To Visit the Imprisoned

In his July 2000 Message for the Jubilee in Prisons, Blessed John Paul II said:

The Good Shepherd is always going in search of the lost sheep, and when he finds them he puts them on his shoulders and brings them back to the flock. Christ is in search of every human being, whatever the situation!

The situation of imprisonment is often dark and lonely, but if one can find Christ’s meaning in it, it can lead to deep conversion. That is what Paulo Fernando Melo hopes for.

Melo is vice-president of the National Pro-Life and Pro-Family Association in Brazil, and he is also one of the partner proprietors of a company that sells religious articles. In preparation for World Youth Day in July, he asked inmates from Brazil’s prisons to make rosaries, bracelets, and other articles that will be placed in WYD packages. Melo said:

It's about putting into practice the truths contained in Saint Matthew's Gospel (25:36): 'I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me…'

…An important opportunity for them can be to learn the crafting of religious articles. And it might be useful for them when they return to society.

After World Youth Day, Melo plans to teach inmates how to make vestments and other liturgical items.

What an incredible way to live the Gospel and bring meaning to the lives of inmates who are often neglected by society!