Extension Magazine - Fall 2021

Extension | Fall 2021 23
Theresa Bly, a parishioner of the Spirit of Life Area Faith Community, joins Father Oestreich in
carrying out the corporal works of mercy within and beyond the borders of the Diocese of New Ulm,
Minnesota.
without coats, mittens or hats.
Father Oestreich also described
how humbling it was to distribute
a mattress to a pregnant woman
on bed rest who had been sleeping
on the floor.
SOURCES OF INSPIRATION
None of this work began with
an elaborate plan. Rather, it has
slowly evolved with the help of the
Holy Spirit.
Father Oestreich is the son of
hard-working Minnesota farmers.
He was ordained a priest for the
Diocese of New Ulm in 1993. Prior
to entering the seminary, he had
discerned a vocation with the Missionary
Oblates of Mary Immaculate,
a missionary religious congregation.
During those formative
years he ministered to people living
with AIDS and drug addictions.
He learned that the poor, sick
and outcast were not people he
should fear, but rather people he
was being called to embrace, like
Christ taught.
Years later, as a young priest he
encountered Mary Ann Larsen, a
grandmother also from the Diocese
of New Ulm who operated
a food bank out of her garage.
She received Catholic Extension’s
Lumen Christi Award in 2003.
Inspired by her work, Father Oestreich
decided to launch his first
coat drive, and has since distributed
more than 5,000 coats.
The food distribution
program he leads today
also began with a simple
encounter: a phone call
from a parishioner, Theresa
Bly, asking what she
should do with the extra
baked goods she acquired
through a friend at the
grocery store. Another
parishioner, Clark Wangler,
had access to large
amounts turkey products from the
overstock at the processing plant
where he works. Now he and his
growing team of volunteers distribute
thousands of pounds of
fresh, healthy food every month to
anyone in need.
In 2019 the ministry expanded
further. Parishioner Katie Jensen, a
nurse making home visits, discovered
that it is not uncommon to
find people living without essential
household items.
She went to Father Oestreich
seeking a way to help. Within
a few months they opened the
Works of Mercy Center in Graceville,
Minnesota, where all are welcome
to pick up clothing, baby
supplies, hygiene products, furniture
and more.
2021 u 2022
Lumen
Christi
AWARD
FINALIST
UPHOLDING THE DIGNITY OF
EVERY PERSON
These works of mercy have
revitalized the parish.
The people of the Spirit of Life
Area Faith community see the face
of Christ in all whom they meet:
the elderly person living on a fixed
income; the woman with no mattress;
the Latino migrant farm
worker arriving to the area with
nothing more than the clothes
on his back; and Native American
families living on the nearby
reservation, where generational
poverty and substance
addictions are all
too common. No person is
“beyond the pale” when it
comes to mercy.
Father Oestreich’s role
models are as diverse
as the communities he
serves. He keeps four portraits
in his office: Dorothy
Day, Gandhi, St. Pope
John XXIII, and Óscar Romero.
Their works offer him a universal
perspective: “We don’t judge, we
don’t ask questions,” he said. “If
people are hungry we feed them,
if they are naked we clothe them.
Everything is a gift from God.”
He ensures that everyone
involved—ranging from middle
school students in religious education
classes to retired volunteers—
knows that they were not simply
donating and volunteering.
“I’ve instilled in them their call
through their baptism to do the
good works of Christ and the corporal
works of mercy,” he said.
“I think that’s the best thing of
all: to teach by example and bring
the Church to where the people
are.”