";
document.write(HotScript);
//var TableBegin="
|
|
|
F e a t u r e A r t i c l e
EVANGELIZING FROM THE BOTTOM UP
By RUSSELL L. FORD
Part IV
AS promised in the previous article of this series, we will examine a number of ways to aid in the growth of your prison apostolate. The first topic with which we will deal is advanced catechesis.
Over a period of time, those of your convict converts who have a "boatload of time," as we say in prison, will grow to be proficient in the basic catechism. Many will be interested in learning the catechism at a deeper level. However, because of the unique academic and cultural needs of prisoners, there is virtually nothing on the market to assist them in learning advanced catechetics.
Several years ago, with the cooperation of lay people from the free world, God granted me the privilege of being able to found a national prison apostolate called Prisoners of the Perfect Prisoner (a subsidiary of First Century Christian Ministries [F.C.C.M.].) I will more fully explain what Prisoners of the Perfect Prisoner (P.P.P.) is all about in the final part of this series. But for now we will concern ourselves with its involvement in the field of advanced catechetics.
To meet the specialized needs of prisoners in advanced catechetics, I wrote a catechism in correspondence-course form, using Church documents and the works of authors such as Fr. John Hardon, S.J., William May, and Karl Keating. I have been advised that the course will have to be rewritten because of the new Catechism of the Catholic Church. When this has been accomplished, it will be made available with a bishop's imprimatur. By the time any reader's apostolate reaches the stage when such a course is needed, the revised text will be available. The advanced catechetical course will be made available through P.P.P.'s Killian Mooney Catechetical Institute (K.M.C.I.). Because prison officials opposed to my work threatened the life of the apostolate at the prison where I live, I no longer maintain a formal association with F.C.C.M., P.P.P., or K.M.C.I., except for my occasional written work and giving advice when asked.> That course offers the prisoner not only the education, but a beautiful diploma suitable for framing. The Killian Mooney Catechetical Institute exists with the ecclesiastical approbation of the Archbishop of Mobile.>
In the meantime, there exist several advanced courses, such as a catechist's course written by Fr. John Hardon, S.J. Although I have never taken this course, I have seen it and believe it to be the most in-depth course available. However, it does not work well for most prisoners, due to their limitations.
A minority of prisoners ever finished high school, and many are functionally illiterate or nearly so. Here in Alabama the average educational level of prisoners is tenth grade. Due to Alabama's inadequate educational system, a tenth-grade education equates to about grade five for much of the rest of the country. Since Fr. Hardon, and all other catechetical authors for that matter, do not write with prisoners' specific needs in mind, special catechetical materials are necessary. Prisoners are capable of grasping even the most advanced concepts, but only when presented in such a way that their adulthood is not insulted or condescended to.
It is not enough that prisoners learn the catechism alone. There is a dire need also for apologetics, due to the atmosphere of anti-Catholic bias that exists in the prisons. Indeed, there is a grave need for this throughout Catholic America, but the only way a prisoner can remain Catholic is by learning to defend his faith.
Apologetics is necessary to counter the attacks of Protestant Fundamentalists, as they are the majority religion in prison. It was the more radical Fundamentalists here in the South that initially caused me to see the need to learn the various defenses for our faith. Fundamentalists, particularly here in the South, but certainly not restricted to this region, are an aggressive breed of Christian. They take pride in causing Catholics to "unpope," as the following story illustrates.
Several times a year, a large group of Fundamentalists comes into our prison system to evangelize. They spend a week in the bowels of the prison, trying to befriend and evangelize. I tried to avoid these fellows in the early days of my conversion because I still lacked the confidence to articulate our faith when asked. But the inevitable finally came to pass. A short, round, abrasively aggressive Fundamentalist saw me making the Sign of the Cross as I finished praying my rosary.
As I put my rosary back into my pocket, he approached and boldly proclaimed, "Boy, I got to save ya from that Mayree worshippin'." I tried to protest that we Catholics don't worship Mary, but the fellow sensed that I was unable to frame a defense. He interrupted by saying, "Yeah, y'all Catholics do worship Mayree! Doncha know God kilt a slew o' Jews for worshippin' someone asides him?!" It was at this point that my temper flared, charity went out the window, and I said something about causing the man's nose and navel to be in the same place. This was my first clue that I needed apologetics.
