The friendship with Jesus changes people’s hearts

In prison, time feels different. Hours can be long, and mealtimes are the same every day, but celebrating Christmas nine days before the official day just felt right. Bishop Mulvey went to celebrate the Midnight Mass at the McConnell Unit in Beeville, a high-security prison, and it was an expression of true Christmas joy.
 
Living their faith brings incredible conversions and life changes to the men behind bars. Prison chaplain Fr. Richard Gutierrez, Fr. Jacob Valayath and Fr. Thomas Swierc came for confessions and concelebrated with the bishop. In his homily, Bishop Mulvey asked, “Do we believe what we are celebrating?” At times, we could feel far away from God, from others, from ourselves. It could be unbearable, were there not Christmas Day: God sent His son for the world.
 
In his latest encyclical, Pope Francis, writing about the Sacred Heart of Jesus, invited everyone to focus on adoration and friendship with Jesus. While adoration is obvious – we adore God – we need to believe that Jesus calls us friends. “Friends always want to stay close to one another; they want to know more about one another,” the bishop said.
 
Jesus showed His friendship through three encounters in the Gospel. The first one was with the Samaritan woman at the well. “She was from another culture, she was a woman, which means people would not speak to her—but Jesus did.” He continued, “Jesus knows who we are.”
 
The second episode is about the woman who committed adultery. “Jesus is a friend to sinners; He forgives,” the bishop explained. The third encounter was with Zacchaeus: “He was a tax collector. The people hated them; they ostracized them. But Jesus went to have dinner at his house.” The friendship with Jesus changed Zacchaeus. Bishop Mulvey recommended that the inmates say in their hearts, “Jesus, I believe in you” — “and He will take care of the rest.”
 
After the festive Mass, accompanied by the inmates’ choir, the inmates expressed their gratitude and presented some gifts for the priests, made by some of the inmates: for Bishop Mulvey, his crest on wood, a prayerbook cover of Our Lady of Guadalupe for the chaplain, Fr. Richard Gutierrez, and a wooden rosary for Deacon Roger Rosenbaum.