Prison Ministry Advent Update

Announcements

Dear Holy Family parishioners,

This Advent season has seen an outpouring of good will in responding to the needs of our imprisoned brothers and sisters in Middle Tennessee. Holy Family has played an active role in this. Here’s a brief and incomplete summary of what the parish, and other parishes in the Diocese, have done for the least of our brethren in this joyous season:

  • More than 2,000 pairs of socks were donated to all prisoners at Riverbend Maximum Security Prison and to many at Turney Prison.
  • Holy Family donated more than 800 bottles of hand lotion to women prisoners at the Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center.
  • On December 14 and 16, individual Catholic donors, prison ministry volunteers, and the West End United Methodist Church provided and distributed more than 160 Popeyes lunches to all prisoners on Death Row and the “super-max” Unit 1 at Riverbend Prison
  • Two Catholic volunteers at Turney Prison provided presents for the prisoners’ Christmas celebration there, contributing gifts to the prison’s 1200 inmates.
  • Catholic Spanish-speaking prisoners at Turney Prison cooked a special Mexican tamale Christmas feast to thank the Diocese and the two Catholic volunteers serving there.
  • Parishioners from Holy Family and Christ the King helped distribute Christmas gifts to all prisoners at Riverbend Maximum Security Prison.
  • Many sent Christmas cards, letting prisoners know that they too are children of God and are not forgotten.

And while all this activity was going on, volunteers and visitors from parishes continued their regular activities of reaching out in person to inmates: letter writers wrote to their imprisoned pen pals; and priests celebrated Masses at all the state prisons in Middle Tennessee.

In all this, we are enriched by the reminder that Jesus, Son of God, “pitched his tent among us” and that He is still to be found (in Dorothy Day’s poignant words) “disguised under every type of humanity that treads the earth.”

If you’re interested in the prison ministry, please feel free to contact me at [email protected].

Wishing you a joyous Christmas,

Deacon James Booth