‘I was…in prison and you visited me (Mt 25:35-36)’

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Most Reverend Michael Mulvey is
bishop of the Diocese of Corpus Christi.

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As the Year of Mercy began last month, I initiated the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy with some of the inmates at the McConnell Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Beeville.  Every year, together with a group of priests, I go to the prison to celebrate an Advent Mass with them during which I baptize, confirm and give First Communion to those among them who have embraced or have re-embraced our Catholic Faith.  Every year this is an unbelievably uplifting experience, but in this Year of Mercy it was so in a particular way.  

Despite the sobering life situation in which they find themselves, there is no doubt that even in that difficult setting, these men have formed a community of believers—they are united.  Reflecting on that day, I asked myself what is it that brings them together?  What unites them?  

It is obvious that the first commonality is that they are sinners, as we all are. However, because their sin involved a crime they are admittedly paying their debt to society. As I was with them, I was reminded once again that—although they had committed criminal acts resulting in their incarceration—like me, they have been redeemed and have chosen to walk the path of sorrow and remorse asking forgiveness for their sins. Each one of them is at a different stage of their holy journey of being reconciled with Jesus Christ and their brothers and sisters.  

This was most pronounced when some of them spoke to me as they would a father with tears in their eyes. It was obvious that as a fellow Christian and as a priest, I was with them in the name of the Church to hear their confessions, to console them, to bring them Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, and to simply be the presence of Christ with them, lifting them up, as Christ himself would do reminding them not to give up believing in the mercy of the Father.  “This faith will bring you courage, hope and peace.”

This is the faith that brings them together. More than sin or their experience of sin, it is their faith in Jesus Christ that is the profound reason for their unity. Only Jesus can bring true unity. It is he who fashions them into the Body of Christ—the Church in the prison. They have come to realize that the Christian journey cannot be lived alone. 

This is a lesson for us.  Whether in prison, whether incarcerated within a cell or incarcerated within our own sins and failures, the journey of our faith life with Jesus is meant to be lived together as part of His Body, the Church, the community of faith that is the people of God.

One gentleman told me that he was there on a life sentence, but that he has found peace and was happy because he has found a community of faith within the prison walls. In short, even there, he has found the Church, the Body of Christ.  

In my time there, I could not help but see the fulfillment of the beautiful prayer that we pray at each Mass prior to the sign of peace:  “…look not on our sins but on the faith of your Church, and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will.” In the community of faith, these men are finding peace and, in their own way can teach us to do the same.

Some of them are reclaiming the seeds of faith planted in them by their parents, grandparents, catechists and others during their early years. Although losing their way along the journey of life, they are maturing in the faith they learned as children. It is in the community of faith that they are finding confidence and strength to seek the forgiveness and mercy of God and make it the central focus of their life.

Another gentleman gave me a recap of his first year as a Catholic Christian—he was baptized and confirmed last Advent.  He told me that one of the reasons he became Catholic was because of the sacrament of penance, which he practices regularly.  It brings him a sense of self-discipline and is a way to encounter God’s mercy.  

After further reflection, I was to see in them—united in such a life situation—a refreshing absence of divisive competition. Unlike so many of us who struggle in the supposed “real world,” these men have been taken out of the world of competition. They are not competing with anyone. Without being overly naïve, the artificial competitiveness and pride that so many struggle with, is lessened in their environment. In a community of faith each of us should strive not to be the best in the world (office, home, community) but rather to be the best for the world, to demonstrate a deep sense of service for our brothers and sisters.

A sign of their community life and support for each other was when one of them presented me with the gift of a portrait of myself celebrating mass. Rejoicing each year over the talents of one or two of them, men present me with a gift that they made in their prison workshops or art studios such as a key chain, a wooden chalice, a crozier, a pectoral cross and for the last two years a portrait. Each year the entire community rejoices, because they understand that when one rejoices, all rejoice together; when one succeeds, all succeed.

Similarly, when I asked about a certain inmate from last year they rejoiced in informing me that he had finished his sentence and was able to go home. He was free. Rather than being angry that someone was released while they remain, the expression was one of joy that one of their number, their brother, was free.  

This is what the Kingdom of God is all about.  The Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaims to us is a kingdom where he is the center of our lives—individually and collectively.  The Church is not just a group of individuals who happen to come together on a Sunday morning. When we come to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we are—by the grace of the Holy Spirit—woven into one as the mystical Body of Christ.  We are transformed and have a sense that it is home, where we live with our brothers and sisters praising God and celebrating his love and mercy. This is the Kingdom of God.

In the midst of our journey through the sufferings and sorrows of this life, the reality of the Kingdom of God shows us that in sharing the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ, in being faithful to him even unto death, in living with him, and dying with him, we rise with him to share in the glory of his eternal kingdom.  

Whenever I am able to visit the prisons in our diocese, my faith is always renewed and strengthened. Though I am privileged to bring them Christ in the sacraments, these inmates and their community of faith also bring Christ to me in a different but profound way. When I go to the prisons, I am reminded that only one thing is necessary—Jesus Christ and our life together in his body, the Church.    

In this joyous Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, let us take the lessons from our brothers through the witness of their lives, namely, to be single-minded in living our lives in Christ, not seeking to outshine each other but rather to let the light of Christ shine among us and to be consumed into one in his Body, so that what people see in us is only Jesus and the beauty of life in him, with him and through him.