An Extension of Vincentian Work
By Eduardo Gómez, National Vice President for Communications
In the past 15 years, I have heard many of my sister and brother prison ministry members make this statement: “If you had once told me that I would be here in prison ministering to inmates, I would have said ‘yeah, right’.” This is fairly typical in prison volunteers, similarly to what some new Vincentians experience when they consider having to make Home Visits. We simply don’t believe we could ever go into a prison and minister to inmates and likewise, many a prospective Vincentian feels the same about Home Visits. That is until we actually get our “feet wet”.
In 1985, my wife, Teresa, and I had the opportunity to live a Cursillo. For those who haven’t heard of or have not experienced this weekend of faith and conversion, the Cursillo movement concerns itself with the effective proclamation of the Gospel. It seeks to lay the essential foundation for a Christian life by calling Catholics to be instruments of evangelization. As many of you know, after the three days of intense spiritual sharing and instruction, the next step is the fourth day—the rest of our lives—in which there is a constant need to renew the faith with ongoing study and evangelization.
Cursillo is followed by something called weekly leader school meetings, where newly initiated Cursillistas can persevere on their spiritual journey. It was at one of these leader school meetings that Archbishop Roberto Sánchez visited and asked for volunteers to start a new prison ministry at the three state prisons just south of Albuquerque in the village of Los Lunas, New Mexico.
Of course, my reaction was the same as already described in the first paragraph of this piece, “No way José!” But, as luck would have it, or maybe divine providence, the Archbishop’s request was answered by a handful of veteran Cursillistas and within a few weeks, after instructive orientation by the corrections department, the Ministry was initiated and others began to be called into the movement. Reluctantly, I began my journey. And to make a long story short, today the great love of my volunteer work is in prison. We now have 35 or so dedicated men and women who look forward to their weekly prison visits.
Prison ministry is nothing more than an extension of our Vincentian work. A few in our company who don’t belong to a Conference of the Society, now consider themselves Vincentians. Both ministries are really one and the same and take their charge from the Gospel of St. Matthew, 25:31, in which Jesus calls us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, and visit the sick and those in prison. It’s funny how homilists often ignore these “dregs of society.” Their sermons start off with fire about serving the poor, the hungry, the naked, etc., and then seem to fizzle when they get down to that last group, “those in prison”. However, prison work is very much a Vincentian activity. Those who have not experienced it, might do well to try it—even if you run the risk of eventually uttering that worn out phrase, “If you had told me that I would be here…” and so forth.
In the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, the ministry is called “Encounter with Christ,” and we are now in our 16th year. It consists of many visits to the three prisons that make up the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility, the medium/ maximum Main, Minimum Restrict Unit (nicknamed by the
inmates, the Murph) and Central Minimum, an honor farm with no fences.
In addition to weekly visits, twice a year we conduct “Encounter with Christ” weekends patterned after Cursillo. The format is the same but talks have been adjusted to fit the situation. Cursillo is for married couples, held on successive weekends, first for men and then for spouses. Since most inmates have little or no family life, are divorced and in some cases have no contact with family, the Cursillo talks don’t quite “fit the bill”. So the “Encounter” talks have been retrofitted to the community in which we work—the prison environment.
The weekends take place in the spring and fall. Inmates from the honor farm, who have six months or less to serve on their sentences, are allowed to come into the city to Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish where the “Encounter” takes place. For many, the “Encounter” is a new beginning and a once in a lifetime experience; an intense weekend of spiritual growth and enhancement. Candidates and team live together for 70 odd hours; all the waking hours of the “Encounter” weekend— nobody leaves.
The continuous activities range from a quiet retreat on Thursday night to talks by clergy and laymen all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning. The ministry has the assistance and support of several priests. Throughout the weekend there are many individual and group visits to the Blessed Sacrament, daily Mass, rosaries, stations, confession, lots of singing, personal witnessing, and even a little recreation. The final day, Sunday, ends with a closing Mass in which the inmates share their experiences and feelings about the weekend. Their families are invited for the closing.
Once in a while, the corrections department will allow us to conduct an “Encounter” weekend inside the main prison. These “true Encounters” have turned out to be even more inspiring and spiritual for us than the ones on the outside. By being locked up for the three days we begin to understand what it’s like to be a prisoner, to experience empathy walking in their shoes and have a better understanding of their lives. We see with our own eyes that these men are genuinely looking for something better. Cynics often tell us that we are wasting our time,
you know, the “lock’ em up and throw away the key”crowd. But we’re no dummies—we have learned to discern between those who are genuine and those who are phony. I will admit, however, that we have “been had” a time or two. But the reality is that we only come in contact with a small percentage of the prison population. Out of a thousand inmates at the three facilities in Los Lunas, an average of 60 attend our three services on Saturdays. So, if this is typical of all the U.S. prisons, the question is: Are six percent of inmates—60 souls—worth the effort? How do you think Jesus might answer that question? He went after one lost sheep.
One thing we have noticed in the 16 years of our work is that the great majority of inmates whose lives we’ve touched, after release, are never seen again. They just don’t come back! Other ministries have noted the same results. It should prove to all, especially Department of Corrections officials everywhere, that recidivism among inmates who take part in religious programs in prison is very, very low—somewhere in the bottom one-digit range. It is an amazing accomplishment when the general recidivism rate is somewhere in the 60 to 70 percentile range. Many DoC’s are now waking up to this fact.
Here’s a frequently asked question: “Is the work dangerous?” I can’t answer. I can say that in 16 years of serving the spiritual needs of prisoners, the most trouble we’ve had is not with inmates, but with incorrigible corrections officers—human beings who sometimes “get up on the wrong side of the bed” and we take the flack. But, dangerous? I have to say, no! We feel Jesus’ presence always. All we need do is observe the rules that were taught us at the orientation sessions and regular follow-ups, and very little can happen.
Many Vincentians are already involved in prison work. What about you? Does your Council or Conference promote prison ministry? If not, maybe it’s time. Perhaps you can be the catalyst. Could be that some day you, too, will be saying, “If anyone had told me that I would be here in prison,” … and you know the rest.