It was a slow day ?

Not many people at the Rebuild Center today. No one could give a reason for it. Just wasn’t a crowd. The showers and the phones and the laundry were busy but not totally overwhelmed all day.

We did have a 3 piece band come in and play for a couple of hours – great blues. We did have one person pass out and need an ambulance. We did serve a little over 100 lunches. We did sit and listen to the director for over an hour as he told us of the beginnings and development and vision of the Center. We did come home tired and beat once again and a little overwhelmed at the people who crosses our paths.

This evening we fixed a couple of pans of lasagna, some carrots, bread and desserts and headed to another part of town to visit a Catholic Worker House. One of the start up guys use to work at the Center as a Jesuit Volunteer and he has stopped by on Monday to do a prayer service with the people at the center who might be interested. We talked for a little while and then invited ourselves for supper.

There were 13 of us around the table – 14 if you count 6 month old Micah, who parents are part of the team there. A very simple house with a very big idea behind it – hospitality to the homeless.

There were about 2-3 guest living there. There were a couple of men from the neighborhood who just dropped in for supper. Everyone was very welcoming. Everyone felt at home. We listened to stories of what it was like to live through Katrina, to be evacuated, to be brought back to start over – no job, no home, not much hope. We saw how these people supported one another. We saw grass root efforts at work. We saw young people responding to the needs of others in the spirit of Dorothy Day. Young people full of hope, vision, energy and youthful dedication. We saw the hope of our future.

In the words of Dorothy Day: "The final word is love."