The University of Notre Dame does an excellent job of reminding us how important it is to reach out to “the least of our brethren” and practice social justice as part of our daily lives. There is the Center for Social Concerns on campus that does an excellent job clarifying this for us. One of the other organizations on campus that also actively practices social justice in our community is the Sacred Heart Parish on campus. They have a Social Justice Ministry that has been active for many years with a number of parishioners who have also been active in such ministries.
One of the local organizations in South Bend is the Catholic Worker House. A current faculty member, Prof. Margie Pfeil in the department of theology, was one of the founding members of the Catholic Worker. One important outreach of the Worker was the opening of Our Lady of the Road (OLR) that is located at 744 South Main Street in South Bend. This is a drop-in center, following the example of Dorothy Day, that is a welcoming place which, among other assistance, serves breakfast to the poor and homeless every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The guests can also take a shower, launder their clothes and can often receive a haircut. Some members of Sacred Heart serve breakfast on the third Friday of each month. We see a good number of ND students, both women and men, who have been going to OLR to serve those who come in for breakfast. I’m reluctant to give names as I don’t want to omit someone I may forget. One of their important observations is how thankful and polite the guests are, and most reply with a “thank you very much, and may God bless you.” We welcome any students who would like to volunteer at OLR.
On behalf of the guests who come to OLR for breakfast and as a member of the SJM of Sacred Heart Parish, I would like to thank all of those volunteers who reach out and help to serve those in need. They help to continue to make OLR a welcoming place where people can receive a good breakfast, have a warm and safe place to rest and are treated with respect. My God bless you all.
Thomas Nowak
Professor Emeritus
Jan. 26
The views expressed in this Letter to the Editor are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
