Prayers and advice needed for a prisoner

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Alright, so my cousin is going to jail for 2 1/2 years. In the mid 90s he went to jail for 3 years for statutory rape, don’t much about the details of that situation and don’t care to know. Well anyways he is going back to jail for possessing a firearms and ammunition which he is not allowed for being a former convict, so I just found out earlier this week that he is going back to jail for 2 1/2 years.

I don’t know him very well, he knew my older siblings quite well as they grew up with him, but by the time my brother and I came along he was always out doing his own thing and my parents did not allow me to be around him plus we moved away from West Virginia, where he is at when I was 5 years old.

But my older sister tells me that he’s been heavy into drugs and alcohol since he was a young man, and is a very wounded man, likely due to his alcoholic abusive dad.

Anyways, my sister tells me that the only thing that kept him going during his first stint in jail was his mother would visit him weekly.

Now, two years ago his mother, my aunt died of a brain aneurysm, and he did not take it well supposedly and my sister is worried about him going back to jail without the consolation of his mom visiting him.

So I’ve prayed about it the last couple of days, and I feel called to write him, however I also want to write to him about faith and Jesus Christ.

I am thinking about sending him “Imitation of Christ” and also a book of a saint whom I would think would speak to his heart.

I don’t think he knows much about God, although I could be wrong. I do know that his mother (and my mother) were raised Methodist, and that his mother played the piano at a Methodist Church, but beyond that I don’t think God has been a very big part in his life.

So anyways, Jesus tells us to visit the prisoners. I think that this is one way in which He is calling me to do this.

So what I need from you, you legion of faithful prayer warriors is prayer and advice.

I need your advice on how you think I should approach him in my letter writing. Do you have any recommendations on a good saint biography that I should send him (particluarly somebody who spent time in jail and speaks of repentance)?

But most of all I need your prayers.
 
May God bless your cousin, and may He bless you for your concern.

The first saint who came to my mind is Dismas, the “good thief” who was crucified with Jesus. I found this book online; I have not read it, but you can read the description and see whether you think it would appeal to your cousin: aquinasandmore.com/index.cfm/title/Life-Of-The-Good-Thief/FuseAction/store.ItemDetails/SKU/2607/index.htm

Saint Maximilian Kolbe might be a good saint to pray to for your cousin. He spent time in prison (not due to any crime he had committed, he was imprisoned by the Nazis at Auschwitz), and is considered the patron saint of drug addicts (perhaps because he died by lethal injection?). You can find a brief biography (and links to other biographies) here: catholic-forum.com/saints/saintm01.htm

If your cousin will have access to a CD or tape player, you may want to give him Father John Corapi’s conversion story, available here: secure.catholicity.com/cds/ , or Father Emmerich Vogt’s series of talks on 12-step spirituality, available here: casamaria.org/tapes.html .
 
First be family, then a friend, then share your faith. Give him hope. Talk about St. Paul and his life. Get him a cool looking bible. You can only plant the seeds. This is going to take some time. Be patient and forgiving. You may be tested in your commitment. Prayer and scripture is the common link. Even if he won’t/can’t pray with you, pray for Jesus to help him carry this cross. Show him commitment and hope. Prayers out, Tim
 
First be family, then a friend, then share your faith. Give him hope. Talk about St. Paul and his life. Get him a cool looking bible. You can only plant the seeds. This is going to take some time. Be patient and forgiving. You may be tested in your commitment. Prayer and scripture is the common link. Even if he won’t/can’t pray with you, pray for Jesus to help him carry this cross. Show him commitment and hope. Prayers out, Tim
I agree with Tim. Tread carefully. Your intentions are good, but sometimes with the best of intentions we can make a bad situation worse. You are best placed to help your cousin, so as Tim says first approach him as a friend and build up a friendship with him by letter over a period of time. If you send him books right of the bat your cousin may react adversely to you and you may lose your contact with him, equally he might not react this way, but you cannot tell how he will react, so it is better to build up a friendship with him and get to know who he is and how he will react to you first of all, then you can better guage how to help him on deeper levels including comng to know Jesus.

Rome wasn’t built in a day and people don’t become saints overnight, same goes for all of us whether we are in prison or not.

Pray a great deal and I will keep you and your cousin in the Living Prayer of my life.
 
I work in a prison so I hope this advise helps you.

First check the rules surrounding how to send books my prison will not let you mail a book but will allow you to order a book from a company and have them send it to him in an unopened package. Remember that hard cover books are not allowed in most prisons. So check first you can usualy find the information on the prisons web site.

Also the book will become part of his personal property and has to go from the mail room at the prison to property before it goes to him Keep your reciepts so if he does not recieve it you can prove it was sent. Allow up to 3 weeks before making an inquiry. Let him know when you ordered it so he can keep an eye open for it.

