Recently, at the Knights of Columbus meeting, I was talking about the prison ministry I am involved in at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility here in Pearl. One of the Knights asked me if this was the Kairos ministry, which is an ecumenical Christian retreat program modeled after the Catholic Cursillo movement. I explained to them that Kairos is a Christian program that has is largely run by the Protestants right now. I told them, no, this is our Catholic prison ministry at the state prison here at Pearl. I got me to thinking that perhaps many in our parish might not know much about our Catholic prison ministry.
Since the state prison opened here in Pearl and Father Ruan started going out there to minister to the Catholic inmates, there has been a Catholic prison ministry out there in one form or another. Sometimes we have difficulty getting in to see the inmates. Over the years, sometimes it has been hard finding a priest who has the time and the interest to get involved in that ministry. But there have always been priests and/or lay people from the Jackson area who have been involved in prison ministry at CMCF over the years. Some of the lay men now volunteering in prison ministry have been involved for more than 20 years. I have been involved in prison ministry for 14 years now, as long as I have been a priest. The lay people in the prison ministry come from the different parishes in the Jackson area.
Right now we go out to visit the men and the women in the general prison population on Tuesday afternoons. We visit the men who are trustees on Saturday mornings. If any St Jude parishioners are interested in coming out to help us in this ministry, let me know and we will arrange for you to attend orientation. We can use more volunteers. Volunteers only come out when they are available and when it fits into their schedule. Right now, Basil Demerest is the only St Jude parishioner helping with this ministry.
I always tell people that when I first received a letter from an inmate who was in the Hinds County Detention Center to come visit him in the first year of my priesthood, I thought it was not a ministry to which God was calling me. To be honest, I did not think it was a ministry I was capable of doing. As a missionary I did many things, but I never imagined myself involved in prison ministry. However, it has been a very rewarding ministry for me and one to which I feel a call. There are many men and women in the prison system who want to return to the Catholic faith in which they were raised. There are many non-Catholics in the prison system who are intrigued by the Catholic faith. Perhaps this is ministry to which God is calling you. Remember that visiting the prisoner is a work of mercy to which we are called. These are men and women who are inmates and who live within our parish's boundaries in the city of Pearl who want our ministry. St Jude parish has been very supportive of this ministry, for which I am thankful.
Have a blessed week everyone. Father Lincoln.
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