FEBRUARY LENTEN CALL FROMTHE PRISON DESERT

“The desert is an invitation and purification for the soul.”—Blessed Charles de Foucauld (Charles of Jesus)

As we begin to enter into Lent, I would like to emphasize why I have called this ministry to prisoners Desert Prison Ministry. It was not an idle thought that prompted me to do this. Standing at the head of a Wadi canyon in the Sultanate of Oman a few years ago, I was impelled to cry out that I was reclaiming this desert in the name of Jesus Christ. Before Muhammed began the great jihad that took over much of the world for Islam, the Arabian peninsula was spotted with synagogues and monasteries. Within a few years, all traces of Judaism and Christianity had been purged by the armies of Islam and, of course, they have not been able to return. If you are interested in this subject, you may wish to read “The Cross and the Desert,” on my other blog, http://failedhermit.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html

In recent years I have entered more into the spirit of hermitage and the Desert Fathers of the early centuries of the Church. Like Monsignor Hugh Benson, the author of the apocalyptic The Lord of the World (1907), I can easily foresee a Europe as a dying sunset, Rome as a heap of ruins, and the Papal chair removed to a white-washed hut in the desert near Jerusalem. I also think that it is now time for the Church to return to the spirituality of the Desert Fathers and the hermits of every age.

My contact with prisoners across the country brings me shocking stories each week. Prisoners on death row or in long-term sentences such as life without parole are daily subjected to abuses I would blush to describe. No, dear friends, it is not true what you may hear in the bars—that most prisoners are living in the lap of luxury with nice gyms, free TV, and coddled therapy groups. It just ain’t so. Even when they live in almost tolerable conditions, they are often deprived of the Sacraments or the visitations of priests and deacons. To many prisoners, deprived of even basic necessities, five dollars a month to purchase stamps, paper, or a few snacks, means a great deal.

Thank you for the outpouring of donations in January and throughout 2012. Thanks to you, over sixty packages of books, catechisms, Bibles, religious publications, and good literature have arrived to lighten dreary cells, and small money orders have made it possible for prisoners to write their families and lawyers.

Blessings! Please pray for this ministry, for the prisoners throughout the world (think of Korea! China! and the Islamic countries!)

-Ken Craven
661 S. Edgewood Drive
Sparta, TN 38583-1105
www.kencraven.blogspot.com
kentoncraven@hotmail.com

THE PRISON DESERT IN JANUARY

Yes, I know, January is the bleakest month on the money front. Bills, dues, appeals, fiscal cliffs, insurance, prescriptions, and the debt ceiling (whatever that is). Nevertheless, this hermit comes a begging with the news that the Desert Prison Ministry bank account is registering at $1.26.

The good news is that all the prisoners on my list received Christmas cards and letters, and many of them received good books, including the recommended A Different Kind of Cell: The Story of a Murderer Who Became a Monk by a Trappist hermit. If you read this book and want to share it with a prisoner, let me know. Or, just send the list price plus estimated shipping and I’ll send it in your name, if you wish, or anonymously, if you prefer. Or send me copies of the book (new or used) and I will do the rest.

I’m off to Riverbend Maximum Security Prison and Morgan County Corrections Complex in January. I’m nearly out of stamps, and will need printer ink, paper, gasoline, books, packing envelopes, and prayers this month. Please help! Send checks, stamps, good used books, money orders, questions, uncut diamonds, and gold bullion to the address below. You know where to send the prayers. Benedicite!

Thanks to everyone for their contributions during Advent!

Special thanks to Holy Angels Book Shop (http://penitents.org/giftshop.html) for providing copies of Shorter Christian Prayer at cost!

PS Please pray for Ruth, a Third Order Carmelite who gave some twenty-plus years to a letter-writing prison ministry after the death of her husband, and has recently retired from her saintly labors while giving me much needed help!

Ken Craven
Desert Prison Ministry
661 S. Edgewood Drive
Sparta, TN 38583-1105
kentoncraven@hotmail.com
931-979-1938