Hope, A Future and the Work of our Hands: reflection of Jesuit Provincial

“For I know the plans I have for you declares, the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11-14)

Dear Friends,

While I cannot pretend to know God’s plans for JPEN or for the future of our incarcerated sisters and brothers, I can affirm with confidence that JPEN has big plans! In fact, JPEN is already providing hope and a future for men and women studying in the prison education programs at ten Jesuit universities. Six years ago, I gathered on a Saturday afternoon with Fr. Tom Curran, Mary Baudouin, and Fr. Brian Christopher to discuss the feasibility of starting a prison education network. We knew of the good work being done in prison education by individual universities, but we had an intuition that we could go further if we went together by collaborating and networking, sharing best practices and learning from our mistakes and successes. I am pleased to see that our intuition seems to be borne out by the way in which JPEN is progressing, and I thank all of you for your collaboration and cooperation with JPEN.

In listening over the years to the stories from both our students and those who teach in the programs, I am reminded of the words of Pope Francis: “If I can help at least one person to have a better life, that already justifies the offering of my life … We achieve fulfillment when we break down the walls and our heart is filled with faces and names!” How often I hear our teachers speak of the incarcerated student who has made their life better, whose diligence and humble pursuit of knowledge has made them a better person and teacher. Or I hear those students who speak of their life being better because someone cared enough to come inside the walls and teach them. JPEN breaks down walls and fills hearts with faces and names, and we are all better for it!

In a few months, I will finish my time as provincial, and there are certainly things I wish I had done differently. However, JPEN is not one of them! I leave the office with a sense that we are cooperating with God’s plan and giving people hope and a future.

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Visit the Jesuits of Central & Southern Province support page to learn more about how you can contribute.

To designate your gift to the Jesuit Prison Education Network, scroll down the webpage to "Donation information" to select a gift amount. Then scroll down to the "Designation" box, click on it, and select JPEN from the drop-down menu.