Corrections Corner / Father Jeremy King, O.S.B.

Volunteers provide light in prison’s darkness

Crystal B. was recently released from the Madison Correctional Facility (MCF) for Women. I met her while serving as a volunteer there. The other faith-based volunteers at MCF are representatives from Prince of Peace Parish in Madison.

Crystal was not only a participant, but she became a very effective leader in the Catholic community there. She was released earlier this year and has returned to her home in Bloomington. She was able to go back to the job she had and has begun rebuilding her life. I asked Crystal if she would write some reflections of her experiences during her incarceration. She wrote the following:

At the time of my incarceration, I was very angry at my judge. the world and especially God. I didn’t get “the jail house religion,” as they call it. I have always believed in God. But I turned away from him after the death of my daughter several years before I was incarcerated.

I was still angry with God over her death when I arrived at the Madison Correctional Facility in Madison. However, I started working as hard as I could to get back to my family as quickly as possible.

I met a young woman in the prison who went to a Catholic Church service, and she asked me to go with her one night. I told her that I was not a Catholic, so it would probably not be a good idea. She told me that all the people at the Church service are very friendly, and I should try it and just come one night.

What else did I have to do? I accepted the invitation, and I had never been so welcomed and felt that I belonged since my former church days. I realized how much I missed being part of a faith and worshipping community. After that, I went to Catholic Church service every week.

The ladies of Prince of Peace Parish in Madison and [Benedictine] Father Jeremy [King], who volunteer each week, were always so inviting and accepting. They helped me through many hard times, especially when my modification was denied.

The main crisis moment for me was the death of my mother. Without the Catholic Church service, the volunteers and the other women that participated with us each week, my incarceration would have been much harder. They made it more bearable and gave me something to look forward to every week. I grew to love and appreciate them.

Now that I am back home with my family, I still think about them, miss them and pray for them. They helped me to see that God is always there no matter what happens in my life—and most things happen because of our choices. I believe that God knows it is for the best and to trust him if we don’t understand why. I will always be grateful for them and their light in my darkness.

Helping people like Crystal to grow closer to our loving Father is why we go in the jails and prisons in the archdiocese. God bless all of our volunteers and clergy!
 

(Benedictine Father Jeremy King is a member of the archdiocese’s Corrections Advisory Committee and is a frequent visiting chaplain in the Indiana Department of Correction.) †