{"id":60,"date":"2015-05-01T15:53:00","date_gmt":"2015-05-01T15:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/05\/an-invitation-to-prison.html"},"modified":"2015-05-01T15:53:00","modified_gmt":"2015-05-01T15:53:00","slug":"an-invitation-to-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/05\/an-invitation-to-prison.html","title":{"rendered":"An invitation to Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
<\/div>\n

Last week a man said to me before breaking down in tears, \u201cin the past three months I have learned everything that I failed to learn in the past thirty-seven years. \u00a0When I arrived here I was not mad at God, I was mad at myself for not having recognized God\u2019s invitation to follow him throughout my life.\u201d \u00a0Last week I entered a room full of men dressed in orange. \u00a0 They looked disoriented, lost and somewhat fearful. \u00a0They carefully gazed at the three of us dressed in clerics and wondered why we were inside the unit. \u00a0One asked, \u201care you here to get us out?\u201d \u00a0These men had been in the prison for just three days. \u00a0One man recognized Bishop Hartmayer and me; he had seen us at his parish in Tifton when his daughter was confirmed one month before. \u00a0Several men remembered Bishop Hartmayer \u2018s visit to the prison in Folkston where in December he celebrated Mass in Spanish for over 500 inmates in the prison\u2019s basketball court.<\/p>\n

Click aqui para espa<\/a>\u00f1ol<\/p>\n

The celebration of the Eucharist concluded our eight hour visit to the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, a major Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention Center where up to 2,000 men await trial and deportation. \u00a0The men listened attentively to the Bishop\u2019s words, and one of them received the sacrament of Confirmation. \u00a0The men lacked enough words to express their gratitude for the presence of Christ and His Church during this difficult time of their lives.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Our Diocese has thirty-one federal and state prisons. \u00a0Every county has a jail and the youth detention centers are numerous. Georgia State prisons alone house over 46,000 \u00a0inmates. \u00a0Considering that Catholics make up approximately 8.9% of Georgia\u2019s population, this means that about 4,100 Catholics are imprisoned. \u00a0Regardless of the crime or offense, in Matthew 25:36, Jesus specifically states, \u201cI was in prison and you visited me.\u201d \u00a0Driven by these words, we must realize that prison ministry is not just an aside or something done by a select few in the life of the Church. \u00a0Visiting the imprisoned is being a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

The most rewarding ministry in my six years of priesthood has been prison ministry. \u00a0Thousands of incarcerated men and women hunger for the Gospel at a difficult moment in their lives and the Catholic Church must be present. \u00a0Perhaps as a lay person you have never considered prison ministry as a possible ministry for you. \u00a0Many feel uncomfortable at the thought of going inside a prison or become fearful at the thought of being around inmates. \u00a0Those in prison are men and women like you and me who are in need of God\u2019s mercy and love. \u00a0 Talk to your pastor or our diocesan liaison for prison ministry, Deacon Jim Hunt at Sacred Heart Parish in Warner Robins, if you would like more information and to get involved in this very important and fulfilling ministry of the Church.<\/p>\n

Written for The Southern Cross. \u00a0<\/i>Top picture taken from Wikipedia.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week a man said to me before breaking down in tears, \u201cin the past three months I have learned everything that I failed to learn in the past thirty-seven years. \u00a0When I arrived here I was not mad at God, I was mad at myself for not having recognized God\u2019s invitation to follow him […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAn invitation to Prison<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Last week a man said to me before breaking down in tears, \u201cin the past three months I have learned everything that I failed to learn in the past\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/05\/an-invitation-to-prison.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An invitation to Prison\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week a man said to me before breaking down in tears, \u201cin the past three months I have learned everything that I failed to learn in the past\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/05\/an-invitation-to-prison.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Labyrinthine Mind\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-01T15:53:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Father Pablo Migone\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Father Pablo Migone\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/05\/an-invitation-to-prison.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/05\/an-invitation-to-prison.html\",\"name\":\"An invitation to Prison\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-01T15:53:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-05-01T15:53:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b\"},\"description\":\"Last week a man said to me before breaking down in tears, \u201cin the past three months I have learned everything that I failed to learn in the past\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/05\/an-invitation-to-prison.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/05\/an-invitation-to-prison.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/05\/an-invitation-to-prison.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"An invitation to Prison\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/\",\"name\":\"Labyrinthine Mind\",\"description\":\"Seeking God in the labyrinth\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b\",\"name\":\"Father Pablo Migone\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Father Pablo Migone\"},\"description\":\"Born in Lima, Peru and raised in Augusta, Georgia, Father Pablo Migone was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 2009 after studying at the Pontifical North American College and earning a Masters in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. He currently serves as Vicar for Mission Advancement of the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia and Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and Corpus Christi Parish in the Savannah, Georgia area. The views expressed in this blog are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of his bishop or the Diocese of Savannah.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/author\/pmigone\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"An invitation to Prison","description":"Last week a man said to me before breaking down in tears, \u201cin the past three months I have learned everything that I failed to learn in the past","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/05\/an-invitation-to-prison.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"An invitation to Prison","og_description":"Last week a man said to me before breaking down in tears, \u201cin the past three months I have learned everything that I failed to learn in the past","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/05\/an-invitation-to-prison.html","og_site_name":"Labyrinthine Mind","article_published_time":"2015-05-01T15:53:00+00:00","author":"Father Pablo Migone","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Father Pablo Migone","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/05\/an-invitation-to-prison.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/05\/an-invitation-to-prison.html","name":"An invitation to Prison","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-05-01T15:53:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-05-01T15:53:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b"},"description":"Last week a man said to me before breaking down in tears, \u201cin the past three months I have learned everything that I failed to learn in the past","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/05\/an-invitation-to-prison.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/05\/an-invitation-to-prison.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/05\/an-invitation-to-prison.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"An invitation to Prison"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/","name":"Labyrinthine Mind","description":"Seeking God in the labyrinth","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b","name":"Father Pablo Migone","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Father Pablo Migone"},"description":"Born in Lima, Peru and raised in Augusta, Georgia, Father Pablo Migone was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 2009 after studying at the Pontifical North American College and earning a Masters in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. He currently serves as Vicar for Mission Advancement of the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia and Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and Corpus Christi Parish in the Savannah, Georgia area. The views expressed in this blog are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of his bishop or the Diocese of Savannah.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/author\/pmigone"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2533"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}