MARFAM WEEKLY ENEWSLETTER 17 DECEMBER 2025 “ FREE US FROM THE PRISON OF DESPAIR AND SUFFERING“

This MARFAM weekly e-newsletter is most often connected in a way with my Wednesday FAMILY MATTERS programme on Radio Veritas which has now gone on to holiday programming.   Is it a coincidence or a blessing that the programme I recorded to be played today contains a reflections story about a family and a prisoner?  Last Sunday 14th December Pope Leo presided over the final major celebration of the Holy Year with the Jubilee of Prisoners which brought about 6000 pilgrims to Rome from up to 90 countries. These included some detainees and their families as well as prison workers of many kinds.  Pope Leo reminded those present, and those listening remotely that Christ desires that no one should be lost, that all may be saved.  He said, “These words of Jesus free us from the prison of despair and suffering.”

Pope Francis already in his initial jubilee letter had spoken of “signs of hope” and had included a very important message about prisoners, particularly referring to the context of the Biblical 50 year jubilee practice. SNC10. During the Holy Year, we are called to be tangible signs of hope for those of our brothers and sisters who experience hardships of any kind. I think of prisoners who, deprived of their freedom, daily feel the harshness of detention and its restrictions, lack of affection and, in more than a few cases, lack of respect for their persons. I propose that in this Jubilee Year governments undertake initiatives aimed at restoring hope; forms of amnesty or pardon meant to help individuals regain confidence in themselves and in society; and programmes of reintegration in the community, including a concrete commitment to respect for law.

Pope Leo noted If we create and keep safe spaces for sensitivity, attention to others’ needs, respect, mercy and forgiveness to flourish—even in the most difficult times—“beautiful flowers bloom, and even within the prison walls, unique gestures, projects, and encounters mature in their humanity.  This is essential for those living without their freedom, but it is also important for those who represent justice for inmates. This Jubilee ‘is a call to conversion, and precisely for this reason, it is a source of hope and joy.   We are all also called to foster, in all areas—and, today, particularly in prisons—a society rooted in new values, with a strong focus on compassion.’”

For most of us today when we think of prison our mind jumps to crime and punishment. We may be ambivalent about the type of crimes and the degree of punishment we wish for. Petty crimes may be condoned just a little, theft and fraud are not taken as seriously as brutal acts of rape and murder.  For these we expect the offender, the criminal, not just an inmate, to receive the most serious sentence applicable, possibly even a death sentence.  How often do we experience the sentiment, “let him rot in jail.”   Is there a need for the compassion, mercy and forgiveness of Jesus expressed by our Holy Father on all our parts?

The story below is from MARFAM’s 2009 Advent booklet Joy to the World.

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY 17 DECEMBER. A CHILDREN’S PEACE PILGRIMAGE cont. the full story is in the booklet FAMILIES IN CREATION – HOPE FOR THE FUTURE.

17 December.  Pilgrimage.  Read, reflect, share, pray.  To prepare for their family Christmas weekend Grandad Joseph and Granny Mabel decided to retell a story that they had put together with Granny Toni.   Some of it came from their own history, some from local history, some from their lives, praying and sharing over the years and some also from very recent world events, especially the Israel-Hamas war in the Holy Land, which had begun on October 7, 2023, with a surprise attack and which was still carrying on after more than two years, in spite of partial ceasefires.    

The story was about pilgrimages. Pope Francis, in the Jubilee Year and after the important synod meeting in Rome in October 2024, had spoken about the way forward in life as a pilgrimage, a journey, walking together. That made Granny Toni decide to include some thoughts from her own pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2005.

Granny Toni started by saying, “Do children go on pilgrimages? And if so where do they go? Most likely they would go with their parents if the family was going to Ngome, Fatima or maybe to Rome for a Jubilee event, or the Holy Land. Do those names bring to your mind pictures of holy people and holy places? When we see pictures of Jesus and Mary and other saints we often see them in churches or deserts or quiet places, but remember that Jesus lived 2000 years ago in a normal family in a normal little market town called Nazareth. There were probably goats and sheep in the streets, dirt roads or tracks running up the hill, a well where the women went to fetch water and have a gossip about the affairs of the town, and where the children played with the kind of toys they had 2000 years ago. When I was there in 2005 I saw that Nazareth doesn’t look like that any more, nor does Jerusalem or Bethlehem or any of the places we read about in the Bible. 

Going on a pilgrimage is a journey to a place that is special for you. It can be a journey of discovery into the past or to a place that is special and sacred to your own family, like the grave of your great-grandfather. For Catholics pilgrimages are often to places where Mary, Jesus’ mother, appeared. She has appeared to children, like at Fatima more than 100 years ago, or Medjugorje until quite recently, to give them messages from Jesus. These messages are always about love, making peace, about mercy, accepting one another and caring for one another.“ Discuss the idea of a pilgrimage. Where would you most like to go?

Scripture: We shall go rejoicing to the house of the Lord. For the sake of my family and friends let me say, “Peace upon you.” For the sake of the house of the Lord, our God, I will seek good things for you. Ps 122   Pope Francis. I ask everyone to go with me on this pilgrimage of reconciliation with the world that is our home and to help make it more beautiful.LD 69.