DESERT PRISON: AUGUST 2013 FOLLOWUP

Thanks and blessings on all the many who generously donated to the cause of electric fans. In Riverbend Prison’s Death Row, these men expressed gratitude in writing for the relief the fans now afford: Ron C., David D., Oscar S., Howard W., Gregory R., and Billy I. An additional purchase was made for Harold H. in Davis Correctional Facility in Oklahoma, who also wrote to express his thanks to the donors of Desert Prison Ministry. Contributions which arrived too late to purchase fans or which were in excess of what was possible to purchase before the deadline will be applied to other pressing needs. God bless you all!

Books continue to make their way to prison cells. In August, Shorter Christian Prayer, The Rule of St. Benedict, The Missionary’s Catechism, The Compendium Catechism of the Catholic Church, Where We Got the Bible, Prefer Christ Above All: The Bible in The Rule of St. Benedict, and Heavenly Homecomings were mailed to individual prisoners. Catholic Catechisms and Shorter Christian Prayers continue to be needed: if you have copies, DPM would like to have them!

THE PRISON DESERT IN AUGUST 2013

THE PRISON DESERT IN AUGUST 2013

I will allure her [Israel], I will lead her I to the desert and speak to her heart. –Hosea 2:16

The name, Desert Prison Ministry, reflects my searching in Catholic spirituality as a hermit. The Desert Fathers frequently shut themselves into tiny cells in the deserts of Egypt and Israel in order to shuck off the world entirely and find God in the wilderness. Sometimes armed with only a few verses of Scripture and their nearest neighbor miles away, the desert fathers returned to the traditions of Elijah, John the Baptist, and Jesus himself during his forty days in the desert before He set about his public mission on earth.

Now, picture yourself in a space 8x12 or so. Many of the prisoners who write me are restricted to such a space except for an occasional shower and an hour’s exercise a day in a cage about as small as the cell. That is why I have sent many prisoners The Hermitage Within, a rare anonymous book on desert spirituality, which tells the reader that if he is to follow the desert way, he must leave all the things of this world and turn through absolute repentance.

That is the challenge that faces prisoners on death row, life without parole (LWOP), or just very long sentences, since the life expectancy of prisoners over fifty is very, very low. Please join with me in prayer for these men and for all prisoners in this world. Your contributions to DPM continue to enable me to send them good books.

THANKS! For all the generous donations to the emergency appeal for electric fans. DPM was able to purchase seven electric fans and get them into the hands of prisoners for August. Books like A Missionary’s Catechism, Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory, and Scott Hahn’s Hail Holy Queen are deeply appreciated by men who are living lives of repentance (as we all must be).

Hermit News # 2 (Why Isn’t Jesus Enough?) is ready. Write me at kentoncraven@hotmail.com and I will be happy to provide an e-copy.