Due to an incredibly distorted and negative self-image, prisoners almost always feel the need to be right. When tempers flare on religious issues between men who are convicted of murder, robbery, and rape, what should be a healthy dialogue is potentially a lethal confrontation. Therefore, prisoners should be taught not only logical defenses for Catholic doctrine, but also a productive manner of presentation.
In addition to Fundamentalists, there is a growing threat coming from Jehovah's Witnesses, who appear to be aggressively promoting their strange cult in the prisons. Unfortunately, many of their new warriors used to be Catholics. Thanks be to God, we have never lost one of our own to the Witnesses- although we have certainly had our share of debate-but I hear about the loss of Catholics to the Witnesses in prisons all across the country.
Not only is a mastery of apologetics necessary to defend the faith, but it is also the best evangelization tool a prisoner (or prison apostle) has to offer. Many converts are made simply by hearing an apologetical debate and being attracted to the sensibleness of the Catholic argument. Indeed, it is through apologetics that virtually all of our converts have become exceptional evangelists.
Studying apologetics is no easy task, but it is one of the most exciting fields anyone can study. As one learns apologetics and understands the arguments, one's chest begins to swell with pride at the realization that we don't merely posses the best, but the only! There are a number of good resources for learning apologetics. Every prison apostolate should have abundant resource materials available.
The first and best possible resource is Karl Keating's Catholicism and Fundamentalism, the most essential book of apologetics for any prison apostolate.
Another excellent book is Protestant Fundamentalism and the Born-Again Catholic, by Father Robert J. Fox. Although Fr. Fox's book is less comprehensive than Keating's, it touches the heart with a new zeal to evangelize. Since the prison apostle will be using Fr. Fox'sSharing the Faith video series [see previous article], this fine apologetical testament (as well as a number of other of Fr. Fox's books) should be standard fare for the prison apostle.
Karl Keating is also the founder of Catholic Answers, which publishes hundreds of apologetical tracts on just about every Catholic topic you can imagine. These tracts are attractive, shirt-pocket size, and inexpensive. They are useful for both evangelization and teaching prisoners how to defend our holy and ancient faith. This Rock is also must reading.
Another excellent resource is a three-volume work published by TAN Books and Publishers, called Radio Replies, by Fathers Rumble and Carty. With the exception of a few attacks against the Church by some extremists, virtually every imaginable topic is covered in these three volumes.
Finally, there are audio and video tapes by such apologists as Karl Keating, Scott Hahn, and Patrick Madrid. Many of Keating's and Madrid's training seminars and debates are available on both audio and video cassettes. It has been our experience, though, that the two most evangelistic videos available are from Professor Scott Hahn: The Scott Hahn Conversion Story, and The Fourth Cup. Hahn's videos are produced by St. Joseph's Communications.
If the prison apostle must make these resources available, then he must also establish a prison Catholic library. The two major obstacles are cost and being certain of the orthodoxy of the materials.
The prison apostle will be amazed at the charity of parishioners when the parish priest or prison chaplain announces a need for good Catholic books. If the prison apostle will provide a list of books, instead of asking for the money to buy them, Catholics are happy to contribute. Many benefactors will even purchase new copies of the requested books.
Another means of obtaining books is through Prisoners of The Perfect Prisoner. P.P.P. publishes a monthly newsletter called Prisoners of the Perfect Prisoner National Network. Phil Hanna, president of P.P.P., and my first godson, will be happy to include a mention of your need for books and tapes in the free monthly newsletter.
Sometimes, trying to discern the orthodoxy of a particular book is like trying to put out a forest fire with a garden hose. However, some publishers can always be counted on to publish the most magisterially faithful materials written. Anything from Ignatius Press, TAN Books, St. Paul Editions (not to be confused with Paulist Press), and Christian Classics can always be counted on for fidelity to Christ. Beyond these, the prison apostle will either have to read every book donated, or ask the advice of some trusted authority, as an imprimatur in this country is no longer a guarantee of orthodoxy. I recommend Karl Keating and his staff as the most trusted authority for advice in this field. Letters take forever to be answered, so you can call Catholic Answers at 619-541-1131, or visit the Worldwide Web site at http://www.catholic.com/~answers, where you can leave E-mail for a staff apologist.
