Jack had made all the necessary preparations for Bible Alive to visit the prison; we had already been security checked and given clearance. Nevertheless, just getting into prison is an onerous and time-consuming process. Our passports are checked and further verified, we walk through a sensor to ensure that we are ‘clean’ and we are finally body-searched. Jack, who is familiar with all these checks and knows the prison guards by name, takes all of this in his stride. He is patient and understands that the prison guards are only doing their job. He ministers to them too as, working in a prison, he knows well that for them there is also pressure and strain.

On entering the prison we are led into a single room which serves as the chapel where, supported by two lay prison visitors, he leads a Eucharistic Service.

Jack is informed by the prison authorities that permission to bring all the men together for one Eucharistic Service as he had hoped has not been granted and so he prepares for two services. The first begins at 5pm and the second an hour later at 6pm. As the prisoners enter the chapel they are warmly received and embraced by the prison visitors and Jack who is a natural with the prisoners. He communicates so much of the gospel message not just in his words but in his actions. He gently enquires if any of the men would like to read at the service. Remarkably many hands go up – they are keen and eager to help and to serve God in this way.  Gently and kindly a selection is made and the men who are to read are clearly happy and pleased to be doing so.
When the men come forward to read from the Bible, they do so with great reverence and respect and read slowly and carefully. As they return to their seats each man is thanked and affirmed personally. This clearly means a lot.

Jack’s homily is from the heart: he speaks to them as a brother, a friend, a father and a fellow pilgrimJack’s homily is from the heart: he speaks to them as a brother, a friend, a father and a fellow pilgrim. He urges them to see their time in prison as a time of grace and blessing, even though it may not feel that way for them. The men listen attentively and hungrily as he communicates a message of love, hope and redemption. He conveys the grace of the gospel and the truth that no situation, no person, no crime or misdemeanour is beyond God’s grace and compassion. He speaks of God’s mercy, his love for the prodigal, his kindness towards those who fall away or go down a dark alley.

He is devoted to his prison ministry. By day he is a law enforcer – a lawyer by profession and for many years he has been a magistrate at Plymouth Trial Court. His work in the courts has brought him into direct contact with the human condition. ‘Prison ministry came naturally to me,’ he says. ‘I have come to know through my legal work what motivates or drives those caught up in the system and over the years I have become familiar with how they think.’ Jack has sent many men and women to jail: ‘If you break the law you must pay the price and be prepared to bear the consequences and take responsibility for your actions. I firmly believe that for many, if not most prisoners, going to prison and enduring the punishment of their sentence is the best thing that can happen to them. Many of the men that I minister to begin to turn their lives around when they are inside. It gives them time to reflect, think, sober up and examine their lives. It also gives them a wonderful God-given opportunity to experience and know God’s love and grace in their lives. I have learnt that but for God’s grace go I and, to be honest, I have learnt so much from the men I minister to. They are my brothers and my heart goes out to them because I know that given different circumstances or life choices I could be in the same boat. The truth is prisoners are no different from any of us.’

I turned to God For support, for understanding, for hope, and it was these things that I receivedJack’s intense suffering and anguish over the years through his back problems has given him an unusual and striking compassion for people but especially prisoners. ‘I have dedicated my vocation as a deacon to Cardinal Newman, and in gratitude for God’s gift and kindness to me I am working as hard as I can, both in the parish but also in my prison ministry. You see the fellows that I bring to the Lord, in the Eucharist and through his Word, are in the same situation that I was. They are experiencing poverty and anguish in their lives and my vocation invites me to be with them, share in this but also share the experience of God’s love and grace in my life. Because if God can work in my life, he can work in anybody’s life.’

Jack’s own suffering has given him a special gift – it is that wonderful gift of empathy and sympathy devoid of condescension or platitude but real and from the heart.

As the Eucharistic Service draws to a close he says goodbye to the men. Despite being in an American Correctional Facility there is a sense of peace and serenity and happiness because the men whom he serves know that God is merciful, forgiving and has a plan for their lives – part of that plan for now is that they are in prison but they know that God’s ultimate plan is that in Christ Jesus they have been set free to serve the living God.

On the way back home in the car Jack reflects on the service. ‘You know, the best way that I can describe how I feel about being a recipient of God’s favour and blessing through Cardinal Newman’s intercession is humbled and grateful. I have come to understand something of what Jesus means by being “poor in spirit” because I have known and know this poverty in my own life. I have learnt more and more to depend on God’s abundance and have become over the years more appreciative of his gifts. I feel in relation to my prison ministry that I have been where these men that I serve are. I was a very worldly person, and it was through various situations in my life that I have come to realize the true beauty of life and to literally count my blessings and express my gratitude to God for my wife, for my children, for my career and for my miraculous healing through the intercession of Cardinal Newman.

‘When I prayed to Cardinal Newman for his intercession I didn’t really know who he was. I was in desperate need; I was truly experiencing poverty of spirit. And in the midst of my anguish and distress I heard of Newman through watching a TV programme on EWTN [Eternal Word Television Network]. I turned to God for support, for understanding, for hope, and it was these things that I received. I was the recipient of a miracle because I was in great need. This is true for all of us: that when we go through upset, or trauma, or misfortune or even having to serve time in prison – we can all turn to God and ask for his help and assistance and for the help and assistance of the saints who are in heaven praying and interceding for us.’ ■