When prisoners pray


The prayers of oppressed people are especially precious in God's sight. As you have advocated for them, they will advocate for you. Rev. Celia Hastings, Ellsworth, Michigan

Prayer makes a difference. No one can shake my belief in that truism.

I look back at 2010, when a deadly staph infection attacked this old body. Loss of the ability to swallow, loss of 65 pounds, functioning on a feeding tube for 6 months, family gathering in a prayer that Dad will survive. It was a dark scene.

I wasn’t buried in discouragement, but I wondered if I would ever play the organ in church again, or go to Fricano’s for pizza and beer again.

Prayers of family, friends, and church were abundant, and I'm certain they played a significant role in pulling me through. But I was amazed by the intensity and frequency of prayers from prisoners, some whom I had never met or even helped.

Fast forward to the year 2018. On the day before Thanksgiving another sinister attack on this 82-year-old body. Sore arms in the middle of the night, heavy chest. What the…? Yep, heart attack. Open heart surgery to give me three bypasses. 

I have survived again. Physicians and medical attendants were not only pleased, but they were also amazed. I credit so much of this, once again, to prayer. 

Yes, prayers of my family and friends and my loving church. But also those of friends we have made around the world in this prisoner advocacy business. And then factor in the prayers of prisoners, their families and their loved ones. When the word got out our office was swamped with caring messages and assurances of prayer. 

I’ve been given a new lease on life, and I intend to continue helping those behind bars. My friends.

Says Lori Hadacek Chaplin in the Catholic Digest:

We don’t usually think of a prisoner’s prayers as being efficacious. Without thinking, we assume that God doesn’t hear them because of their terrible deeds. We forget about God’s mercy and the transformative power of sacraments of confession and the Eucharist. We also forget that God listens intently to the prayers of the suffering, and there’s no doubt that most prisoners suffer immensely. Their suffering is valuable when it’s united to Christ’s suffering.

So, I’m praying for prisoners today. It’s that mutuality, that reciprocity, that Sister Helen Prejean describes so well.

I owe them that.


Comments

Tah said…
Glad to hear you are doing better, Doug! You were in my prayers over the holiday.
December 3, 2018 at 8:04 PM
Unknown said…
Amen, praying with you, for prisoners! Our prayers are with you Doug, get well soon!
December 14, 2018 at 10:30 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Half-a-race!

The HFP Drag-Racing Fund-Raiser had the potential of being extremely successful, and could have raised several thousand dollars. Let's just say it was partly successful. For background purposes I'll explain that I was racing a 1963 supercharged Studebaker Lark that has a reputation of being one of the fastest stock Studebakers in drag racing today. The engine was built by one of the finest Studebaker engine mechanics in the country, and the car many times has achieved quarter-mile runs in less than 14 seconds! We promised to make at least ten passes in the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drags at Mid-Michigan Motorplex in Stanton, Michigan, this past weekend, and we asked for pledges ONLY ON THOSE RUNS REACHED IN LESS THAN 14 SECONDS. On Friday, here's how we fared: Run #1 13.936 @ 101.24 mph Run #2 14.027 @ 101.30 mph Run #3 14.091 @ 100.88 mph Run #4 13.805 @ 102.84 mph Run #5 14.058 @ 101.26 mph By the 5th run we discovered that ...
Read more

Gregory John McCormick: 1964-2008

Itchy is dead. The lifeless body of this talented rock musician, whose band Shock Therapy was a popular group especially in Europe, was found in a field in Detroit last Wednesday, November 5. The Wayne County Coroner's office informed father Glenn McCormick that the body of his son Gregory, better known to all of us as Itchy, bore no signs of trauma. Glenn said that Itchy, who had been living at his father's dental lab in Detroit, had been drinking to excess for some time. While the toxicology report has not been released yet, the general consensus seems to be that he drank himself to death. Our agency, while still named INNOCENT, first got involved with Itchy in 2005. The Detroit native, who called Germany his home, got involved in some unfortunate activity that placed him in the Michigan State prison system on a charge of arson of a dwelling. It was really just a bonfire in an alley, but an alleged parole violation placed him in prison for 1-20 years. I personally sat w...
Read more

Three lives, connected by a divine thread

My kids say it should be a book! The Doug, Pat and Mark story is a doozie!   About 25 years ago, while fighting to free Maurice Carter from prison, I read a newspaper column written by Pat Shellenbarger of the Grand Rapids Press on the topic of eyewitness identification. I contacted Pat re that story. That led to a friendship between Doug and Pat that continues to this day.   In subsequent months, Pat would go on to assist me in an investigation into the Maurice Carter case that eventually led to solving the crime.  That particular episode became a chapter in my book about the Carter case, SWEET FREEDOM, published in 2006.   Fast forward to 2009, A New York businessman claims wrongful conviction, and while serving time in a Michigan prison is handed a copy of my book. Mark Hartman, who was also convicted in Berrien County, was amazed at the similarity of these two stories and tried to reach out to me. His letters bounced.   Persisting in his efforts to c...
Read more