A prison Catholic library should be as well balanced in subject matter as it is strong in orthodoxy. Absolutely the most important section of your library will be the hagiographical section. Hagiology is the study of the lives of the saints, and hagiographies are the saints' biographies. The only way to get prisoners to develop a relationship with God is by helping them become addicted to reading the lives of the saints. Many of these hagiographical works read like novels and are often more exciting than Rambo, Dirty Harry, and Steven Segal combined. I cannot stress enough the importance of having lives of the saints in a prison Catholic library. There are 600 volumes in our Catholic library, more than 200 of which are on lives of the saints. The most popular hagiographies are on St. John Bosco and St. Anthony of Padua.
Besides hagiographies, there should also be at least seven other topical sections in the prison Catholic library:Christology; Mariology and definitively approved Marian apparitions; moral theology; mystical theology; apologetics; [Apologetics is inclusive of ecclesiastical history. No one can become a competent apologist without a familiarity of Church history. Karl Keating recommends Philip Hughes' A Popular History of the Catholic Church. This is good, but my personal preference is Church History by Fr. John Laux. The latter is more laborious reading, but it is the best for actually learning, as it was written as a history textbook for Catholics who were seniors in high school or freshmen in college.] catechetics; Vatican documents and papal encyclicals. Each of these areas is vital to the well-balanced formation of the new convert to Catholicism. It is true that many prisoners will be unable to read or comprehend some of these works; however, the prison apostle can never go wrong by promoting hagiographical works alone for those who lack the gifts to study these other materials.
Many convicts are incessant readers. Reading is one way to cope with the stresses and boredom of prison life. Still, they have a preconceived notion that reading books of a religious nature is dry and boring. The key to getting the prisoners to read is to start them in lives of the saints by giving a short oral account of the high points of the saint's biography you have just read that week. Of course, this means that the prison apostle himself will have to read a saint's biography every week as well. Why, the prison apostle may even become a saint himself in the process! If the saint's biography is presented to the convicts as exciting and extraordinary, they will eagerly read it.
What does the prison apostle do about those convicts who have difficulty reading? Two publishers provide the remedy. St. Paul Editions (Daughters of St. Paul, 50 St. Paul's Avenue, Boston, MA 02130) has produced an excellent line of saints' biographies for youth called the Encounter Series. Under the leadership of Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J., Ignatius Press (15 Oakland Avenue, Harrison, NY 10528) has published a similar series called Vision Books. The series from both publishers are pleasurable reading, no matter how old the reader. St. Paul Editions promotes their Encounter Series as good reading for anyone "from 9 to 90." Ignatius describes their Vision Books as being for youth, ages 9 to 15. I think Ignatius does its customers and authors an injustice by so limiting them. I enjoy reading Catholic intellectual works; yet I experience equal pleasure while reading the Vision Books series.
Some things in the prison apostolate, while not particularly necessary, go a long way toward the evangelization of non-Catholics and the spiritual growth of Catholics-specifically, these four event categories: retreats, missions (renewal), seminars, and apologetical debates. On the rare occasions when we have had a retreat or mission, we have combined the two. A visiting priest comes into the penitentiary at midday and gives the Catholics a retreat. Then, he stays around the inner prison-meeting prisoners and getting to know them-until that night, when he preaches a mission. The retreat lasts from three days to a week. The fruit has been spiritual advancement for our Catholics and conversions from among the ranks of non-Catholics.
Although I am convinced of the potential benefits of seminars and formal apologetical debates, I cannot speak from experience on these. We had scheduled Karl Keating to come to our prison, to offer a seminar on apologetics during the day and a debate at night with a popular Fundamentalist preacher from Montgomery for the benefit of all the prisoners. Unfortunately, several weeks before the planned event, we were placed under the authority of a new warden whose persecution of Catholic prisoners went so far as to threaten this writer's life. The events were, needless to say, canceled. Still, I believe that both seminars and debates have their proper place in the penitentiary and are of immense evangelistic value.
