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May 6, 2020"To Whom it May Concern ... I am locked up..."
This handwritten letter from a 16-year-old in a juvenile correctional facility wasn't the first letter that I've received from someone
behind bars but it was the first in quite some time. He wrote just to ask for some information about Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.
It was so beautiful to read that he was introduced to Blessed Pier Giorgio by someone working in prison ministry who gave him three prayer cards on a recent visit. I have no idea who that was or what the conversation was that day but it was enough to get this teenager's interest.
About a month after I sent him some things, I received another letter. In that timeframe, he had completed his GED and was working on other academic goals.
He had also read the book I sent him and completed the novena in honor of Blessed Pier Giorgio. He asked for a print to hang on his cell wall where he had already placed the prayer cards. I sent him the "Verso l'alto" poster and hope it made it into his hands and onto his wall.
I wanted to share this with you because it gives rise to so many points worth a little meditation. The obvious one is that those of you in prison ministry may never know the extent of the souls you have touched. But Christ promises that you are blessed by the Father and will "inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." (Matthew 25: 34) Thank you for this generous work of mercy.
It is also noteworthy that the simple act of handing out a holy card here and there could make all the difference to the person who receives it. I used to keep track of how many hundreds of thousands of prayer cards we mailed out over the years as the result of your generosity. I really don't have words to express how grateful I am to those of you who have supported this ministry at any time since it began in 2006 and those of you who have taken it upon yourselves to leave brochures and holy cards in churches and other places. I have received quite a few letters from people who came across something in the back of a church somewhere. You are making a difference in the spiritual lives of strangers!
As Saint Teresa of Avila said, "Christ has no body now on earth but yours; no hands but yours; no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ must look out on the world. Yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which He is to bless His people." Thank you for going about doing good out of love for Christ.
Hearing from this teenager also reminded me how concerned Pier Giorgio was for the prisoners during his lifetime. He was known for waiting outside the local prison when men were being released so that he could take them to an employer who would hire those with a criminal record. Pier Giorgio himself was arrested on occasion in the course of defending the Church. The fact that he can be an inspiration to someone imprisoned in 2020 is just another example of his enduring relatability.
Finally, I can't help thinking about what true freedom really is - within or without prison walls - and how often I have taken freedom for granted. As my morning prayer group prays the Canticle of Zechariah via Zoom now each day, these lines strike me quite differently: "This was the oath He swore to our father Abraham / To set us free from the hands of our enemies / Free to worship Him without fear / Holy and righteous in His sight / All the days of our life." (Luke 1:73-75) We now know all to well how easy it is to lose the freedom to worship even when you are not confined to a correctional facility.
As he was about to finish the requirements for his university degree, Pier Giorgio wrote to a good friend "...and thus I’ll spend my last summer free, completely free." Through his intercession, may we all know the true freedom that only comes from life with Christ and do what we can to share it with the people we find in our paths each day.
Blessed Pier Giorgio, pray for us.
Verso l'alto! ///cmw