Jesus Also Walks in Prison

For more than ten years now, the Lord has given me the grace, together with other women serving alongside me, to lead Emmaus retreats in various women’s correctional facilities. We have held approximately 35 retreats, and I can say that each one has been an experience that has deeply enriched my spiritual life and allowed me to discover God in a very special way.

First of all, I have been able to experience God’s mercy firsthand—a mercy capable of forgiving any sin and restoring the dignity of being a child of God to anyone who seeks Him with sincere repentance, regardless of what she may have done in the past. There at the correctional facility, I have witnessed that, for God, no story is lost and no heart is ever too far away to be reached by His love.

Secondly, these retreats have been for me a true school of humility. They have taught me not to judge others, because behind many of the women who are there, are stories of extremely difficult childhoods marked by financial hardship, absent parents, and all kinds of abuse. Some women are even there despite their being innocent. All of this has helped me understand how vulnerable we are and that, many times, it is only by the grace of God that we have not ended up in that place ourselves.

Third, through these retreats I have been able to witness the power of God. We are not the ones who bring about these miracles of conversion. Even with very few resources, many restrictions, limited space, and simple decorations, the Lord acts. He touches hearts, even those that seem the hardest and most wounded. It is there, in the midst of so many limitations, that I have seen how God has no limits when it comes to reaching a person’s heart.

Finally, this experience has allowed me to appreciate much more deeply the great gift God has given to the human person, a gift so deeply connected to our dignity that when it is taken away, it is almost as if a part of ourselves has been taken away: freedom. It is such a great gift that even God Himself risks losing us, risks being rejected by humanity, in order to respect the free will He has placed within us. God loves us so much that He leaves us free to choose Him, even when our choices may lead us away from Him.

I thank God for allowing me to be that humble instrument of His in those places of darkness, and for giving me the opportunity to bring a small ray of light and hope to those who have been deprived of their freedom…

because Jesus is there too.

Just as He was with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus walks beside these women. He walks with them in their pain, their wounds, their mistakes, their questions, and their hopes. Our mission is simply to help them open the eyes of their hearts so that they may recognize Him…

because Jesus also walks in prison.