Sacred Heart Mission in the St. Kilda section of Melbourne, an inner-city refuge for mainly homeless and troubled men, the highest percentage of whom are dealing with some form of mental illness, was a swarm of gentle chaos on a Sunday morning in mid-November.
Volunteers were serving a meal in a parish hall that seems an extension of the nearby church. Or perhaps it is the other way around, for it appears to be a seamless connection between sanctuary and ministry, and it's been that way since the day in 1982 when Sacred Heart Parish's then-pastor, Fr. Ernie Smith, opened his door to share a meal with a man who was homeless.
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