Mar 24, 2008

Easter service sparks inmate hope

More than 70 men at Maguire Correctional Facility participate in event

By Christine Morente / Bay Area News Group

They renewed their baptismal promises Easter Sunday.

"Do you reject Satan, the father of sin and the prince of darkness?" the Rev. Bill Justice asked the group.

"I do," they said in unison.

"Do you believe in God, the father almighty, creator of heaven and Earth?" he said

"I do," they replied.

Behind them, guards for the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office stood at attention.

They watched the men who inhabit the west wing of Maguire Correctional Facility's sixth floor take part in the Catholic Mass and receive their communion wafers.

More than 70 men -- not in their Sunday's best, but wearing orange uniforms with "Prisoner" written on backs and some on the fronts -- were commended by Justice for being a part of CHOICES, a substance abuse program for inmates.

"People have seen in you the ability to change," said Justice, a vicar for clergy with the San Francisco archdiocese. "At Easter, you're not alone. There is hope. There is a sense of joy, there is a sense of freedom, there is a sense of life. Hear the word of God."

Sitting at the back, 30-year-old Juan Ramirez listened.

"He means a lot to us," said Ramirez who has been an inmate for three years. "A lot of these guys come here broken. For (Justice) to come here and just give us blessings and strength, all he's doing is rejuvenating our faith."

At the jail, about 15 other Christian services were performed that day, said Michael Murray, religious services coordinator of the Service League of San Mateo County.

It's like any other Sunday.

"It's an issue of hope," Murray said recently. "They're in a very depressed setting with a lot of anxiety. The fact that someone is willing to come in and talk to them about hope brings personal connection."

Throughout the year, more than 700 bibles are given out to inmates who ask for them.

"When in crisis, they look to that higher power," Murray said. "Scripture can help in that."

Ramirez found blind faith at the jail after being accepted into CHOICES.

"My main concern is helping the next man change," he said after the Mass. "I didn't have no faith. I was destroyed. I was numb. The only thing I was driving on were fumes because of my wife and child."

Ramirez said "it was by the grace of God" that he saw his wife Yolanda and 3-year-old son Emilio as stepping stones to change and becoming a better man.

Nickalaus Salas also attests to finding blind faith. The 30-year-old has been with the program for about a year, and incarcerated for about a year and a half.

"I want change," said Salas, who has "Outlaw" tattooed on his left forearm. "I got sons and I've showed them nothing but being a coward of a father. My brother is raising them now and that's not right."

Salas said what he's learned at the jail is embedded in his heart. He, too, is awed that Justice presided over the Mass.

"It gives me drive," Salas said. "I know that people believe in the change up here. I know what we're doing up here is the right way."