Going To Jail!

The day has come, someone so very close to me will be going to jail. He didn't murder anyone, he didn't abuse anyone, he didn't even assault anyone. He committed a sin that is also against the law.

His sin isn't so different from sins that you and I have committed, maybe a little larger in proportion, but still the same act.

Luckily, he was able to make restitution to the victim and he will only have to serve 90 days in jail.

But nonetheless, he and his wife were meeting with their young children today to explain that daddy will be gone for awhile. Can you imagine having to explain to young children that their dad was going to jail for an act that he committed...... His private sin now becomes public, not to just anyone, but to his children.

He wrote to me today to let me know that he was going to jail to serve his time. And that he was driving to the jail just after going to the park to have a talk with his children.

After my initial prayer, my response was as follows:

Make sure that you take a bible with you. Think about reading St. Paul's Letters, many of which he wrote from jail. This time in jail could really be used as a time for dying to self and being born again, anew.

How you spend the time is all up to you, and if you are truly trying to grow spiritually, you more than likely will be tempted and distracted to do otherwise, but persevere in striving for holiness. God uses all things in life, especially our mistakes to help us grow in virtue.

Even though God doesn't create hurt and bad things, he allows us to fall by our free will, he then uses those situations and events to help us grow closer to him.

I will pray for you each day that you are in jail that God will hold you close, that you will develop such a close relationship and friendship with Jesus that the two of you will never part.
Always in my thoughts and prayers,
Pat!

We all sin, some of our sins are made public and some are not. Some of our sins we are held accountable for here on earth, and many we are yet to be judged for. In many ways it might be a blessing to be held accountable for sins committed here on earth while we are still here on earth because we still have time to amend our ways, to try and repair what we have done, to stop the sinning, and to stop turning our backs to God.

I have never, only by the grace of God, had to spend any time in jail, so I cannot speak from experience on this matter, but I can imagine that the physical pain of incarceration is not as painful as the emotional pain of feeling that you have let another person down, or didn't act up to the standards that we thought we should be capable of.

In so many ways, we are not unlike those who go to jail. The main difference is that their sins were made know to another human and they have been judged and are now doing penance.

However, every sin we commit is not committed in secrete, God knows, and we will be judged just the same. Yes, God is merciful, but he is also just.......

Think about your actions, are we cognisant that everything that we do is apparent to God, nothing is done is secrete.

My dear brother in Christ, I love you, always will, and will look forward to better days, and more especially eternal life in heaven...... The hurt we experience, when experienced in and through the Lord, is hurt that is purifying and we cannot help but come out of it a better, holier, stronger, and more humble person.

All will be OK, you love the Lord and He loves you. He loves you more than you know and will love you forever, no matter how many times we fall, as long as we always ask for his hand to help us up.