A Heart for the Least of These

 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, 

and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.

All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people 

one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats...

Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 

'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you...'

Then he will say to those at his left hand,

'You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil...

for I was hungry and you gave me no food,

I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,

I was a stranger and you did not welcome me,

naked and you did not give me clothing,

sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'

Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you 

hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison,

and did not take care of you?'

Then he will answer them,

'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it 

to one of the least of these,  you did not do it to me.'

And these will go away into eternal punishment, 

but the righteous into eternal life."

-  from Matthew 25, NRSV

    While I was away on my silent retreat, I had time to pray, read, reflect, and listen. I listened to my own questions and wondered what God thought about them. (Does God think I ask too many questions, as some people accuse me of doing?) Were they appropriate? Was I even worthy to ask these questions of my Heavenly Father? Were they timely? Were they my questions to be asked or did they belong to someone else's path to walk and not my own? Were they humble or prideful? Would God actually answer my questions during my days away? 

The answer to the last question is "Yes." God did answer my prayers, my questions. I didn't hear God speak to me in words or in visions, like the mystics such as St. Teresa of Calcutta or St. Faustina. But I went to a Franciscan friar, a former pastor,  for spiritual direction and came away with confirmation in what and where my path is that lies before me.

I am letting go of my spiritual direction ministry in order to devote more of my heart, mind, and time to an organization that I cofounded and direct - Catholics for Abolition in North Carolina. For almost a year and a half, I've given countless hours to getting this anti-death penalty (or pro-culture of life) grassroots organization up and running. It's been a labor of love! As I was told in spiritual direction during my retreat, this work is my call. That's what makes an opportunity a calling - when one cannot not say "Yes!" And especially when it comes unexpectedly. I guess I did indeed receive a Call. 

This blog has been about prayer and about what I've learned along my spiritual path and its content has also been inspired by the journeys of those I've accompanied as a spiritual director. But even as I leave this ministry, I am still a spiritual director at heart, I guess you could say. I intend to keep writing and posting here - probably more often than I have in the last year - as I will have a bit more time to devote to it. And the purpose for my writing will remain the same: Simply Making God a Part of your Everyday Life.

If you found my blog several years ago or in July 2023, I hope you will stay with me as its focus shifts - but only slightly. With God's grace, its focus will be how to live out the Gospel message, of loving God, while serving my neighbor - in prison and on death row - with the "least of these" so often forgotten. 

Lord, Jesus, help me to be one of your sheep and not a goat.

Show me how to let your rod and your staff lead me. 

Light my path with your grace and give me the love I need so 

I can serve You in the "least of these,"

your children and my neighbors.

Amen.

💙

The Heart of Mercy

 "When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them,

'Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.'

When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders... 

Jesus said to her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' 

She said, 'No one sir.' And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. 

Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.'"

- John 8: 7-11

        Today, August 26, 2020, there will be another execution carried out by the federal government.  I don't like to be political in my blog, because it's not the heart of what these postings are about.  The heart of this political posting, however, has to do with the Heart of Jesus.

In the passage from the Gospel of John that is included above, Jesus so clearly demonstrates his earlier statements that He came not to condemn the world but to save it.  And each one of us is the world for which He came to save. (John 3:17)  

When I was a child and heard this story of the adulterous woman read in church on Sunday morning, I thought, "It's so mean to throw rocks at someone!" - as I pictured the small stones that mischievous children would throw for entertainment or sometimes for destructive reasons.  How naive I was, in my childhood innocence!  These rocks were, in fact, huge stones that would be thrown by a group of people at the accused person until that person slowly died of blunt force trauma.  A barbaric and gruesome act of capital punishment - and behavior that obviously was displeasing to our Lord Jesus.  

A year ago this month, I said yes to a nudging by the Holy Spirit to become a pen pal to a man on death row in NC.  My life has not been the same since then.  My earlier conviction that the death penalty is inherently wrong (and another evil we seem to celebrate in this country) became not just political - it became personal!  My pen pal has slowly become my friend, and I could no longer just sit back and oppose the death penalty in theory, I had to take action.  My friendship with this young man has been a two-way blessing.  He assures me of how much he values my letters that share day-to-day activities, while we both write stories from our lives, and about books we have read and enjoyed.  We write about our favorite basketball teams, local and national news, and TV shows.  He calls me and we enjoy 15 minutes of chatting and laughing, listening and consoling. And I have come to learn about the very young person who was condemned to die and the man he is today who shows compassion and remorse, thoughtfulness and friendship.  He is so much more than the worst things that he has ever done.  We are first and foremost children of God - broken and wounded by life.  We are all worthy of God's redemption.

If we think that today's execution of a man has no affect on you or on this country, I challenge you to educate yourself, before moving on to something less troubling to read today. There are numerous books where one can learn about the toll that this cold-blooded act has on the defense attorneys, the correctional officers, the "death teams," and the prison wardens and administrative staff.  The families and friends of those being killed by the state are deeply impacted; when their loved one was sentenced to death row, so were they.  And what may be the most surprising - not all victims' families want to see the offender killed.  Thinking that's true is a myth that some people want us to believe.  Organizations and non-profits have been formed by multiple victims' families to help in abolishing the death penalty!

I hope you will choose to learn more about this emotional and controversial political, social, and spiritual problem. Here's a short list of books, from so many written, that I can attest to for educating yourself on this issue:

Lethal State: A History of the Death Penalty in North Carolina

The Death of Innocents: The Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions

Executing Grace: How the Death Penalty Killed Jesus and Why It’s Killing Us

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

Dead Man Walking

The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row

Death Row: The Final Minutes

Where Justice and Mercy Meet

Crimson Letters: Voices from Death Row

Here also are websites where you can literally spend hours reading and learning - and, hopefully, taking action:

www.deathpenaltyinfo.org

www.ncadp.org

www.deathpenaltyaction.org

www.witnesstoinnocence.org

www.eji.org

www.catholicsmobilizing.org

www.aclu.org

I ask you to spend some time today in prayer for the victims, the family and friends of the victims, and those of the condemned. Pray too for the federal officers, the warden, the condemned's fellow death row inmates, and for Lezmond Mitchell himself, as he is put to death...  And then ask yourself if you feel safer because this man died today.  

💙