Editor's Note: Photos from the Mass Father Kubat refers to in this column are posted in the Register's gallery.
“The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them” (Is 50:4). On Tuesday, March 31, Bishop James Conley offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at the Nebraska State Penitentiary while confirming four men.
There are several reasons why any of us may be weary, one of which is our sinfulness. During his homily, Bishop Conley said he came to them as their shepherd and at the same time as a sinner while quoting St. Paul, “All who have sinned are deprived of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). In the same breath he said that all of us, no matter who or where we are, including residents of a prison, are called to be great saints.
As an instrument of God standing in the person of Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, Bishop Conley was given a well-trained tongue to rouse the weary that day in the prison by giving the men hope that only can be found in Jesus Christ.
The gospel of the day was the evangelist John’s account of the betrayal of Judas Iscariot who sold the King of the Universe for pocket change. He compared and contrasted his betrayal of Jesus Christ with the betrayal of Peter who denied even knowing Jesus not once but three times. He pointed out that since the three-fold denial of Peter may be found in all four gospels, it would have been widely known. What each of them did after their betrayals could not be more different. While Judas despaired and hung himself, Peter went back to Jesus in repentance and became the Church’s first pope. His point was that all of us, not only those in prison, are not defined by our sinfulness but by our response to the mercy of God. I observed many moist eyes.
After his homily, Bishop Conley confirmed four men by the laying on the hands, anointing them with sacred chrism blessed by himself the previous day at the Chrism Mass and by saying the appropriate words. They were the first to have been anointed by the newly blessed sacred chrism. Knowing that the chapel there at the State Penitentiary was filled with God the Holy Spirit, I could not help but think of the day of Pentecost, when the room the disciples were in was filled with the Holy Spirit like a strong driving wind (Acts 2:2).
Please pray for these men and all of the men and women incarcerated in the prisons and jails across the diocese of Lincoln so they too, like St. Peter, may respond similarly to the grace of our most merciful God.
