By Levi Baus,
Director, Prison and Reentry Apostolate (PARA)
During this academic year, the Prison and Reentry Apostolate (PARA) received several batches of letters from the fifth and sixth grade CCD classes at St. Mary Church in Sutton. Thanks go out to Mrs. Tracy Galusha for spearheading this effort.
Tracy first heard about PARA from Seth Odgaard, the founder of Christ Crucified, a local non-profit organization whose mission is to make Christ known and loved through the Passion. She wanted to find a way to write letters to the incarcerated. She said, “I was very moved by the story of Servant of God Jacques Fesch – ‘No one is beyond repentance or redemption.’ Writing letters of encouragement and hope to those in prison… is something anyone can do – even elementary students.” It was an easy “yes” for PARA to find a way to make this happen, even as we navigated the necessary protocol and compliance with the state facilities.
High school students at St. Mary Church have performed service projects and gone on mission trips the past couple of years, and this ignited a fire for her younger CCD students: “They wanted to be ‘on mission’ too!” So Tracy started Monthly Missions for her Wednesday classes.
This past fall, nine students in her sixth grade class wrote letters of encouragement to the incarcerated. Then, for the spring, she had her 11 students in the fifth grade class join the effort.
Letters are shared, a few at a time, with a Bible study at the Nebraska State Penitentiary, and they are available to all the state facilities in the diocese. Students, known only by their first names in the letters, have shared some of what they are learning, offered prayers of encouragement, given reminders of God’s love and mercy for the incarcerated, and provided a token of love, joy, and support for the incarcerated. The letters are read aloud, and the smiles, laughs, and head nods from those in prison give such a beautiful witness to how the Church extends even to those in prison. These students dignify all our incarcerated brothers and sisters who hear the letters. Tracy said, “My hope is that this opportunity gives students the desire to have a heart more like Jesus’s – a heart that can meet people where they’re at and share the love of God no matter their circumstances. Writing letters to those serving their ‘time’ has allowed students to put on a new lens, seeing them as brothers and sisters in Christ.”
Anyone who would like to join in writing letters to our incarcerated brothers and sisters can take courage from Tracy and her students: “We must never forget that our Lord was put in prison on the night he was betrayed.” There are so many people to encourage and share a message of hope, love, mercy and encouragement, from the men and women throughout the state facilities to those who are at county jails. Every time I hear about someone receiving a letter, that person will share how much it meant to them and the profound gratitude they have for receiving a letter. Just a simple letter from outside the walls reminds them that they are not alone.
Our incarcerated brothers and sisters are part of the Church, as members of the one body of our Lord. A letter encouraging them to continue to seek mercy and forgiveness, to forgive themselves, to grow in their spiritual life, and to gain deeper knowledge of the Truths of the faith would remind them that they are not alone. This simple act can help encourage them to see how God calls them to build up his Kingdom within the prison or jail itself. Each time I talk about this opportunity to live their call from within the walls, I often get a smile, and they let me know that the reality of our Church connecting those on the outside with those inside prison gives them more purpose and hope.
I invite you to pray and discern whether the Lord is calling you to write some letters and to be his instrument in shining a light in the darkness of a prison or jail. Reach out to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to learn more and start writing!
