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The Great Merit of Evangelizing Prisoners
In general, people feel that of all the existing needs, the least attractive is to help the Pastoral with inmates: 'They are irredeemable felons and do not deserve the help'.
In Christian life, the model is Jesus Christ. The Lord decidedly dedicated and surrendered himself mainly to the people least valuable to society: the lepers, the blind, the possessed, etc. because regardless of the usefulness of a person to society, the person himself is worthy, and the joy of the Lord is our fulfillment and happiness. The less useful a person is to society, the more selfless it is to commit oneself to help.
Christ identified himself with the worst of them by dying on the cross as a criminal. To reject the offenders is to identify with the older brother of the Prodigal Son. It is to take on an attitude of self-sufficiency and pride. It is to think with a merely human focus, with a criterion of efficiency, instead of the gratuitousness which is the Divine way.
I hope to die in the Islas Marias because Jesus identifies himself with each prisoner. I find in them a crucified Christ who loved me and gave his life for me (Gal. 2, 20). I believe it is important to reciprocate as much as possible. It is in that giving back that the Lord blesses our effort. We all need to feel loved and valued, and when the inmate feels taken into account, he experiences himself beloved in the eyes of God.
Rehabilitating a sunken person is the greatest joy and happiness that one can offer God, since he emphasizes in Luke 15, his immense joy when one of his children returns to Him: 'There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance'. When the woman finds the lost coin she calls together her friends to rejoice with them. When the Prodigal Son returns, his father celebrates with a great feast.
It is human to search for our own gratification so as to feel valuable, but it is more human and divine to forget ourselves in order to provide happiness to those who might not be able to repay us with anything. The felon is the poorest of the poor. In Mexico, the poorest economically are the farmers and the native indians. However, the latter in particular, have great values and riches: they appraise the human being, the community, the knowledge of the elders. The inmates, instead, feel empty and oftentimes are void of everything: dignity, values, and very frequently, they have lost the relationship with their families. They feel guilty, rejected, and alone. It is there where the manifestation of God's love is urgent: total gratuitousness and unselfishness.
I am attaching information regarding our financial situation. You will notice that more than sixty five hundred dollars have been spent in 6 months so as to finance teams that come to this prison island in order to accomplish in the inmates, thorough retreats and encounters with Christ, a total change of attitude. Your help links you to our pastoral work, because it makes it happen. You become our partner in the eyes of God.
I pray that you seriously consider these pages, and through them motivate others that you might know with a giving heart, as yours.
I remain your brother and friend that thanks you most sincerely. I insure you my prayers for you and your whole family.
Oscar Raynal S.J.´55
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