The key to the conversion of prisoners is nothing less than love. It is vitally important that the prison apostle understand this aspect of his apostolate. Otherwise, he will never see a single conversion. Most prisoners have never experienced a single moment of unconditional love. The love which must be given to prisoners cannot be contingent upon the prisoner's behavior or the nature of his criminal offense. However heinous a prisoner's crime might be, he still possesses a soul which is created in the image and likeness of God. It is important to distinguish between a true love and a false love. A false love is always a happy, make-you-feel-good kind of thing. A true love is merely an equal application of the seven corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
Due to the restrictions and exigencies of prison life, the only gauge prisoners have to determine whether love is being given is by way of the temporal. Almost all prisons allow prisoners to receive at least one package of items from the free world at Christmas. Many prisoners have no one in the free would who cares enough to remember them during Christmas. We have always provided for those men via our benefactors through what I call "Boxes of Love." To make certain we are not taken advantage of, we always place attendance requirements for Mass and catechism class on the prisoners several months before Christmas. The men are quite honest about telling us that they are attending only for the Christmas goodies; however, the fruits from these boxes of love have been monumental. Despite a less-than-pure motive for attending Mass and catechism, the men still hear the truth. Every single year we have made converts who started attending only to receive a package. The most notable of these converts is a man who began his first twenty-five years in prison on death row, but whose sentence was commuted to life by the U.S. Supreme Court. He came only for the package, but was stricken by the irresistible force of Christ. He was deemed hopeless by prison officials and was a legendary "tough guy" in this penal system. Today he is a good Catholic who lives our holy and ancient faith to the best of his ability.
"Boxes of Love" can be provided by benefactors in your local parish. Another way is to approach the Prisoners of the Perfect Prisoner National Network, as they have established an annual program for this purpose.
There is one final way to show love to prisoners, and it is, to my way of thinking, the most important way to show temporal love. Prisoners need to experience the heart of the Church most on the day they go free. Many are booted back into society with no preparation, less than a hundred dollars, the clothes on their back, and no place to go. Many is the time I've stood at the gate and wept as I watched one of my brothers go fearfully back into society with help from no one. The Church has a moral obligation to be there for her sons and daughters as they reenter society. Yet our bishops and priests often stand as deaf-mutes to every plea made on their behalf. St. Paul teaches us to take care first of the household of the faithful (Galatians 6:10); yet even one of my staunchest defenders and benefactors has always turned a deaf ear to every plea I have made on behalf of Catholics leaving prison. Thanks be to God, not one of our converts has ever returned to prison, even when going into the most desperate situations.
I believe the national attitude of revenge against prisoners for their crimes stifles the very charity that must be the hallmark of every Christian. It is vital, then, for the prison apostle to constantly devise ways for Catholic prisoners to leave the penitentiary with at least the bare necessities for a fighting chance to survive in a chaotic society that doesn't want them. This means helping them to find jobs, housing, food, clothing, and a means of basic transportation. When the Church doesn't open its heart to a prisoner at the time of his release, it is easy for Satan to creep into his mind and convince him that Christian charity is a hypocritical lie.
The final part of this series, which follows, is a history of the apostolate in our prison. It is hoped that by reading our history, the prospective prison apostle will have a prototype for developing an apostolate of his own.
Part V
Throughout the first four articles in this series, I have made some bold claims regarding crime, punishment, and prison apostolate. I have asserted that crime has its roots in a disrespect for human life; that severe punishment is counterproductive; that only a religious conversion wrought by the immutable truths of the Catholic faith will curb crime; and, the boldest of my claims, that not one single convert to Catholicism in this apostolate has ever returned to prison, when statistics say that at least forty of them should have by now returned. It is difficult to substantiate these claims with anything more than lived experience. Therefore, in this final article of our series, I shall give a brief history of this seven-year-old apostolate.
Our apostolate began in 1988 when my late confessor, Father Killian Mooney, S.T., handed me a catechism and commanded me to evangelize prisoners while I was still myself a catechumen. I told Father that I wasn't the least bit interested; that I merely wanted to live and enjoy the faith in peace and privacy.
"Fine," Fr. Killian replied. "Take this catechism and teach the prisoners."
"Father, you don't understand," I said. "I don't want to teach the catechism!"
He opened the book and said, "I understand that. Now be sure and pay particularly close attention to this part of the catechism when teaching it."
