Jesus said in Mark’s Gospel, “Come and I will make you fishers of men.” Becoming a fisher of men meant that Jesus was going to use His disciples to grow the kingdom of God.

We are all Jesus’ disciples, and we are all called to grow the Kingdom of God. This is called “evangelization”, and it can be as easy as asking a fallen-away Catholic to come with you to a Mass.

Last Monday, I had the privilege to visit one section of Westville State Prison, called GSC. This section is composed of nine separate dormitories, housing around 40 prisoners each.

Several of us from the Diocese of Gary walked with the prison Chaplain into five of these dormitories, asking the inmates if anyone would like to attend the weekly Catholic Church Service, which is scheduled on Thursdays at 7:15am. By prison procedure, we would have needed at least five men to sign up to warrant the extra work for the prison guards to have the service.

I am so very humbled to report that around 20 men signed up! I was a little apprehensive about visiting the men in their personal living space, wondering how we might be received. That anxious thought was quickly gone as everyone, despite differences in their personal faith tradition, welcomed us warmly and were glad we came.

The lesson here is that you should not be worried about how you might be treated if you ask someone who has not been to Church in a while to come with you to Mass. You might find that, like me, you too are welcomed, and then you might feel humbled to be doing God’s work. May God be with you! 

By: Deacon Tom Gryzbek