Today’s find: Touched by an Angel

We drove to Chester yesterday, my Kairos brothers and I. But somehow we wound up in Caesarea Philippi.

For once, it was not a Kairos Prison Ministry activity that drew us to Menard Correctional Center. We were on a special mission of sorts: assisting with the Angel Tree Christmas™ ministry – essentially providing the “hands and feet” to get the word out on a gift-giving campaign that helps incarcerated men stay connected to their children.

The nature of this task required that we Kairos volunteers do something entirely different than we normally do. We went cell-to-cell yesterday, speaking to the residents on their galleries…rather than meeting with a select group in the chapel. And our goal was to speak to EVERYONE inside, including the men in the East and West houses…who are deemed too much of a security risk to ever take part in our typical Kairos activities.

This application can read a little like “Good News” to the residents at Menard.

I can’t speak for the rest of my Kairos brothers, but I freely admit to being a bit frightened at the prospect. We’ve heard many stories through the years about how rough life can get in those cellblocks, how rife they are with gang activity, among other issues.

But hey, here I am writing about the experience – so you can surmise that my fears greatly exceeded my actual experience walking the galleries. (That’s due in no small part to the attentive professional assistance we received from Menard’s Correctional Officers and other staff members – people who perform their difficult duties in an admirable way, day after day.)

So, what was it like, trekking amongst “Illinois’ finest” (as one CO wryly put it) in the East House? Although it’s difficult to describe, I’d have to say the experience was both humbling and heartbreaking – with a dash of the miraculous tossed in. Humbling, because I’ve now seen the miniscule cages our society has built for men who sin differently (and yes, perhaps more grievously) than I do. Heartbreaking, because this is the best idea we seem to have come up with for addressing the many serious problems our communities face.

It’s not much of an exaggeration to say we encountered the gates of Hell during our walk-through yesterday. No doubt, it feels like Hell to be on the other side of those bars…living in those cages for days and weeks and years and decades on end.

That said, the hope we were peddling…the touch of the angels we offered these men…actually seemed to make a difference to many of them. Their eyes brightened, and they managed to smile at the prospect of being able to delight their children or grandchildren, even from the inside, on Christmas day.

And today, I hear in the gospel passage from Matthew that perhaps I should have been expecting just such an outcome all along. Jesus has taken the disciples to Caesarea Philippi, a place where the impact of worldly culture seems to far outweigh God’s grace. But there, Jesus makes Peter this promise:

…upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

This work is not yet done, of course. All too often, evil seems to have the upper hand in our world. But at Menard yesterday, we saw how it’s possible to light a candle in the darkness – and how we might even hope to break down a few of those menacing gates…when we put aside our fears and agree to cooperate in the work of angels.

This we know: The residents, officers and staff at Menard are grateful for our prayers.

(If you’re inclined to light a candle or two for the incarcerated, click here to find more info about the Angel Tree ministry.)

Let us pause now…to recall that we are in the presence of the Holy & Merciful One.

IHS