By Fr. Justin Fulton
Back in the day at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I lived in a fraternity, Alpha Tau Omega. I enjoyed my time there. When Dad passed away last September, more than 70 of my old ATO brothers contacted our family offering their prayers for Dad and all of us.
It was truly touching to think that after we had not seen each other in nearly 20 years, we were still connected in a special way. The friendships we made at ATO truly are life-long. Our shared experience helped bond us in eternal and immutable ways.
When we lived together as fraternity brothers at 1433 R Street we had a very packed parking lot. In all, 110 people lived in the fraternity house at one time. Our little parking lot had all seniors, juniors, sophomores who lived in the house (and upperclassmen who lived off campus) parked there at any given time and on any given day. The cars were stacked bumper to bumper in rows and sometimes if you were in a hurry and your car was at the front of the line it was “buried” and it would take five or so other cars to get out of the way in order for you to get out. This is when brotherhood would kick in. It was pretty common for a brother to borrow another brother’s car if one was in a hurry to get to work or had a date, etc.
If a person’s car was buried five deep and there weren’t four other guys to help back out cars, sometimes a guy would just get another guy’s keys, ask permission, and borrow it for a bit. We all knew how important time was and how important transportation was to go off and make money so we could all eat ramen noodles and Amigo’s together at a later time.
Recently, our wonderful donors and staff teamed up to provide reliable transportation to a young, single working mother. We all know that if one doesn’t have a car it is difficult to hold down a job. Throughout our communities in southern Nebraska, cars help cut down time and help people hold to a schedule. You can imagine how difficult life would be for a mother of three to get her children to school and activities while still maintaining a work schedule. If that mom didn’t have a car, that mom may very well not be able to hold a job—and that family could very well be homeless.
Here is a recent thank-you from the mother that we helped:
I want to thank you and Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska and anyone that played a role in the blessing that was provided to my family. I am still in shock. I don’t think it is understood what you all did for me helping us financially with food, toiletries and a car. I feel as if a financial weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I can breathe a little again. Thank you so much. I sincerely mean that from the bottom of my heart. THANK YOU!!!!!!
This, brothers and sisters in Christ, is what Lent is all about... sacrificially coming together united in Christ to be Christ in the world.
Thank you for your faith and thank you for supporting Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska!
