"People say, 'You do such wonderful things in your work in prisons.' But it's not me. It's the Holy Spirit. I have a theory that when we pass, God's not going to say, 'What did you do?' Because he knows. He's all-knowing. He's going to say, 'Who did you bring with you?'
"You don't decide your life's purpose; you discover it. Your purpose is not your vocation--and mine's been as a lawyer, the dean of the Notre Dame law school, the president of Notre Dame in Australia, and now as a priest; no, your purpose is not what you do, but how and why you do it."
                 "Students volunteering in the criminal justice system often feel as though they're not making an impact. Any words of wisdom for us?"
"May I tell a story? I'm a storyteller. Whether it's in Westville or in Michigan City, I am most commonly spending time one-on-one speaking with inmates. A while back, I visited the psych ward, where I spoke with a man who was on suicide watch. He had nothing in his solitary cell--only a blanket and a pillow. It was a brief visit, we chatted, and when I was about to leave, he said, 'Father, I really appreciate you spending time to talk with me. So I'd like to give you a present.' And I was confused. He had nothing besides his blanket and pillow in his cell. I said, 'It's fine, really. I don't need anything.' But he insisted, 'My parents taught me to say thank you by giving a gift. Really, I insist.' And again, I said, 'Thank you, but I don't need anything.'
"But he went back to his cot, reached under his pillow, and pulled out a package of graham crackers. He must have saved them from his lunch. And he gave them to me. It was all he had in the world, and he gave them to me just for spending a few minutes with him. I held those thinking, this is the story of the widow's mite. And I still have that package of graham crackers sitting by my bedside as a reminder. An act of love, no matter how small it appears initially, can ultimately mean something significant to another."