As for helping him with being in prison and visiting him do not make a promise that you will show up and leave him hanging. I see this all the time and it upsets them horribly. Visitation is the highlight of the week for them and they spend all thier week looking forward to it and even pressing their visitation cloths under their mattresses to look good.

Don’t judge them but at the same time don’t feed into the victim mentality during your visit.

Visitation attire differs from state to state most of the prisons require you dont wear sleavless shirts no jeans and limit jewlry to one ring and on pair of earings. Check with the prisons web site for your state.

Be yourself. The love of christ is something they thirst for even if they don’t know it. Start small and let your love of christ shine like the flame it is. Encourage him to take advantage of resources such as collage and jobs. Most states also have programs such as community in recovery, and Cosig. These are very helpfull for them and increase their chances of returning to sociaty in a constructive manner. Lastly but most importantly listen to him and love him the person including his faults. This is the most important thing you can do. It does work but not overnight. Pray for him and give him incouragement.
God Bless you and yours.
 
Pray for him and give him incouragement.
Code:
               God Bless you and yours.
What an excellent post and God Bless your work in the prison.

The part that stood out to me was to encourage your cousin. St Barnabas is the Saint to pray for to encourage someone and also good to pray to for someone’s conversion.
 
I write to a cousin of mine who is in prison. I just started writing him. I always write a lot about the faith in my letters. Mostly about the saints, the angels, Divine Mercy, various devotions, and God’s great love for him. I always stress to him in my letters that there are many souls praying for him in heaven and here on earth (the saints, the angels, my family, myself).

It never occurred to me that I might be pushing the faith down his throat, as some would say. I just simply wrote what I felt in my heart I should write. He seems to be receiving it nicely. He writes back and he seems so happy that I do write him. I encourage you to write to you cousin – if of course you feel safe doing so. Pray before writing. Let Jesus help you!

I think the saints are so inspirational. Everyone enjoys reading the stories of the saints. I have yet to find a person who did not. It was actually by the story of a saint (St. Teresa of Avila) that I converted to the Church. And St. Teresa Benedicta converted by reading St. Teresa as well. By just reading the lives of the saints one realizes that there is a life one has never tried to live and that brings happiness: a life of holiness dedicated totally to God

I will say a prayer for him and a prayer for you. God bless you!

In Jesus and Mary,
Marie

.
 
Tell him about Matt Talbot. He was a down in the gutter alcoholic who turned his back on alcohol with the help of God. I’ve always found his life inspirational - and I don’t and never have drunk alcohol.
 
Alright, so my cousin is going to jail for 2 1/2 years. In the mid 90s he went to jail for 3 years for statutory rape, don’t much about the details of that situation and don’t care to know. Well anyways he is going back to jail for possessing a firearms and ammunition which he is not allowed for being a former convict, so I just found out earlier this week that he is going back to jail for 2 1/2 years.

I don’t know him very well, he knew my older siblings quite well as they grew up with him, but by the time my brother and I came along he was always out doing his own thing and my parents did not allow me to be around him plus we moved away from West Virginia, where he is at when I was 5 years old.

But my older sister tells me that he’s been heavy into drugs and alcohol since he was a young man, and is a very wounded man, likely due to his alcoholic abusive dad.

Anyways, my sister tells me that the only thing that kept him going during his first stint in jail was his mother would visit him weekly.

Now, two years ago his mother, my aunt died of a brain aneurysm, and he did not take it well supposedly and my sister is worried about him going back to jail without the consolation of his mom visiting him.

So I’ve prayed about it the last couple of days, and I feel called to write him, however I also want to write to him about faith and Jesus Christ.

I am thinking about sending him “Imitation of Christ” and also a book of a saint whom I would think would speak to his heart.

I don’t think he knows much about God, although I could be wrong. I do know that his mother (and my mother) were raised Methodist, and that his mother played the piano at a Methodist Church, but beyond that I don’t think God has been a very big part in his life.

So anyways, Jesus tells us to visit the prisoners. I think that this is one way in which He is calling me to do this.

So what I need from you, you legion of faithful prayer warriors is prayer and advice.

I need your advice on how you think I should approach him in my letter writing. Do you have any recommendations on a good saint biography that I should send him (particluarly somebody who spent time in jail and speaks of repentance)?

But most of all I need your prayers.
You’ve got them!

The prison ministry founded by Catholic convert Russell Ford will be a good resource for you:

secondexodus.com/html/russford/firstcenturychristianministries.htm

Also, check out these articles by Russell in THIS ROCK:

catholic.com/thisrock/1998/9809conv.asp

catholic.com/thisrock/1999/9902fea5.asp

catholic.com/thisrock/1992/9211fea1.asp
 
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