Editors Note: the following reflection was written by someone who has faced incarceration and was originally published in the newsletter Voices...
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Editors Note: the following reflection was written by someone who has faced incarceration and was originally published in the newsletter Voices...
Sent to Love and Heal
We all have the power to heal others. What gifts of healing have you been given?
At a Glance
An Unfair System
It is Ineffective
An Augustian Response
A more restorative response to crime
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Learn more about the issue of Mass Incarceration
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If you or someone you love has faced incarceration or have been a victim of crime,
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From becoming a pen pal to visiting the imprisoned there are lots of ways to get involved.
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In the Words of Augustine
"When a traveler gets tired of walking along the dusty road, he puts up with fatigue because he hopes to arrive home. Rob him of any hope of arriving and immediately his strength for walking is broken."
Saint Augustine
Sermon 158, 8
"Essentially, the distinguishing mark of those who strive after Christian perfection is that they love the sinner and detest only sins. When they must avenge wrongdoing, they do so, not with the cruelty of hatred, but with justice administered with moderation, lest forgiveness without satisfaction do more harm to the sinner than punishment."
Saint Augustine
Against Adamants 17
“We call those Christian rulers happy who govern with justice, never forgetting that they are only human. They think of sovereignty as a ministry of God, and they fear and worship God. They are slow to punish and quick to forgive. They temper with mercy and generosity the unavoidable harshness of their commands."
Saint Augustine
City of God, 5, 24
"Love and do what you will. If you keep silence, do it out of love. If you cry out, do it out of love. If you refrain from punishing, do it out of love."
Saint Augustine
Sermon on 1 John 7, 8
"We do not wish to have the sufferings of the servants of God avenged by the infliction of precisely similar injuries in the way of retaliation. Not, of course, that we object to the removal from these wicked men of the liberty to perpetrate further crimes; but our desire is rather that justice be satisfied without the taking of their lives or the maiming of their bodies in any part, and that, by such coercive measures as may be in accordance with the laws, they be turned from their insane frenzy to the quietness of men in their sound judgment, or compelled to give up mischievous violence and betake themselves to some useful labour."
Saint Augustine
Sermon 133, 1
"who does not see that when a restraint is put upon the boldness of savage violence, and the remedies fitted to produce repentance are not withdrawn, this discipline should be called a benefit rather than vindictive punishment?"
Saint Augustine
Sermon 133, 1
01
Learn More
Learn more about the issue of Mass Incarceration
02
Get Support
If you or someone you love has faced incarceration or have been a victim of crime,
03
Get Involved
From becoming a pen pal to visiting the imprisoned there are lots of ways to get involved.
Relation to Other Societal Issues
Systemic Poverty
Gun Violence
Mental Health
Youth
Hear the Voices of the Imprisoned
A selection of letters from the imprisoned and those who minister with them
Finding Amazing Grace in the Darkness
Augustinian Spirituality One Mind … On Heart … On the Way to God Facebook Twitter Instagram Welcome to AugustinianSpirituality.org Welcome!...
A Poem from the Edge
Editors Note: This poem was written by someone who has faced incarceration. It was originally published in the Voices from...
Mass Incarceration Impacts All of Us
An Unfair System
It is Ineffective
Get Support / Get Involved
Relation to Other Societal Issues
Become a Pen Pal
Fellowship/Faith Sharing (Philadelphia Only)
It is Ineffective
Other Topics to Explore
- Addiction
- Apathy
- Augustine Quotes
- Contemplation
- Community
- Confusion
- COVID19
- Desire
- Despair
- Difficult People
- Discernment
- The Environment
- Evangelization
- Fear
- Gospel Reflections
- Gratitude
- Homilies
- Hope
- Immigration
- Impatience
- International Affairs
- Mass Incarceration
- Poverty
- Prayer
- Racism
- Religious Life
- Saints
- Social Justice
- Gratitude
- Impatience
- Gratitude
- Grief
- Guilt
- hope
- Mary
- Prison/Jail Ministry
- Religious Life
- Restlessness
- Restorative Justice
- Temptation
- Thankfulness
- Trapped
- Unitas
- Veritas
- Violence
- Vocation Search
- Weakness
- Workplace Spirituality