I am home from our all-day, one-day retreat at Rayburn and yes, I am exhausted and so fulfilled! We had 154 men attend the retreat where they heard from prison ministry director John Messenheimer and Sister Judy Gomilla on the subject of love. So appropriate with this weekend's Mass readings all about love but normally a tough subject inside prison. John and Sister Judy did a masterful job of explaining love from the prospective of God's love for us, the love of Jesus, the love commanded of us by God.
The men went through several exercises focused on the attributes of L-O-V-E using the letters of the word love to describe love, another exercise playing the parts of the three protagonists in the Biblical account of the Prodigal son, another using tootsie pops to understand that differences on the outside cannot deny the oneness of all on the inside, and finally, the challenge of writing a love letter to God.
Yes, these are men, in prison, and they all participated fully.
For these men one of the highlights indeed is food. John arranged for a grand lunch catered by Olive Garden, salad, meatballs and spaghetti, bread sticks; food unlike what the men eat on a daily basis in prison. Always, a fresh salad is a very desired thing inside prison. For the morning, the men were served simple foods that again they don't get to eat" apples & bananas, blueberry muffins and juice.
Another delight today was the praise and worship music from the band that was formed a year or so ago from the membership of our Catholic Community.
Of course with 154 men present several were guests of our Catholic inmates so we of course extended an invitation to each of them to come and join us every week for our Catholic services and monthly Mass.
All in all it was a beautiful day and I know many grew closer in their relationship with God. I know that they were engaged as we shared love; the love of God who is love Himself.
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