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Grateful for a weekend retreat in October with Loras College students from the Breitbach Catholic Thinkers and Leaders program! We focused on learning the realities of food insecurity, homelessness, segregation, and sustainability in Chicago through visits and conversations with our partner agencies: Chicago Coalition For the Homeless, , Wood Street Urban Farm with Growing Home, and . Here are a few reflections from students as we left the weekend and they traveled back to campus to take action on what we learned:
This land is not my land.
This money is not my money.
This body is not my body.
This life is not my life.
For we originate from our God.
We are all one in the one who formed us,
Sculpted us, breathed life into us.
It is all the same blood which runs through our veins,
And the beat, the drumming, pounding beat
Of our heart beats in unison.
And so, I must not only warm my hands
By my flame, but I must recognize this fire intends to warm
All of us.
You and me and her and him. Dirty, rich, gay, straight, black, white.
This fire is not mine alone.
-Isabelle Werner, sophomore
“My time at the Darst Center gave me a much simpler outlook on life, and that is to love. We hear the greatest commandment so much, and I kept thinking about how could we possibly live that out in a world of privilege and oppression. The topics we’ve discussed this weekend are heavy, and I’ve recognized I can’t fix everything, but if I love those I encounter, it may be the first step for bringing peace and justice to light. Love over fear.” –Jacob Till, sophomore
