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Prison Ministry Sunday
Is an initiative of Prison Ministry India to pray and help the prisoners. This day we intend to give a kind of awareness to the society also
We invite all the believers in Christ to think about our brethren who are behind the bars, neglected by the society, desperate, disappointed and still behind prison walls. Despite their cruelties they are longing for real love and affection. Nobody thinks about these people who are spread over 1397 prisons in India. It is a pity to see that prisoners and their family members become subjects of constant ill treatment in the society. At this juncture our significant mission is to bring this stratum of society in to the mainstream of life.
Life Inside the Prison Walls
Life in prison is one of acute loneliness and grief as freedom is denied. They are labeled as criminals and called by their numbers, not names. It is shocking to know that there is a large percentage of violent criminals among the convicts and under trials that are lodged in Indian jails are youth between the age group of 18 and 35.These youth who represent the future and are the pillars of India have unfortunately turned out to be violent criminals, anti-social elements, naxalites, dacoits and rapists. Prisoners do not lose their fundamental rights as prisoners, says Cardinal Renato Martino (Vatican).An imprisoned man has the right to be considered as a person asserted the President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, at a seminar on the Human rights of Prisoners.
Crime in the world is rising at an alarming rate. The world prison population has reached 8.6 million and in India alone 3,22,357 of which 2,23,038 are under-trials. Many of the inmates of prisons are innocent. But in no way their innocence is proved in the court and 70% of the prisoners are from broken families.
The Good Shepherd is in Search of Every Lost Sheep
Jesus saw Mathew in the office of the tax collector and called him to follow Him. Mathew got up and followed Jesus (Mt 9:9-14). Jesus calling him to follow Him was his acceptance of Mathew as a tax collector, a sinner. Mathews following Jesus is the sign of his conversion. Secondly Jesus non-condemning and accepting attitude towards sinners is also his way of reforming people. When the adulterous woman was presented before Jesus for stoning her to death, Jesus not only challenges the people who condemned her, he himself refused to condemn her and said to the woman Neither do I condemn you, go and don't sin again (Jn 8:11). This non-condemning attitude of Jesus was a challenge thrown to the woman not to sin again.By this attitude Jesus revealed to her that she is a precious child of God, in and through whom divine glory may shine. Thus Jesus proved himself not only to be the greatest friend of prisoners, but also to be the greatest and the unique reformer of prisoners. For Jesus says I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Mk 2:17). This reveals that reformation of the lost and the least is the duty and responsibility of every Christian.
The Mission of the Church (The origin and mission of PMI)
I was in prison, and you visited me (Mt 25:39). These words of Jesus show how important prison ministry is today. One day Michael Angelo, the world renowned sculptor stood gazing for hours at a crude marble block. One of his assistants after patiently waiting for a long time, asked Sir, this is only a crude and rough piece of rock, why are you staring at it for such a long time? Michael Angelo replied, You only see the rough surface of the rock, but I see a beautiful angel in it and I am thinking how to shape it. Yes, similar is the task and attitude of the PMI. During prison visits the inmates frequently ask questions such as, Will you help me when I am released? Won't you give me a chance to renew myself so as to lead a better life?
Once a criminals is always a criminal. This is the view of the society. But prison ministry is an answer to their cry.
Two-third of the newly released prisoners go back to prisons within 2 years. For many first time offenders, prisons become a university of crime and it is a breeding centre. They are then capable of committing worse crimes than what they committed before. This is the time when the volunteers of PMI rekindle the extinguished spiritual flame in prisoners and lift them to high moral standards through spiritual and physical activities such as prayer, fasting, celebration of sacraments, inner healing retreats, counseling, dynamic meditation, yoga, entertainment and cultural programmes.
