by Carl Brown
Sunday mornings consisted of *Sharon’s parents shouting at each other while recovering from hangovers.
For that reason, the hypocrisy of her parents dragging her to Church left her believing either there is no god, or if there is, he didn’t love her.
Sharon spent all her time with the wrong crowd as soon as she could. The echoes of Sunday morning shouting matches faded.
But she tried to live without God in her life. And that void in her heart left her vulnerable. One trip to the bar. One package of cigarettes. Another trip to the bar. Something new to smoke.
Before she knew it, she was in prison for trafficking cocaine.
She sat on a metal toilet in her prison cell and told herself she had ruined her life, her husband’s life, and her son’s life.
Then she met the Prison Ministry team. That’s where she learned God loved her. She looked forward to receiving the Sacraments. She saw herself in the story of Joseph in Egypt and she started to believe in forgiveness and mercy.
When her sentence was up, Sharon could step outside the walls of the prison and feel the sunshine on her face again after years of darkness. That’s what mercy feels like!
Now she works to help others recover from prison and avoid the destructive behavior of her past.
When you support the CMA, you participate in the corporal works of mercy.
Jesus reminds us that, “whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Mt. 25:40) And that includes, “I was in prison and you visited me.” (Mt. 25:36)
Maybe we can’t all participate in the corporal works of mercy by visiting the imprisoned. The good news is that, when we support the CMA, we are ensuring that people like Sharon are visited by the mercy of God through the sacraments.
THANK YOU for supporting the Catholic Ministries Appeal!
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