Rather than argue with the holy, old priest, I opted instead to write a letter of complaint to our ordinary, Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb. I remember writing something like, "Please get this old man off my back!" His Excellency's reply was short and to the point: "Russell, obey your pastor. I think you would make a wonderful catechism instructor."
What else could I do? I finally realized that it was a disregard for authority which led me to prison, so a disregard for this authority would make me nothing more than a criminal with the name Catholic. Thus was born this prison apostolate.
At the time of Fr. Killian's commissioning of his new evangelist, only three or four of us were members of the Catholic community. I began teaching the catechism to several prisoners almost immediately; but none ever persevered long enough to get through the twelve articles of the Creed. But through these men I began to learn the faith in much greater depth, and I began also to learn the lessons of love and compassion. Over a period of months, we built the group to about ten. But it was a full year before we had a convert. Then two major events occurred.
The first event was something deeply spiritual for me. Every morning, the guards make everyone leave the cell block so cell cleaners can do their job. I used this time to walk on the recreation yard and meditate. On the day of this new awakening, it was raining, so the guards made us all go to the prison gymnasium. It was entirely too noisy to meditate, so I just sat and observed things around me. I looked in one direction and heard convicts bragging about old crimes and planning new ones. From another direction came the boastings of men about their sexual exploits, most probably lies. Looking in yet another direction, hearing every sort of blasphemy one could imagine, I watched homosexuals trying to escape the detection of guards while plying their loathsome lifestyle. Suddenly, a thought struck me like the slap of an open hand. It was as if God said to me, "Russell, look at all of these souls I have created. They are blindly walking into the abyss I have made for eternal punishment. None of them have ever heard the truth, and here you sit, the only man capable of giving it to them, yet you do nothing."
I felt empty, and tears began to flow down my face. It was then that God gave me the actual graces to love these souls; and I resolved to spend the rest of my life giving back what he had so freely given me.
This spiritual event was merely a preparation for what happened soon thereafter. We received from a benefactor Fr. Robert Fox's Sharing the Faith video series. This was the tool we needed to really get the apostolate moving. Since modern convicts are products of television culture, Fr. Fox's videos were the key to the new evangelization. With the help and inspiration of St. John Bosco, whose biography I had just read, we established a method and format for our catechism lessons which have allowed us to catechize hundreds of convicts in a group setting.
From this point, the apostolate really began to grow. We have witnessed the conversions of more than fifty prisoners, men whom society had written off as hopeless, and word has come back to us that many others completed their instruction after being released and have been received into the Church.
Our growth has not come without disappointments and setbacks. Our first major disappointment was the death of Fr. Killian Mooney. Right up to the end, this holy priest, who spent several hours a day in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, maintained his apostolic zeal for the evangelization of souls. He left behind at least one spiritual son who will never quit missing him.
We have had other disappointments. There has always been the general anti-Catholic bigotry of those in authority, whether it is the state prison chaplain trying to stop us from our work; guards refusing to allow us to go to Mass; or the destruction or theft of our materials by any number of persons. The hardest of the disappointments was the persecution we suffered from two wardens for over a year. Most of the persecution was directed at me, apparently in the belief that the snake will die if you cut off its head. They confiscated two of my Bibles, and my breviaries, then told me that I could have them back the day after they burned them. I was forbidden to teach the catechism, a command I promptly disobeyed. I was the only convict in this penal system forbidden to receive any sort of religious article or reading material. All of my mail was censored, and some was destroyed or returned to the sender. Even letters from the Archbishop were delayed for as much as two weeks while they were scrutinized by authorities.
Having taken to heart much of what Fr. Killian had taught me, I bore these sufferings in silence; and God rewarded us with many special graces. The proof of these graces lies in the success of this apostolate. It is the immensity of these graces, acted on by our people, which has caused the Catholic community in this prison to be sought out by other convicts.
One of these special graces is the atmosphere of family. The building blocks of prison are millions of mortal sins; and the mortar is the chronic hatred of its inhabitants. Prisoners hate the guards, hate their old friends on the street, hate one another, and they hate themselves. Most come here from dysfunctional families, and the rest have no families at all. The last place anyone would expect to find a family is in prison. Yet the love of our brothers for one another attracts outsiders like bees to a flower garden. Indeed, I have heard it said, "See how close those Catholics are together and how much they love one another." The gospel can be lived even in the hell of prison.
