For Rev. Daniel G. Groody, C.S.C., woodworking is a matter of connecting the creature with the Creator in the creation with the whole process leading into the work of love.

The story of the Mass and his own writing and research brought him back to the craft that he first encountered in high school. “I woke up one day and said, ‘I’ve got to get back into wood.’"

During the COVID shutdowns, Father Groody, Notre Dame's vice president and associate provost for undergraduate education, a professor of theology and global affairs, established Sacred Heart Woodworking with Paul Berrettini. The workshop sources raw materials by working with campus groundskeepers and their “unwritten policy” that whenever they cut down a tree, they give him a call.