January Corporal Work of Mercy: Visit the Prisoner:
This is our hardest Work of Mercy to live out yet. Those in prison are often forgotten and avoided, but they are made in the image and likeness of God, just like you and me. In the book JUST MERCY, Bryan Stevenson says, "We are all more than the worst thing we have ever done." THANK GOODNESS!! We want people to believe that about us, but do we offer the same mercy to those who have done things that have landed them in prison?? Once they have served their time is it fair for them to continue to be punished through employment and housing discrimination? How do we feel about the death penalty? Perhaps, for this first week we can put Love to Work by examining our own feelings about the justice of our justice system, and about people behind bars and those who have been released from prison.
Some Ideas:
1. Watch JUST MERCY or pick up a copy and give it a read.
2. See what Pope Francis has to say about the death penalty:
3. Check out this article about employment discrimination:
4. And unfortunately there is racial bias in our justice system. Visit the Equal Justice Initiative website to learn about it and to find out how to help: