Publisher's Synopsis
As a basis for discussion over a four session period in Lent, I have chosen a sample of experiences with prisoners, that I have been priviledged to sit with at different points in their journey and, hope that this short series of reflections give some sense of how the people that I have met in my time as a prison chaplain have transformed my own life and, may transform yours.
We are dealing here mainly with people whom my former Chaplaincy Manager, Shawn, referred to as; "the lost, the least and the broken". But each of us, at some point in our life, might think of ourselves in that way. The point of this writing then is, yes, to empathize and (please) pray for each person described, but also to look at the person, the situation, the response and, to look at ourselves and learn the lessons that St Paul, in his own time and place, challenged his listeners to heed. St Paul really is the man for all seasons of life; joy and sadness, health and illness, confinement and restoration. His words come to life in the lives of those, lost, least and broken by life. "The Spirit moves us quietly, gently, lovingly in the direction of the Father and we too must learn from and, by example of the Spirit". (Pope Francis) During the Season of Lent, if you have been, or even maybe are amongst the lost, the least and the broken in your life, then take inspiration from the way people can turn their lives around, take comfort from the Spirit that guides them and, take reassurance from the words of St Paul.
