Bishop Olmsted celebrates Christmas Mass for incarcerated

By J.D. Long-García, The Catholic Sun
January 4, 2007

In a small, bare-walled room at the Maricopa County’s Durango Jail, more than 40 prisoners celebrated God becoming man at a Mass with Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted Dec. 25.

“God changed history not by being far from us, but by doing what seemed impossible,” the bishop said in his bilingual homily. “While remaining God, He also became man. That’s the huge mystery of Christmas.”

He said that humanity’s history is one of separation from God, but through Christ, God has unified human nature with divinity.

“That’s why we can have hope that the Lord is with us. He is always near us with His Son,” the bishop said. “If we accept his gift, we can also be sons of God and sons of Mary.”

Christ being born in a manger is itself a lesson, the bishop explained.

“He didn’t come the way we think of a lord, someone of great power. He came with great power, but it looked like great weakness,” he said.

“But the strongest thing in the world is Christ. He allows Himself to die to redeem us,” the bishop said. “That’s strength. That is real courage. That is stronger than any violence and stronger than hatred.”

Ricardo Holt, who expects to be released from the jail this month, said it meant a lot to meet the bishop in such circumstances.

“All of us here, there’s nothing we can do about it, so rather than being bitter about it, I’m looking forward to the time that I will be with my family,” Holt said.

“I will pray for everyone else who can’t spend time with their family and can’t let go of that bitterness,” he said.

Throughout the Mass, more so after Communion, the inmates wept.

“God was present here, as was evidenced by the tears,” said Betsy Sherf, who leads music at the annual Christmas morning Mass at the jail. Bishop Olmsted celebrates Christmas Mass for inmates each year.

“This is a very holy Mass to be in such a place. It’s like the manger,” Sherf said. The inmates “come here freely to be in the presence of holiness.”

Deacon Peter Murphy, director of prison ministry for the diocese, hoped the inmates would take what they got from the Mass and remember it throughout the year.

“They can see by our example that the way to follow Christ is through what we do and the way we celebrate the love we share,” he said. “The love that they share with us is a tremendous blessing.”

The bishop talked about the tradition of waiting until Christmas to place the baby Jesus in the nativity scene.

“We are not a Christmas scene with the Child until we confess our sins and open ourselves to God,” he said.

“He doesn’t come because we are worthy,” the bishop said. “He comes because He designed us to be tabernacles, to be places where He will be, to be like a little crib in which He will come again.”