“It felt like the whole world was there to celebrate. There was no time more joyous.” This is Justin’s childhood memory of Divine Liturgy on Pascha at his home church in Philadelphia.
But life had many sharp turns for Justin. At 29 years old he committed a serious crime and was sentenced to 7 years in prison. His childhood home in the Church had been replaced by lockdowns and line calls. He was in a land so far away from his Christian roots that he would never be found again.
Or so he thought.
All of that changed when OCPM reached out to Fr. George and asked if he’d be willing to visit Justin in the prison just 30 minutes from his home. With Fr. George’s simple willingness to go, Justin’s life was completely changed again, only this time not toward darkness and unknowns, but toward the love already familiar to him.
“When I came to prison, I never dreamed the Church would be here,” says Justin. “But then Fr. George came. I couldn’t believe they found me.’”
Last month, I got to accompany Fr. George and four other Orthodox volunteers to visit Justin – that’s how I heard about his memories from church growing up. Looking around at the small group of us there together he said, “In prison, when you all come to visit me, it feels like Pascha. It feels like the whole Church is here to celebrate.” By God’s grace, in just five people we were able to bring the whole Church to him again.
As we enter the holiday season, I’m reminded how the size of our family gatherings doesn’t determine the amount of love we receive from them.
You don’t need 100 people around your Thanksgiving table; if you have a few people who really love you, you are completely at home.
Above: Visiting those in prison is truly a joy for Orthodox clergy.
The OCPM Clergy Corps is a team of Orthodox priests and deacons committed to visiting people in prisons and jails near them. The Clergy Corps provides visitation, pastoral counseling, and the Holy Sacraments.
But OCPM needs your help to send our priests into prisons.
This Thanksgiving, will you prayerfully consider sending a gift to OCPM so that people like Justin can experience the full life of the Church?
I know not everyone is as blessed as I am with the time to visit people in prison themselves, but I promise you: your gifts send your love along with them.From all of us at OCPM, we pray God returns the blessing to you and your family this Thanksgiving season.
In Christ,
Nicholas Petrogeorge, OCPM Executive Director