A Reflection by Fr. Brian:

When I was a seminarian at the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley, CA and staying at our Sacred Hearts House of Studies in North Berkeley, after my first year of study way back in 1988, I thought to myself that I needed a little break from all of the reading and writing that I was doing for my classes. So I went in search of a volunteer opportunity in the community.

I found a small note on the bulletin board at school one day that was asking for volunteers to help the Berkeley Catholic Worker with delivering food to the homeless in Berkeley. So, I called the number and talked to John, the director, about volunteering. He asked me to come over to his very small apartment there in Berkeley, not too far from the campus of the University of California at Berkeley, and chat.

Well, when he found out that I was a seminarian studying theology, he said I could start tomorrow if I wanted.

So, began a two year adventure in social ministry with the homeless!

I discovered that there was a large number of homeless just in the Berkeley area, let alone the Bay Area. All you had to do was walk down a street in Berkeley and you could encounter a homeless person, especially walking down the infamous “Telegraph Avenue”.

I volunteered one day a week, which later became two days a week and was assigned to drive the beat-up old green Ford pickup truck with the words “Berkeley Catholic Worker” plastered on the doors, to deliver the sandwiches, donuts, coffee and fruit to the people who would be waiting in a long line down at the world-famous “People’s Park” near the campus. Yes! That People’s Park! The one made famous in the 1960’s protests, kind of the birthplace of radical resistance to just about anything!

So, I would walk from our house to the parish nearby where ladies would prepare the food and drink for delivery. I would then help load up the back of the pickup and drive it down to the park, where there would be a long line of 100-200 homeless waiting patiently for some food.

(to be continued tomorrow)