Charity: Visiting those in prison

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littlesoul

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Are we supposed to literally visit people in prison?

Do you?
 
I would say Yes…But “prison” can take many forms.

There are those who are in prison in the “traditional” sense but there are other prisons.

One addicted to sin is imprisoned.
People in nursing homes, with no visitors, can feel imprisoned
The poor and the homeless are economically imprisoned.

Likewise “visit” can take many forms as well…from the personal interaction to financial support…

What do you feel called to?

Peace
James
 
I did - I was a prison chaplain.

If Jesus said it then he meant it.

JRKH’s post makes sense.
 
JRKH said:
I would say Yes…But “prison” can take many forms.

There are those who are in prison in the “traditional” sense but there are other prisons.

One addicted to sin is imprisoned.
People in nursing homes, with no visitors, can feel imprisoned
The poor and the homeless are economically imprisoned.

Likewise “visit” can take many forms as well…from the personal interaction to financial support…

What do you feel called to?

Peace
James
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Thanks James. I was kind of thinking that myself, that there are different types of “prisons”. I will have to wait and see and pray about what the Lord is calling me to 🙂
 
What sort of things would you do while visiting a prison, aside from preaching… I mean, what sorts of activities does a visitor engage in?
 
ProdglArchitect said:
What sort of tings would you do while visiting a prison, aside from preaching… I mean, what sorts of activities does a visitor engage in?
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I used to visit a friend every other month or so, so that’s all the experience I have - one inmate, one particular prison - but it went like this:

Stand in line for a long, long time, get treated poorly by guards. Get to visiting room, sit and wait. Feed endless quarters into vending machine to buy prepackaged sandwiches, candy bars, popcorn, chicken wings, sodas. Watch inmate gorge himself. Upon asking if the hot link sandwich was any good, “It don’t have to be good - just different.”

Catch up on gossip. Go to the patio and smoke. Listen to the deficiencies of the correctional system.

It was actually quite eye-opening, especially in our weekly correspondence. At first, it was fear. Then it was guilt and repentance, and lots of talk about how differently he was going to live when it was all over. Then anger at the pettiness of the rules. And towards the end, it was the self-righteousness of an innocent man wrongly convicted. Despite the fact that he never denied what he did; he even pled guilty thinking it was no big deal…It seems like the longer he spent inside, the more he became like the rest. By the time he got released, he had already made plans to pretty much pick up where he left off. I only occassionally hear from him now, via facebook updates.

The hope is that by visiting the inmate, they understand that someone cares, so they don’t give up hope and degenerate into a hardened criminal. Takes a lot of hope.

Now, I knew an old - and I mean really old - woman from my parish who had something or other go wrong which landed her in a nursing home for quite a while. Since she was the first person to ever speak to me when I went to a parish event, I felt a bond to her. So I visited her at least once a week. Usually twice. She crabbed about the lousy instant coffee, so I started bringing a couple large cups of coffee with me. When I signed in to the visitor log, it was amazing. My friend had as many visitors every week as the rest of the place combined. No joke. EMHC visited her 3X. Several people from the choir and the Bible Study showed up besides me. Her son was there almost every day for a little while. She didn’t just give up because she wasn’t missed or loved. In fact, she ended up back at home for a couple more years before she died. Anyway, what did we do? Catch up on church gossip. And her vision wasn’t all that good, so reading was a chore, so I started reading out loud to her. I think it really helped me as a lay reader at Mass.
 
littlesoul said:
That’s what I was wondering…
🙂
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This is something I periodically consider, also. However, I’m not a social person at all. Maybe all the more reason… Anyway, if I were visiting another woman, I’m pretty sure I would hold off on the preaching for a while and (if it was allowed) bring items like moisterizer, lipstick, hand lotion, nice toilet paper, etc. Small luxuries that might make being in prison slightly more tolerable. Then, I guess, I would just listen.
 
grasscutter said:
This is something I periodically consider, also. However, I’m not a social person at all. Maybe all the more reason… Anyway, if I were visiting another woman, I’m pretty sure I would hold off on the preaching for a while and (if it was allowed) bring items like moisterizer, lipstick, hand lotion, nice toilet paper, etc. Small luxuries that might make being in prison slightly more tolerable. Then, I guess, I would just listen.
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👍
 
There are various ways you can “visit.”