So as Christians we have the responsibility to participate in this mission. Jesus reminds us, truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me (Mt 25:40). Jesus himself was an innocent prisoner brutally murdered. The last good deed on the cross was, the rehabilitation of a criminal in his heavenly paradise. Keeping this in mind, I earnestly request you to pray and help these prisoners, their families and all those who suffer because of them. The best example of being with prisoners can be found in St. Maximilian Kolbe, the patron of Prison Ministry India. He was arrested during the World War II and was sent to the concentration camp. When he was there with the prisoners, he shared his meager ration of food with those around him. He prepared many of them to make good confession and prayed for them. And at the end, he took another man's place to be put to death so that he could save a poor soul who could be freed and join his family. This is what Jesus expects of us to share our time, money and prayer. PMI depends on the providence of God and we hold three principles:
- Inconvenience is our convenience
- Begging is our life style
- God's providence is our bank account.
We have come across generous people who give money on their wedding anniversaries, birthdays and other occasions. We do not receive any foreign funds. So let us make a decision today to rehabilitate at least one prisoner. Remember that we shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any god that we can do or any kindness that we can show to any human being. Let us do it now and let us not defer or neglect it because we shall not pass this way again.
Witnessing to God´s liberating love to the people behind bars.
Patron of PMI
Maximilian Kolbe
– Patron Saint of Prison Ministry India
St. Maximilian Kolbe was born in Poland on 8th January 1894. He was ordained a priest in 1918 in Rome. His burning zeal for promoting the glory of God is seen from the early life in the priesthood. While he was in Poland after the Nazi invasion in 1939, he was imprisoned and released for a time. During the 2nd World War Fr. Maximilian Kolbe was arrested again and sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz, with a group of 320 prisoners on May 28, 1941. During this time he would share his meager ration of food with those around him who were hungry. He could only secretly hear confession and hold mass for others. His work continued in the camp even under adverse conditions. He would comfort the prisoners, saying, “Hate is not creative; our sorrow is necessary so that those who live after us may be happy”.
He was in block 14 of the concentration camp. One day a man in that block had escaped. All the men were brought out in the hot sun and made to stand all day with no food and water. The commander, Fritch who was in charge, told them that ten would die in the place of the one who had escaped. The guard called out the names. Suddenly one man, a Polish sergeant Francis Gajowniczek begged to be spared because his family would not survive without him. There was pin drop silence and all trembled in fear.
Then the holy priest, Fr. Maximilian Kolbe, boldly stepped forward and said “I am a catholic priest from Poland: I would like to take his place because he has a wife and children”. All were starting at him with surprise. Kolbe was marked immediately and was taken to the starvation bunker. Fr. Kolbe, the last prisoner left to be killed, raised his arm to the guard and was finished by an injection. On Aug 14, 1941, the eve of the feast of Assumption of Our Lady into heaven, Kolbe was martyred. Pope John Paul II canonized him on October 10, 1982.
Dear friends, Fr. Kolbe is our model and the patron saint of Prison Ministry India. His magnificent life and martyrdom put a challenge before us. Kolbe gave back the father of a family by sacrificing his own precious life. Jesus says “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13). That’s what our patron practiced in his life. When we celebrate the Prison Ministry Sunday, let each on ask himself: Am I ready to spend a little time and make some sacrifice for my brethren? Am I ready to take a little inconvenience for them? Thousands of fathers and mothers are waiting for the return of their children with deep sorrowful hearts, thousands of children expect their parents to be at home with them. When we give back a brother or a sister of somebody, children of somebody, parents of somebody or a loyal citizen of India, I become another Maximilian Kolbe. Our Lord is the good Shepherd. He leaves the ninety-nine and goes in search of the one who went astray. Our heavenly Father is one who all the time expects the return of the prodigal son.
The style of Jesus to bring back the lost one is very simple. Zachaeus was a sinner. He was a tax collector. One day Jesus told Zachaeus, I will be with you for dinner. We do not see Jesus making a big speech at his home, but the loving presence of Jesus made him a changed person. He immediately showed the sign of repentance. He declared loudly, “Master if I have defrauded any one of anything, I will pay back four times as much”. Yes friends, our loving presence with our brethren behind the bars will substantially change them as God’s own people.
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