News & Views
News & Views
Called to be Fully Alive – A Call to Religious Life
My current ministry as a Prison Chaplain gives me so much opportunity to express these wonderful qualities of compassion and reverence to those who are on the very edges of our society. Christ, and Francis in his imitation of Christ, reached out to those most despised and rejected by their societies and as I walk the confines of our prisons I meet many of those people. Time and time again I am aware of the sacred privilege of sharing the stories and journeys of the men I walk with and over and over I am struck by the presence of God within the brokenness, darkness and struggles I encounter in their lives. So often I feel helpless to ease their suffering and I know in my heart that it is not about ‘doing’ something but rather being a non-judgmental, listening presence wanting to reflect back to them the compassionate face of God who loves them so totally in their very brokenness. I see it in their faces so often, the look of disbelief and gratitude that someone is willing to listen to their story and to see beyond their crime to the human person struggling like the rest of us, within whom dwells the Divine Presence.
As I encounter the darkness and brokenness of those I minister to, reflected back to me is my own darkness and brokenness. The compassion with which I reach out to those in prison can only be authentic if I first acknowledge my own need for healing and forgiveness and experience God’s infinite compassion enfolding me. This, I believe, is one of those experiences of being ‘fully alive’ that I mentioned – one of the many which have made up my journey so far as I continue to make the choice each day to say “Yes” to following Christ in the spirit of St Francis of Assisi.
Hold back nothing of yourself for yourself,
So that Christ who gives Himself totally to you,
May receive you totally. (St Francis of Assisi)
Sr Monica Weedon, FMDM.