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 A few weeks ago I had the blessing of doing a Lenten
Revival at St. Peter the Apostle Church in Houston, TX. While I was there,
Deacon Dan Gilbert invited me to visit with some young men at the Burnet Bayland
Reception Center (BBRC) of the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department.
Deacon Dan serves as the deacon at St. Peter the Apostle, but also works for
Special Youth Services for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
It is no secret, as statistics continually show,
that there are more black men in prison than in college. More money is spent on
buildings and financing this country's prison system then there is in funding
the educational system. Just look at what is going on in many of our cities,
especially in our black neighborhoods. Our schools are run down, but not many
miles away, we might see a state-of-the art security facility. What message does
this send to our youth? What message does this send to our society as a whole?
How are we supposed to respond as people of faith?
I have had to visit with some of my incarcerated
friends and family, and it has never been easy. I usually am spending time with
someone who is "at the end of their rope." It is easy for us to forget our
incarcerated brothers and sisters because when someone is "out of sight, they
are out of mind." It is also easy for us in the outside world to point fingers
and say that they deserve what they are getting, but we must remember that the
incarcerated are still children of God, and the Bible reminds us that,
"Whatsoever you do to the least of My people, that you do unto Me (Matthew
25:40)." So it is time that we as a people take up our call to Reach Back and
Fetch (SANKOFA) our forgotten children of God of all ages. As Deacon Dan
reminded me, this was St. John Bosco's mission in life. He is the patron saint
for youth in trouble, and he made his life's work to work with children in the
prisons of Turin. As Deacon Dan states, "It feel it is important to minister to
them while they are young and open so hopefully we can prevent them from getting
into deeper trouble."
As I entered the conference room at BBRC and saw the
40+ young men staring at me, all I could think of was my youth back home in New
Orleans and how easily they could be in the same situation. Throughout my
presentation, I reminded them about how they are the children of not only a
King, but the King of Kings and that the hater we call the devil will do
anything to make them think, and act, otherwise. I talked to them about faith,
and knowing who they are and whose they are in Christ. I also shared my own
personal background before I came to church, and how, despite of what I may have
done, I serve a forgiving God; a God who is known for giving people second
chances. A God who can take someone who the world thinks is worthless and use
him or her to do something worth wile. I told them not to live their lives by
the world's standards, because that's what got them into the situation they're
in now, but to live it by God's standards because, "the foolishness of God is
wiser than men; the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Corinthians 1:25)."
After I was done speaking, I thought that it was
time to go, but the floor was opened up for questions. I knew that nobody would
want to ask anything because all this talk about faith wasn't important to them,
but much to my surprise hand after hand started shooting up in the air and I was
answering questions about faith. There were several youth there who came to
Houston from New Orleans due to Katrina and we talked about issues back home as
well. But following my time with the young men, there was one young man who
asked if Deacon Dan and I could pray with him. I don't know when was the last
time someone took some time out and prayed with this young man, but it touched
him profoundly.
Although, I was hesitant at first, I was glad that I
took time out to visit these wonderful children of God. Yes, they made some
mistakes, but haven't we all. As we all know, God forgave us, and continues to
do so, for our offenses; so shouldn't we go to his "forgotten children" and
remind them of God's grace and mercy too? I urge all those who are reading this
to step out on faith and find, or start, a prison ministry and reach out to all
of God's children. Yes, I was in Houston, Texas to preach a revival to others,
but my soul was revived by the young men, some of OUR "forgotten children," at
the Burnet Bayland Reception Center (BBRC). You never know when and where God is
going to Show Up & Show Out in your life!!
Ansel Augustine is the Coordinator of Black Youth &
Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. He is on the faculty at
the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana. He
has done numerous workshops and keynotes around the country. His website is
www.holyhotboy.com.
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