Matthew 24 :35:36   …….”I was……..in prison and you came to see me.”

Last December, I was invited to attend the Christmas Mass and luncheon with the Catholic inmates incarcerated at Potosi Correctional Facility - a maximum security prison for men, most of whom are in prison for life, going through the appeals process or waiting to be executed if their appeal has been denied.  Bishop Rivituso would be celebrating the Mass and administering Reconciliation.  There would be other Volunteers in Corrections or VICs (as they are called) attending.

 I agreed to go. I was curious.  Why would  volunteers  give up their time to be with these men?. Walking up to a stark, cold gray fortress, covered in razor wire in the dead of winter which reflected the stark setting did nothing to ease my anxiety.  Walking into the prison, showing an identification card, and then being given a portable alarm I could pull in the event of an emergency only heightened my concerns. 
I was in a room with about 30 people, a few women volunteers, the rest men, most of whom were inmates, being introduced to them, shaking their hands and being welcomed by them.  Smiles and genuine words of appreciation were expressed by each of them.  People I never  would have interacted with in my day-to-day life; men with shaved heads, mohawk styles, long hair, tattoos and all ethnicities, making me welcome. I forced myself to make eye contact with them.  I did not want to show fear in my eyes.

I went into the makeshift chapel, where a temporary altar was being set up for Mass.  Christmas songs were being sung; some men had lined up for the bishop to hear their confessions.  It was an amazingly joyful scene.  Often, as the men came out of the confessional, they had tears streaming down their faces as they knelt to pray their penance. Yes, grown men, hardened criminals, crying.

The Mass was one of the most reverent, awe-inspiring Masses I have ever been a part of.      Truly the Presence of the Lord was in This Place!  I then joined in the Christmas banquet’ laughing and talking to these men as if I were at a dinner party.
At Easter I witnessed the Initiation Sacraments of men who had completed the RCIA process.  I now see these men as Brothers in Christ, for that is what they are.  Broken as am I.

Consider:  What is my reaction to this article?
Submitted by Libby Long