July 22, 2025 // Diocese

South Bend Theology on Tap Focuses on the Beatitudes

Paula Lent

“As I opened it up last week, it was helpful to first talk a little bit about that word, ‘blessed,’ and what these beatitudes set us on a path to, what they are road markers for, this path that they mark out for us. And the end goal, the end goal of the Christian life and of these beatitudes, is eternal life in heaven – eternal beatitude with Jesus: seeing His face, His glory, being united with Him forever,” Father Andrew Barnes told those gathered at Hop Station Craft Bar in Mishawaka on Monday, July 14, during his introduction to the second night of the summer Theology on Tap series in South Bend.

On Monday nights in July, area young adults had opportunities to gather for talks given by local community members highlighting the beatitudes as part of the series theme, “Blessed Are They.” The series will culminate with a party on Monday, August 4, to recap the beatitudes and celebrate the transition of Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-25) from “blessed” to “saint.”

The second night of the series was titled, “Blessed are
They Who Hunger for Righteousness and the Peacemakers.”

Holy Cross Father Jim Bracke highlighted the profound hunger and thirst for the Lord that he witnessed during his time doing prison ministry, what it took for him to be able to see the inmates as brothers in Christ, and how we, as Catholics, are called to love.

A priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross for more than 45 years, Father Bracke spent many years in parish and high school ministry before the Lord called him to leave behind what was familiar and comfortable and live out the challenge of Matthew 25 through prison ministry.

His foray into prison ministry began when, as a parish priest, he was asked to visit local jails. But Father Bracke admitted to the crowd that, although he was interested in offering the men hope and support, his service to them was, at that time, limited in some ways.

“It was more or less kind of just a visit,” he said. “And in county jails, at least at that time, in most county jails, they’re only there a short time. … So, I’d visit them once, maybe twice. But I didn’t get to know them very well.”

That began to change when a family member became incarcerated.

“It was a very challenging time for our family,” Father Bracke recalled. “In fact, there was a lot of feeling that he caused a lot of pain and hurt in the family. And so, there was a part of me that was not really wanting to reach out to him.”

He continued: “Yet, as I was praying about this, I was looking up at the cross and found the face of Jesus saying, ‘You need to reach out, you need to go,’” Father Bracke shared. “So, even though I was feeling a lot of mixed feelings about it, I began to go visit him and developed kind of a new spirit of who this person is.”

This seed of grace that sowed mercy in Father Bracke’s heart was profoundly nourished years later when he heard a reflection by Bishop Dale J. Melczek of the Diocese of Gary at a confirmation retreat at Westville Correctional Facility in 2013.

“We had a confirmation there, kind of a day of retreat,” Father Bracke said. “He came and gave a very powerful reflection to these men and said, ‘Remember that you are God’s beloved children. You are his sons.’ And using Romans 8:35-39, he said, ‘No one or no thing can ever take that relationship with Christ from you. No one or no thing can ever separate you from that basic grace relationship that we all have inside of us.’”

“The bishop kind of inspired me to see that this family member is also a child of God, even though it was very difficult for parts of me to do that,” Father Bracke said. “But as I began to see him as a child and son of God, I began to transform in my own heart. I became a lot less judgmental, a lot less wanting to control things.”

Serving in a drug rehabilitation program at Westville, Father Bracke had “a very powerful, moving experience” as he witnessed in the inmates “their humility, their desire, their trust in the Lord … in His love, in His grace, to move them to a new path.”

Harkening back to Father Barnes’ opening exhortation that the beatitudes require a rejection of everything contrary to what is good in the sight of God, Father Bracke noted that his incarcerated brothers “simply were there knowing where they were at and knowing where they wanted to go.” He was struck by “their willingness to die to themselves, a path they had known for so many years … and how they somehow in this prison place, they were hungering and desiring – they were seeking righteousness, seeking a path that would bring them back to their families. … They really wanted to come back and resume their responsibilities. … And I really admired their desire and their faith that they could let go and find a path beyond themselves, beyond their fears, and to see that they can reach something new, something different in Christ.”

Father Bracke also highlighted the righteous path of mercy and forgiveness that all are called to offer.

“Forgiveness is the path that we have to offer,” he said. “I think, as Christian Catholics, we can see that we need to have other chances. We need a second chance. And oftentimes, there’s a tendency – and I was just as bad – [to assume] that people who are in jail deserve to be there, and they should be there for the rest of their lives. But that’s really closing off the Holy Spirit, closing off the opportunity for any kind of healing, renewal, or new life that we really believe in as Catholics – the whole dying and rising in Christ, the Paschal Mystery, which we celebrate at each and every Eucharist.”

Father Bracke said: “I found out that the best way for me to continue what I had done at Westville was to help in local ways in which I might be able to support people from going back into jail, going back into prison. And, actually, there are very few groups that are really advocating for prison people to renew their lives and get new hope in their lives,” Father Bracke shared. Because of this, he’s been involved in St. Dismas House, a nonprofit that provides a space for former inmates to live in “a structured, accountable environment where they can hopefully … rebuild in a positive way,” becoming “a contributing, functioning member of society.”

During the Q&A session that followed Father Bracke’s talk, a young adult listener asked, “What kind of volunteer opportunities might be available for young people, or ways that people with full-time jobs can help out?” Father Bracke responded: “Beautiful. Glad you asked that question, because there are a number of volunteer opportunities at Dismas House or even at, I would say, soup kitchens around the area where you’ll meet people who have come out of jail. There’s a soup kitchen in many places.” In the South Bend area, he recommended Our Lady of the Road (a Catholic Worker outreach) and Broadway Christian Parish Food Pantry and Food Kitchen as examples that quickly came to mind. Father Bracke emphasized the community volunteers will encounter at these places, particularly at Dismas House.

“Part of who we are as Catholics [is] we’re all about reconciliation, new life, and offering new paths,” Father Bracke exhorted, leaving listeners with much to reflect and pray on as they seek the wisdom and strength to extend mercy and love to those who need it, while following the path the Lord has marked out for us.