Prison...

...and the route from the railway station to the prison where I do some visiting is a particularly ugly and smelly walk beside a main road, which in a particularly sad way retains some hints of its former setting as a rural- pathway-alongside-a-meadow...

This particular prison is, however, itself clean and with good provision for education, for family visits, for access to  fair advice and help, and more..

I am increasingly impressed by the work of  our Catholic prison chaplains, priests who give themselves in service to people that others might want to forget or dismiss as being unworthy of good spiritual care. And there is serious work being done: instruction, baptisms, confessions, talks and use of videos (Fr Robert Barron's Catholicism series, the excellent Evangelium material, and more)...and good numbers for Mass.

Pray for prisoners. Pray for the chap being confirmed next week. Pray for the one who is distraught about the break-up with his girlfriend. Pray for the men I met today.