Jesus would see in the inmate a brother or sister; he would see a child of God

By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami

Today, we offer this special Mass for the families of the incarcerated.  Jesus had a cousin who was in jail, you know:  John the Baptist.  And he himself was arrested. So, Jesus certainly knows what you go through– he can understand the pain, the fear, the shame that you may feel because a loved one is in prison.  

Now, Jesus would see in the inmate a brother or sister; he would see a child of God.  And he identifies himself with them: “I was in prison and you visited me”.   No matter what crime they might have committed, those who are imprisoned do not forfeit their dignity as a child of God.  Think of the “good thief” – the man who was crucified alongside of Jesus.  He stole heaven – and he was “beatified” by Jesus himself as he hung the cross.  He got into heaven before St. Peter – and even before the Blessed Mother.

The incarcerated are not only brothers and sisters of Jesus; they are your fathers, your mothers; your sons and your daughters, your brothers and sisters.  And, while it may be true to say that those who are in prison are there “to pay a debt to society”, it is also true – and painfully so – that the families of the incarcerated are also force to pay a debt that they did not incur themselves.  But, you too do not forfeit your dignity as a child of God because you happen to have a loved one in prison.

Pope Francis has spoken in the strongest terms against our “throw-away” culture that marginalizes so many.  We see this with the elderly; with the sick and the infirmed.  We also see this with our penal systems that warehouse inmates – “disposing of them” often times hundreds of miles away from their families.

Our Judeo-Christian tradition has always called for the humane treatment of prisoners and has emphasized that imprisonment should lead to the rehabilitation of the prisoner so that he can return to society and resume his place as a productive citizen.  

The reality of prisons today is far from this ideal.  While society needs to be protected from the worse among us, there is little effort to rehabilitate the nonviolent and the misguided.  And while our constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, what we see happening in our prisons is cruel and inhuman.  The spread of infectious diseases in prisons, including AIDS, and the sexual violence that occurs within prison walls point out just how inhuman conditions are in our nation’s prison system today.

Justice is often personified as a blindfolded lady holding in her hand the scales of judgment.  The blindfold symbolizes impartiality – justice is supposed to be blind to race, creed or station in life.
The reality is that justice is more crippled than blind. We see this in the inequity of the system itself – which allows those with money to hire good lawyers to defer or avoid prison; we see this in how we treat those who are incarcerated – who are usually the ill-educated, the mentally ill or the poor.  

Today, the United States has more than 2.2 million people in prison on any given day – and in the course of a year some 13.5 million passed through our correctional institutions in the course of a year.  As a nation we incarcerate more of our population than any other Western country, more than the Soviet Union did.  More than two million children have a parent who is incarcerated – and they too are innocent victims who in a real way pay for the sins of their fathers.

How did this come about?  There are lots of reasons, of course.  The crisis in our families – the breakup and dissolution of our families, especially among the poor, certainly left many young people rudderless.  Many did not only lose their way; they never learned the way.  

But also because of ill-considered tougher sentencing laws and tougher parole laws that seek more to punish than to rehabilitee our prison populations continue to grow.  “Three strikes” laws often end up sentencing minor criminals to a lifetime of jail for what are relatively petty third offenses.  And how many people are in jail – because they are mentally ill or addicted to drugs? All this reflects the sad reality that faces the incarcerated and their families today.

October is Respect Life month. As a Church we must proclaim and promote the respect of each person’s dignity – this must include the unborn, the handicapped, the elderly…and it cannot fail to include the prisoner as well.  Violence begets violence: man’s inhumanity to man consists not only of crime itself but also how we as a society treat the wrongdoer. We are grateful to those priests, deacons and lay volunteers who work in detention ministry.  Into a world of pain and despair they bring the light of hope for they minister in the name of the Lord whom himself we must remember was imprisoned and suffered crucifixion, the capital punishment of his time.  But all of us also have to commit ourselves to advocate for reform of our prison system.  We need to support more enlightened legislation – for example, we need to urge Congress to approve reauthorization of the “Second Chance Act”.  Offenders should be helped to transition back into society; and we should only jail those who represent a true threat to public safety.

Human behavior is a complex thing.  Why people do what they do sometimes is inexplicable and original sin has left us all weakened and prone to sin. Remember St. Paul even said:  the good I want to do, I don’t do; and the bad I don’t want to do, I end up doing.  Only God knows what’s in a person’s heart- and so God reserves the right to judge.

But certainly, many people do what they do because of fear, especially the fear of rejection.  We see this in little children; we see this in ourselves – and also in our loved ones.  Sometimes, our fear of rejection leads us to treat others badly.  And, too often not only do we fear rejection, we are rejected.

Well, if we seek to understand the gospel reading today – along with the first reading from the Book of Isaiah – we can see that we don’t have the corner on rejection.  The parable of the vineyard and the evil tenants is really a summary of salvation history – it highlights the patience of God and the ingratitude of the human race.  You want to know about rejection – look at a crucifix.  Yet, while the crucifix reminds us how mankind rejected God – nailing him to the cross - it also shows Jesus’ arms outstretched. He doesn't reject us. His embrace can overcome all our fears.

Today, at this Mass, Jesus through his Body that lives today – that is, through his Church – wishes to embrace all of you, families of the incarcerated, and through you, Jesus wishes to embrace your loved ones who are in prison. This evening even though they are far away, and walls keep you from embracing them, may your prayers help them feel that Jesus is close to them and that he accepts them. Jesus has them and each one of us, in his loving embrace.

As we continue to toil in the Lord’s vineyard, may our labor yield fruits of faith, love and obedience and may we always know of God’s forgiveness, mercy and justice.