Saint
Francis visits our brothers deprived of freedom Cristina
Ribles, sfo Learning the
Word of God takes the lifetime of a human being and perhaps will never be
achieved, living it is a challenge. To discover Francis, understanding how he
lived the Gospel as Christ asks of us, is an incentive for the ones of us who
have opted to be Brothers and Sisters of Penance. Thus following
Christ and Francis since February of last year, and after having received
authorization from the penitentiary authorities, I started a course that we
called "Franciscan Catechesis" with a group of interns of the jail
"Las Flores" in the Province of Santa Fe, Argentina.. At first we had only four people, since this was a pilot
project radically different from the one that the penitentiary’s pastors were
undertaking. This course-workshop took place because the interns requested
it, so beside the Gospels we taught them about the beginning of St. Francis
life, with its juvenile disturbances, his jail time, and his encounter with
Our Lord, as well as showing them the movie "Brother Sun, Sister
Moon." During these
first months, because I was giving this catechesis all alone, we could not
admit other interns because of security. Finally, by the grace of Our Lord,
the Formation director, a volunteer at the convent, and a young university
student joined us. We deepened the knowledge of St. Francis’s life, showed
other movies about his life, as we were allowed to admit more interns that
now number from 12 to 18. Among them we have two protestant brothers who are
learning the foundation of our faith. At the end of October, we came up with
the idea of creating a living nativity scene – the first one ever in the
jail. This caused a storm of emotions and sacrifices to resolve all the many
problems, but finally, on December 23, in the Chapel of the jail house, the
spectacle took place, with the cooperation of the interns, the collaboration
of a group of brothers from the penitentiary police, and with the presence,
in the role of the Virgin Mary, of a young and famous singer. Afterwards we
celebrated Mass concelebrated by the jail’s Chaplain and our spiritual
assistant. Next year we
plan to extend this mission to the juvenile pavilion, but our activities will
continue beyond the inmates, reaching out to all the personnel of the
penitentiary services, not only with the distribution of the convent’s
bulletin, brochures, but also periodic talks that we maintain with the jail
authorities. During the month and facing the need for equipment in the
Chapel, four ceiling fans were donated, as well as audio equipment to be used
during Mass and other pastoral events sponsored by the OFMs
and the SFOs. We really need
the prayers of our brothers and sisters, and we thank you for all those that
will remember this small work that the Saint Francis of Assisi Fraternity of
Santa Fe is committed to continuing. Paz y Bien!
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