Other graces have come in several notable conversions. Until you experience it, you cannot understand the indescribable joy at witnessing the beautiful and intricate mercies of God when a convicted murderer prays his rosary with the innocence of a six-year-old child. I have watched murderers, rapists, robbers, and drug dealers cry when they learn about the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament. I have seen them stare with adoring awe at the Host as they make their First Communion. I have seen them fight valiantly to overcome their fears and trudge forward to become Catholic at great personal cost. They have paid for their faith. They have been rejected by family, and scorned by friends. Some have willingly and joyfully, although with fear and trepidation, left behind sordid lifestyles and, in some cases, even abandoned the only identity they had ever known to obey the Perfect Prisoner who created them. These men paid for their faith, because the truths of Christ are immutable and irresistible!
Another magnificent grace given by heaven was designed by God for both our evangelistic future and the just homage due the Blessed Virgin Mary. Without ever saying a word to any member of our group, I had taken about two and one-half months to prepare myself for an act of total consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Several weeks later, the men in our Catholic community came to me and asked that I help them prepare for their own act of consecration. Since they knew nothing of my own consecration, I knew this had to be a working of the Holy Spirit.
For thirty-three days, using the formula of St. Louis de Montfort, we all met on the recreation yard early in the morning before work to prepare for a group consecration. Every day, these convicted felons braved cold, wind, rain, and public ridicule to make themselves worthy for the Mother of God. On the day of the group consecration, Archbishop Lipscomb came to witness it for himself. The Archbishop and his entire entourage were visibly moved, and with good cause. Kneeling before a borrowed statue of Our Lady, thirteen men of violent history gave themselves totally and completely to Mary with a special formula of consecration that committed them to lifelong evangelization efforts. This was a first in the Alabama penal system, and quite possibly a first for any prison in the country.
Grace is often described as "living water." Just as water flows over the edge of a full cup, so does grace flow from the point of its earthly origin. It is impossible for men to receive the graces God has given them in this prison, only to leave them behind when they transfer to another institution or go free. Several of our men have left here to begin teaching the catechism in other Alabama prisons. The one man who accomplished the most in this regard has been paroled and is carrying the faith back to his home in Philadelphia. Others have left prison and carry on their evangelization efforts in their parishes throughout several dioceses. This is, after all, how the Church began in Jerusalem two thousand years ago.
Nearly twenty-five years ago a priest gave a homily in prison in which he made a prophetic statement: "When the change comes, it will come from the prisons." Perhaps that prophecy is being fulfilled because of graces God has given here. My first godson, old enough to be my father, is Phil Hanna, president of Prisoners of the Perfect Prisoner National Network. The board of directors for that apostolate is quite an impressive list, but the two best-known honorary members are Father Robert J. Fox and Dr. Peter Kreeft. The purpose of P.P.P. is to spread the Catholic faith to the institutions of this country, which house more than one million men and women. Hanna and those who assist him do all they can to establish viable prison apostolates. They provide a prison apostolate manual, free of charge, to anyone who wishes to utilize the proven methods inspired by Saint John Bosco in this local apostolate. They also publish a beautiful orthodox newsletter which is available to anyone for the asking. Also, for those who cannot become active prison apostles, P.P.P. has established a prison pen-pal program so that anyone can visit Jesus in prison. You can help to change the face of this nation and add souls to the Book of Life by working with the Prisoners of the Perfect Prisoner National Network. They can be contacted by writing: First Century Christian Ministries, P.O. Box 532, LaFayette, AL 36826.
Many of the things in this article-indeed, throughout this series-will seem incredible to some readers. Because I am but a convicted criminal, my word is automatically called into question. So that you may know that what I have written is true, I entrust you to the word of Fr. Robert J. Fox or to our confessor, Fr. Michael Sreboth at Holy Redeemer Church in Eufaula, Alabama. Go, now, my friends, and carry Christ's truth into the prisons! Go, armed with the brown scapular and the rosary. Our Lady will be your guide, and her Son's chief evangelist.
Russell L. Ford is incarcerated in an Alabama prison.
|
|
