“In Prison and You Visited Me”

One of the many joys of the first months of priesthood is that now all the great feasts of the Church’s liturgical year that I’ve shared in through the years I’m now celebrating as a priest! I find myself in prayer and in “random thoughts” saying, “I can’t believe I’m preparing a homily and will celebrate Mass on All Saints…All Souls…Christ the King…WOW!

With Advent we’ve begun a new (liturgical) year—let’s sing “Auld Lang Syne”…better yet, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”.

Pope Benedict’s latest reflections on Advent point out that the ancient word used for Advent includes the understanding of a visit from a dignitary, king, or deity. His Holiness is also a well-trained Augustinian scholar whose main emphasis, within that tradition following Platonic philosophy, focuses on the transcending, lunging, propelling, liberating, soaring nature of humanity out from the potentially imprisoning confines of this world and this life.

I think I’ve experienced a little “two-step” dance between these two ideas above in my fledgling months. Our Eastern Deanery has a very involved prison ministry. Particularly here at Good Shepherd, between our parishioners and us priests, we have a presence at one, if not two, prisons every Sunday. This is something I always wanted to be involved with. In fact, I had my first experience in prison ministry (Taylor Correctional Institution) while assigned in Perry “many moons” ago now.

Anyway—the “two-step” Advent dance between the visit and prison. Last week, I went to the women’s prison for the first time. I celebrated the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. It was incredible to behold the faces of these women as they received the sacraments. Their experience of the Lord’s powerful and loving “visit” with them precisely within their current circumstances was palpable. Was that not an experience of transcendence, liberation, soaring?

This Advent I’m on the lookout for Advent “two-steps” in the streets of Tallahassee. I know I’ve already seen it where I did not expect, but that’s probably where I’ll find it again.

Father Will Ganci