We sung out the Easter alleluia's tonight inside the walls of the chapel on the grounds of Rayburn state prison tonight. And it made my day. I mean it literally turned a difficult day into pure joy!
My Wednesday night visit to Rayburn comes during the Easter octave so we approached the evening like all Catholics should: Alleluia! He is risen. And our Easter celebration continues. Last week, as the men approached Holy Week, they celebrated a traditional seder meal. Tonight, we read the readings from this coming Sunday but we relived the events of the past week. We shared as I preached the mysteries of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter vigil.
The men were in good spirits, rejoicing in Easter glory. Near the end of our communion service, one of themen, a devotee to the Divine Mercy, gave an amazing talk about all things Divine Mercy. He was spot on as he shared about the history of Jesus' appearances to St. Faustina, the promises of Divine Mercy, how to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and the details of the image of Divine Mercy. A perfect end to a perfect celebration inside prison; in the octave of Easter!
And as is so often the case this visit lifted my spirits and helped put aside a totally miserable day. There is so much to learn on these visits about really and truly being faithful. We struggle with our faith when the little things go sour; these men, living inside a state penitentiary, really, truly live every day trying to be so faithful. I'm just so blessed to witness this on these Wednesday visits!
So again I say: Alleluia!!
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