Ministering to people incarcerated in jails, prisons and juvenile facilities is one way to live out the just & peaceful Realm of God.  No matter what crime they commit, persons cannot forfeit the dignity that comes from being created in God’s image.  No matter the severity of their sentence, no human person should be cut off from the human community where their dignity is realized.  Remembering and visiting people who are incarcerated is a way to acknowledge their human dignity and to enable them to participate in the community to which most will  return.

Prisons and jails are not places foreign to people of faith.  Jesus declared that part of his mission was to proclaim release to the captives. [Luke 4:1-8]   John the Baptist, Paul and Paul’s companions all suffered incarceration.  The familiar parable of the Last Judgment in the Gospel of Matthew reveals that, in ministering to prisoners, we minister to Christ Himself:

"For I was in prison and you visited me ..." [Matthew 25:31-46]