Living Monstrance

Over the last month or so, some friends and I had the privilege of bringing a missionary image of Our Lady of Guadalupe around the Archdiocese of Boston. One of the stops I had the privilege of being at was a county prison. The prisoners at Mass each had a chance to approach the image and express their devotion to the Blessed Mother.

Afterwards, I was talking with one of the prisoners. You could tell he was one of the leaders, and he thanked us for being there and for what we had done. I said, “Oh, it’s a privilege. I hope it gives you guys some hope and inspiration.” He said, “Yeah, some inspiration to get out of here and never come back.”

Prison is the pits. It’s one of those few places that God sends us to so that we’ll want to get out and never come back. It’s a place where many people cry out to God. And it’s also a place of second chances.

Jonah ran away from the Lord and ended up swallowed by a giant fish – maybe you remember the story? But God gave him a second chance after that, and by Jonah’s preaching, the whole city of Nineveh was saved, more than 120,000 people.

What did Jonah do in the belly of the fish?

I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me for ever; yet you did bring up my life from the Pit, O LORD my God. When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. (Jonah 2:6-7)

If God has put you in the Pit, don’t despair, it’s not over. It’s so that you’ll want to get out and never go back again, so you can fulfill the great plan He has for you. Remember Him and cry out in prayer to Him.

He will give you the inspiration to get out and never go back.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 11th, 2009 at 3:12 pm and is filed under Serving Others, Sorrowful, Work & Career. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.