From humble beginnings to flourishing faith: The journey of Catholic prison ministry

GUEST COLUMN
By Father Lincoln Dall

On the week of July 8, I arrived on the beautiful campus of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana to conclude my participation in the Mathis Liturgical Leadership Program, the culmination of a two year journey. In the inaugural cohort of this program, eighteen of us have been focusing the past two years on projects dedicated to fostering a Eucharistic culture in our parishes, dioceses, Catholic schools, and communities in conjunction with the Eucharistic revival in the United States.

For these past two years, my project has been focused on developing the Catholic prison ministry around the Eucharist at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (CMCF) in Pearl.

Back when I started this project in the summer of 2022, we were just recently granted access again to the inmate population after the pandemic lockdown. We struggled to get into the prison to celebrate Mass with the men, only seeing them once or twice a month at best. We often had to meet in the foyer of a building or at the prison fire station or outside the prison cafeteria on a picnic bench with pigeons lurking overhead. However, we never gave up on this ministry even in the midst of many roadblocks and challenges.

Finally, in the spring of 2023, we were granted access to the main chapel at the prison where we were able to celebrate Mass weekly with the men there. We now have altar servers, lectors, a Eucharistic minister, and ushers, just like any other parish in our diocese. We even have a tabernacle now at the prison chapel, with Jesus being present with them in the Blessed Sacrament every moment of the day.

We also have men in our Catholic community who visit the other inmates on pastoral visits and who invite them to join us for Mass and for our other activities. We form the men to see themselves as Eucharistic missionaries, living out the spirit of the Eucharist in the harsh prison environment. The Lord has blessed us in abundance with this vibrant ministry in which we sometimes have four diﬀerent Masses in a week and in which more than 20 men have entered the church through the RCIA program this past year.

PEARL – Father Lincoln Dall and prisoners at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (CMCF) hold hands in prayer at a recent gathering and Mass. (Photos courtesy of Father Lincoln Dall)

I was so excited to present my project about our prison ministry on that recent visit to the Notre Dame campus. My classmates and professors have been so supportive of our prison ministry. In conjunction with my presentation, I presented two videos prepared by the inmates themselves, showing the history of our Catholic prison ministry and giving testimony as to how many lives have been transformed. My professors and classmates were very enthusiastic about the progress of our prison ministry and about the Eucharist being at the center of all we do.

SOUTH BEND, IND. – Father Lincoln Dall and classmates from the Mathis Liturgical Leadership Program at Notre Dame University pose for a photo. The class recently concluded their two year program.

Dr. Tim O’Malley, the professor at the heart of the Mathis Liturgical Leadership program, believes that the success of the Eucharistic renewal will hinge upon the way we implement at Eucharistic culture on the local level. Our Catholic prison ministry is in the process of writing a memoir about our experiences of forming a Catholic community behind bars. We also are in the process of getting more formation for the men in leadership positions in our ministry through the Catholic Distance University and through our diocese’s catechist certification program. We are also implementing a garden project, in which the men will learn gardening techniques and skills that they will be able to take home to their families when they are released from prison.

I have been involved in prison ministry for the sixteen years I have been a priest, ever since I received a letter from an inmate in the Hinds County Detention Center in Raymond requesting a visit from me. It amazes me how the humble beginnings of this ministry have now developed like the small mustard seed growing into a huge plant in Mark’s Gospel. I am grateful to the Mathis Liturgical Leadership Program of the University of Notre Dame, of the way that program has helped our Catholic prison ministry at CMCF flourish with so many blessings from God.

(Father Lincoln Dall is vicar general for the Diocese of Jackson and pastor of Holy Savior in Clinton and Immaculate Conception in Raymond.)