March 8, 2025 // Bishop

ND’s Opus Dei Center Helps Students Form Their Faith

Clare Hildebrandt

Reporter

Harmonized voices echoed through the halls of Windmoor Study Center on Sunday, February 23, as a quartet performed for a visit by Bishop Rhoades. Singing a rendition of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” the quartet impressed both their community of men and Bishop Rhoades with their performance.

Bishop Rhoades celebrated Mass during his visit to Windmoor, the men’s residence house and study center at the University of Notre Dame entrusted to Opus Dei, a religious organization that aims to find God in everyday life. Windmoor is located in a quiet neighborhood just south of the university’s campus.

After Mass and dinner, festivities such as a concert took place, with Mike Seelinger, director of Windmoor, and Opus Dei Father Philip Moss, the house’s chaplain, accompanying Bishop Rhoades on a tour of the house.

Nearly two dozen men reside in the center, consisting of both students and those with vocations to Opus Dei. 

“The rest of the men [who show up to gatherings and spend time in the house] are just students who desire to grow in faith as they continue their studies,” explained Father Moss.

In his homily, Bishop Rhoades urged the young men to earnestly live the Gospel of “loving your enemies,” even in a world “that encourages you, even cheers for you, not to do so.”

Father Moss described the young men living at Windmoor as “sincerely looking to find God in their ordinary lives. That’s sort of the basic orientation of the charism of Opus Dei – finding God in temporal realities of life,” the chaplain said.

The Windmoor Study Center is attractive to Catholic youth for its focus on formation in the faith that will be lived out in the secular world, Father Moss said.

“Most of these guys have a strong desire to become serious professionals in the world – lawyers, engineers, etc. So, the spirituality of Opus Dei is kind of geared toward helping them to live out their Christian vocation in the secular realm with a great dedication to God,” said Father Moss.

As a Notre Dame graduate himself, Father Moss initially found his vocation while attending Windmoor.

“I grew up involved in the activities of Opus Dei, so when I came to college, I was looking for a university where I could continue that formation,” Father Moss said. “I came to Notre Dame and was very involved from the beginning, and it was here that I discovered my vocation to Opus Dei, which initially was as one of the lay celibate members. I was excited about having a career in engineering, but then I eventually arrived at the priesthood.”

The house prioritizes Christian fellowship to the point of hosting meals every night. 

“The one thing that we do ask is that they be present for dinner,” Father Moss said. “After, we have a family gathering in the living room, where we spend about 30 minutes together having an informal conversation. It can be as simple as talking about Notre Dame football, the news, or even projects they are working on.”

And having Bishop Rhoades join for one of these dinners created even more of a sense of solidarity in pursuing holiness.   

“We pray every day for the bishop of the Diocese. It’s such a great privilege to have him come here,” said John Luke Hoonhout, a graduate student at the university and member of Windmoor.

Thankful for their experience in formation, the young men shared with Bishop Rhoades and others what they love most about the community.

“The fruits of formation that I receive from Windmoor are just learning how to kind of live out your baptismal vocation to the fullest,” Hoonhout said. “It’s cool because you don’t have to change your circumstances to spread the Gospel in ordinary life.”

Will Grannis, a senior at Notre Dame, sees the family atmosphere to be the greatest benefit of the study center.

“One of the best spiritual gifts is being able to live out a type of family life,” Grannis said. “We eat dinner and just sit down together. It’s not a cafeteria like what we would be getting on campus. After dinner, we all come together and sit in the living room and chat, which is usually about 30 minutes, and almost everyone does this.”

Grannis added: “We catch up on people’s days, ask how their tests went. It’s a type of camaraderie that is very spiritually fruitful, and it’s especially helpful to me because I’m getting married in September. It’s a little foretaste of family life.”

Sophomore Matthew McBride echoed Grannis’ sentiment, saying: “I come from a very small town in Wisconsin where my parish community of young adults is not very big. It’s been really refreshing coming here, getting to meet so many guys I can grow in holiness with.”

McBride added: “And another fruit … has just been growing more generously with my time. I get to see holiness in ordinary life, and it’s really becoming true. I’m seeing how I can become a gift to others every day through ordinary relationships,” McBride concluded.

Father Moss encapsulated what Windmoor truly is for the Notre Dame community:

“It’s not just a boarding house; it’s a place of belonging through community and cultivating the love of God through study.”

Clare Hildebrandt is a staff reporter for Today’s Catholic.