:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-23T14:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/?p=10077"},"modified":"2026-04-10T14:33:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T18:33:55","slug":"a-home-at-the-house-of-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"A Home at the House of Grace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Our pilgrimage group poses with the staff and residents of the House of Grace in Haifa. (photo:&nbsp;CNEWA&nbsp;Canada)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Recently, CNEWA led a pilgrimage to the Holy Land along with members of the Catholic Women\u2019s League of Canada. One of our aims was to encounter the local Christians. In Haifa, we had the privilege of hearing the story of the \u201cHouse of Grace\u201d from the founders\u2019 son, Jamal Shehade. CNEWA has partnered with the House of Grace for many years, supporting their various initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The House of Grace began 32 years ago as a humble ministry of Kamil and Agnes Shehade. Shortly after they married in the early 1980\u2019s, the Shehades began to take in ex-convicts, providing a home for them in their small two-bedroom apartment. Eventually, their ministry grew into an abandoned church that they renovated and named the House of Grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mr. and Mrs. Shehade had five children, who also lived with these former offenders. They grew up treating them as a part of their family \u2014 and, at times, even babysitters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is a difficult transition for those released from prison, as they are often ostracized by society and can easily fall back into negative behaviors. For many former prisoners at the House the Grace, it is the first time they are treated as human beings with dignity, rather than lowlifes or criminals. At the House of Grace, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/magazine\/the-gift-of-grace-30422\/\">they are shown what a real \u201chome\u201d is like<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>People of different faiths \u2014 Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druze \u2014 live together at the House of Grace. They celebrate each other\u2019s feasts and learn one another\u2019s traditions. Eventually, they begin to understand and respect each other, even if they don\u2019t always agree \u2014 which is rare in a society where there exist many deeply held prejudices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We heard from one House of Grace resident who says their ministry has given him a new lease on life. He is very thankful to the people who gave him support and helped him to look positively toward the future. He has since obtained employment in construction, and is now focused on building a better life for his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We also learned that the House of Grace has a Canadian connection. As a young person, Kamil Shehade spent a year and a half at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.madonnahouse.org\/\">Madonna House apostolate<\/a>, a house of hospitality in the small town of Combermere, Ontario. Archbishop Joseph Raya sent Mr. Shehade to Canada when he noticed that the young man was going down a dangerous path in life. This experience greatly influenced Mr. Shehade \u2014 in his faith and in his attitudes toward community and the people within who are marginalized or reviled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few years ago, I spent two weeks at Madonna House. So I understand the ministry of the House of Grace, because it has the same open-door warmth that I experienced at Madonna House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, Kamil Shehade died of cancer in 2000. He was only 46 years old. But his wife Agnes and his children have continued the work of the House of Grace with the support of staff and volunteers. Together, they live out the Gospel simply \u2014 with kindness and love, changing one life at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To read more about their inspiring work, see this <a href=\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/magazine\/they-call-it-the-house-of-grace-30789\/\" target=\"_blank\">article from <em>ONE<\/em> magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our pilgrimage group poses with the staff and residents of the House of Grace in Haifa. (photo:&nbsp;CNEWA&nbsp;Canada) Recently, CNEWA led a pilgrimage to the Holy Land along with members of the Catholic Women\u2019s League of Canada. One of our aims was to encounter the local Christians. In Haifa, we had the privilege of hearing the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70080,"featured_media":10078,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[963],"class_list":["post-10077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-catholic-womens-league"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Home at the House of Grace | CNEWA Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Home at the House of Grace\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our pilgrimage group poses with the staff and residents of the House of Grace in Haifa. (photo:&nbsp;CNEWA&nbsp;Canada) Recently, CNEWA led a pilgrimage to the Holy Land along with members of the Catholic Women\u2019s League of Canada. One of our aims was to encounter the local Christians. In Haifa, we had the privilege of hearing the &hellip; Continued\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CNEWA Canada\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cnewacanada\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-07-23T14:01:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-10T18:33:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/HouseofGrace.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"537\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"403\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNEWA Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cnewac\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cnewac\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNEWA Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"CNEWA Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/929839c5dd14a349dc51af681d8cf7ae\"},\"headline\":\"A Home at the House of Grace\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-23T14:01:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-10T18:33:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":550,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/HouseofGrace.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Catholic Women's League\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\\\/\",\"name\":\"A Home at the House of Grace | CNEWA Canada\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/HouseofGrace.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-23T14:01:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-10T18:33:55+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/HouseofGrace.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/HouseofGrace.jpg\",\"width\":537,\"height\":403,\"caption\":\"Our pilgrimage group poses with the staff and residents of the House of Grace in Haifa. (photo: CNEWA Canada)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Home at the House of Grace\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/\",\"name\":\"CNEWA Canada\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"CNEWA Canada\",\"alternateName\":\"Catholic Near East Welfare Association\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/CNEWA-brand-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/CNEWA-brand-logo.png\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"CNEWA Canada\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/cnewacanada\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/cnewac\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/cnewa1926\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/TheCNEWA\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"CNEWA Staff\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Home at the House of Grace | CNEWA Canada","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Home at the House of Grace","og_description":"Our pilgrimage group poses with the staff and residents of the House of Grace in Haifa. (photo:&nbsp;CNEWA&nbsp;Canada) Recently, CNEWA led a pilgrimage to the Holy Land along with members of the Catholic Women\u2019s League of Canada. One of our aims was to encounter the local Christians. In Haifa, we had the privilege of hearing the &hellip; Continued","og_site_name":"CNEWA Canada","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cnewacanada\/","article_published_time":"2014-07-23T14:01:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-10T18:33:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":537,"height":403,"url":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/HouseofGrace.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"CNEWA Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@cnewac","twitter_site":"@cnewac","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNEWA Staff","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\/"},"author":{"name":"CNEWA Staff","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#\/schema\/person\/929839c5dd14a349dc51af681d8cf7ae"},"headline":"A Home at the House of Grace","datePublished":"2014-07-23T14:01:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-10T18:33:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\/"},"wordCount":550,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/HouseofGrace.jpg","articleSection":["Catholic Women's League"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\/","url":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\/","name":"A Home at the House of Grace | CNEWA Canada","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/HouseofGrace.jpg","datePublished":"2014-07-23T14:01:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-10T18:33:55+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/HouseofGrace.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/HouseofGrace.jpg","width":537,"height":403,"caption":"Our pilgrimage group poses with the staff and residents of the House of Grace in Haifa. (photo: CNEWA Canada)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/a-home-at-the-house-of-grace\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Home at the House of Grace"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/","name":"CNEWA Canada","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#organization","name":"CNEWA Canada","alternateName":"Catholic Near East Welfare Association","url":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/CNEWA-brand-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/CNEWA-brand-logo.png","width":1000,"height":1000,"caption":"CNEWA Canada"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cnewacanada\/","https:\/\/x.com\/cnewac","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/cnewa1926\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/TheCNEWA"]},{"@type":"Person","name":"CNEWA Staff"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70080"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10077"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17781,"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10077\/revisions\/17781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}