On Wednesday, I visited with the Benedictine community in Unit 6, Minimum Security, which has been meeting for over a year and is now entering a new phase. Last week David S., recently confirmed in the Catholic Church, was invested by Father Joe as a Benedictine Oblate novice, and on September 28, Devin B. will be invested by Father Joe as a full Benedictine Oblate. After liturgical Morning Prayer, the group agreed to take charge of itself by having all future prayers led by members of the group and by selecting leaders of the group to administer the Rule of St. Benedict. I would continue to visit and counsel on a monthly basis. Devin B. announced that a daily prayer and study group would begin at 4PM each day.
Other prisoners in lockdown maximum security were visited for individual sessions of counseling and discussion of serious reading materials.
VERY MUCH NEEDED THIS MONTH: Stamps, money for gasoline, money for books, especially catechisms, The Rule of St. Benedict, and other religious classics, such as The Confessions of St. Augustine. Also needed if you have any: Pray the Rosary Daily from www.marian.org.
Thanks for your donations and prayers for the ongoing work of DPM!
Hermit News An Occasional Publication of Desert Prison Ministry
Hermit News # 2, Part 2 Why Jesus is Not Enough (continued)
The Hermit: Since the first part of this newsletter went out, Luthien and I have received a letter from Bubba in an Oklahoma prison. Bubba is responding to the passage in Hermit News # 2 about prisoners who build a wall around themselves and their private opinions by saying, essentially, “I have my Jesus and that’s that.”
Here is an excerpt (printed with permission):
And correct, a lot of these guys build a wall around their heart and mind. And no man can get through one of those walls until that person lets the wall down. Maybe some sort of trauma in that man’s life can drop the wall, but only for a very short time, a day or two, that’s when someone needs to say something to him that will reach his heart. Yeh, I had me a wall built on death row for a lot of years, then I lost both my grandmas around 2000. And I finally thought to myself that maybe I wasn’t as tough as I thought I was. Then I lost my Mom and I lost all that I had gained again. I put the wall back up, stronger than ever. And then lo and behold, I got my case over turned and it made me upset at first, then about two days later, a thought came back, maybe God did hear my prayers and my Mom’s prayers. Maybe my Mom’s prayers and pain were not for nothing, maybe there is more to life than waiting for tomorrow. I guess tragedy in a man’s life can make or break him. I’d say mainly it breaks his thinking, makes him bitter about life, God, the world. You see a lot of guys with tattoos like F.T.W. and that tells you they had some bad things go on in their life. I hope I never put that wall up again, and I try to let my feelings show a little more nowadays. Maybe not cry, but definitely let a friend or loved one know I care and I appreciate them in my life and I pray at meals even in the Chow Hall [Bubba has recently been placed in Medium], not out loud, but I just bow my head and pray. Each night I ask for forgiveness for anything I think I done wrong. Even if it’s nothing to worry about. Just want people to know I am grateful to be here and God is in my life, in my heart. I don’t got a personal Jesus , I have a personal relationship with Him. And he hears me. That’s all I need from Him, is just to listen to me and know I want him in my life, for better or worse, Praise God. . . . Tell Luthien thanks for her questions and opinions, cause it was good to hear you explain it all.
[Note: last week, after several months of lockdowns because of gang wars, Bubba was able to attend Mass, make his Confession, and receive Holy Communion from Father Le, the chaplain to Catholic prisoners in the Tulsa diocese of Oklahoma. Next week he will be able to attend a class that will eventually permit him to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Please pray for Bubba!]
Bubba’s response to Hermit News # 2 speaks volumes in a nutshell about being a member of the Body of Christ. Through his membership in the Catholic Church, Bubba is able to receive the Body and Blood of Our Lord and Savior in the Eucharist, in which Jesus is truly present. “Take and eat,” Jesus said during the Last Supper, “this is my body.” AND IT IS!
Next Hermit News: “Why isn’t the Bible enough?”
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