You can visit an individual you know, if you are on their visitor list.

You can join the John Howard or Elizabeth Fry societies and visit under their auspices.

The individual institution may have a volunteer department where you can volunteer in the school or library.

Or you contact the chaplain at a correctional centre/penitentiary near you for more information on “visiting” from the religious point of view.

Prison ministry can be very rewarding, but it has to be done properly, under supervision, with adequate training.
 
ProdglArchitect said:
What sort of things would you do while visiting a prison, aside from preaching… I mean, what sorts of activities does a visitor engage in?
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There was a woman on the old AOL Catholic forums who was involved with death row inmates. She was like a house mother, from what she said. She’d bake them cookies and talk about God and the Church and apparently converted a few before their deaths. She used to make me crazy posting because she was one of those narrow-minded rigid kinda Catholics. She was also far superior to me in every way that counted, IMO.

But I think the answer is: the prison kind of sets the rules for what involvement you can have.
 
pete_29 said:
I would guess that being a guard doesn’t count.
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I met plenty of great guards, correctional officers, counsellors, who did a ton for the inmates. Sometimes it was as simple as treating them with courtesy in the middle of what can be a hostile environment.

And the guards needed ministering too. They have a tough job with no public awareness of what they do, and very little thanks from their charges:p.

I enjoyed working in the prison, and I always found another challenge awaiting me.
 
triumphguy said:
I met plenty of great guards, correctional officers, counsellors, who did a ton for the inmates. Sometimes it was as simple as treating them with courtesy in the middle of what can be a hostile environment.

And the guards needed ministering too. They have a tough job with no public awareness of what they do, and very little thanks from their charges:p.

I enjoyed working in the prison, and I always found another challenge awaiting me.
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It was depressing for me. I never saw any good come from my work. If I did anything that helped any of the inmates, I’d never know about it because I never knew what happened to any of them except for the ones that came back.
 
Anybody bound up in the vices of mortal sin are imprisoned. This is why we must be spreading the faith in our own lives and praying for those around us…
 
pete_29 said:
It was depressing for me. I never saw any good come from my work. If I did anything that helped any of the inmates, I’d never know about it because I never knew what happened to any of them except for the ones that came back.
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I would bet you did far more good than you know.👍
 
pete_29 said:
It was depressing for me. I never saw any good come from my work. If I did anything that helped any of the inmates, I’d never know about it because I never knew what happened to any of them except for the ones that came back.
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Imho, that is one of the best kinds of sacrifices for Jesus; to do good without recognition 🙂
You may have made some huge differences, and God sees them all 👍
 
triumphguy said:
I met plenty of great guards, correctional officers, counsellors, who did a ton for the inmates. Sometimes it was as simple as treating them with courtesy in the middle of what can be a hostile environment.

And the guards needed ministering too. They have a tough job with no public awareness of what they do, and very little thanks from their charges:p.

I enjoyed working in the prison, and I always found another challenge awaiting me.
Click to expand...
Are you serious about the guards? Most of the guards I’ve ever known where the most corrupt devious of them all. I’ve never been locked up but I’ve known plenty in my every day working life. Shoot me a PM we’ll chat.
But what you mentioned about common courtesy is true, a friend of mine went into corrections and said that most of the prisoners really liked him because of the way he treated them, ie… not like animals.
I have to say though, I'm an ME student right now and I was a journeyman in the trades, if I could do some Catholic ministry in the prisons teaching mathematics or trade work and inspiring if it mattered I would like to do that for Christ
 
Jessup said:
Are you serious about the guards? Most of the guards I’ve ever known where the most corrupt devious of them all. I’ve never been locked up but I’ve known plenty in my every day working life. Shoot me a PM we’ll chat.
But what you mentioned about common courtesy is true, a friend of mine went into corrections and said that most of the prisoners really liked him because of the way he treated them, ie… not like animals.
Code: 
 I have to say though, I'm an ME student right now and I was a journeyman in the trades, if I could do some Catholic ministry in the prisons teaching mathematics or trade work and inspiring if it mattered I would like to do that for Christ
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i’ve spent a number of years locked up,i can count all the really bad ones on one hand and still have a finger free to pick my nose .same with cops. 🤷
 
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