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So it begins. This past Saturday and Sunday, I introduced the Prisoner Prayer Pal ministry to our congregation. As a result 67 people signed up to pray for DB, TS, RS and their sponsors - MS and AB. They will be supported in prayer as they finish their last two months of preparation before receiving their sacraments.
During the signups, one person told me that she had a prayer chain of over 500 people that would pray for them. Another told me that her faith sharing group would pray for them. The response was unbelievable. I hoped for 10 and God gave me so many more! How appropriate was Sunday's gospel -- God does indeed provide - "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides." It was as if those words were spoken directly to me this weekend.
At the end of each Mass, I spoke about the process that these women will go through and how they need the support of our parish. I prepared small cards in advance to hand out to people who signed up. Printed on each was a silhouettes of one of the women and a little quote from each on why they are on this journey. Isn't it amazing how God works? In purchasing the paper for these cards, I found bright orange paper on sale. As it turned out the cards looked a lot like the special cards you find in a Monopoly game - you know the yellow and orange ones? These resembled Chance Cards. And so with that little bit of inspiration from the Holy Spirit, the presentation turned out to be a great success.
Each participant received at least one "Chance Card" and their prayers and support will mean so much to these women in getting their Chance to "Get out of Jail Free.” Of course this is a freedom of a different kind. It is a freedom that can only be found inside the heart and that only God can give them. It is a freedom that can change their lives forever and that may very well keep them from returning to prison.
They are not the only ones who have get a chance. We all have a chance to be blessed by God by saying yes whenever He presents an opportunity such as this. He is calling us daily to accept such opportunities... We just have to say "Yes, Lord."
Thank you for saying yes to this one and I trust God will bless you. Please continue to pray for these women and their small community of believers.
All Prayer Pals will receive a copy of this blog via email or regular post. If you want to be added to the distribution please contact me.
Wishing God's choicest blessings for you. - krr
To Kathy, the women in prison with whom Kathy ministers and those involved in Prisoner Prayer Pals: I say: "I am extremely gratified to be affliated with you in this ministry". I am so delighted with the response to Kathy's request for parishoners to become involved in Christ's
ReplyDeletecall to "visit me when I was in prison". Kathy's creativity and faithfulness to this call has given the opportunity for the women involved in the program to know that others really do care about them and want to see them succeed. The ladies and their sponsors have a rare opportunity to learn about their Faith from Kathy and I know she truly relishes the time she "gets" to spend with them. It is with great admiration and gratefulness that I offer a "Thank You" to each of you involved in this ministry. May God continue to speak to your heart and may you follow God's call to serve the least of God's people. Well done!
Barbara Mattus, Director, Prison Ministry
Diocese of Tucson, Catholic Community Services
Barb: Thanks for the encouragement. As you can imagine the response from the women last night was a combination of tears and smiles.-krr
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