After fifteen years of prodigal life in and out of prison, a man with many criminal cases against him decided to change his life. He came to Snehasramam – a rehabilitation centre for released prisoners. He went through the renewal programme of the centre successfully. In order to re-unite him with his mother and other family members, the director of the centre took him home. Since the family members had been informed before, they were waiting for them, lunch prepared. They reached home late in the afternoon. There were touching scenes of embracing, kissing, crying etc, contrary to that the man’s expectations. They all had lunch together. After lunch, they all sat together and Father spoke to them all.
Then, the elder brother of the young man told the Father a story. He lost his brother fifteen year back, he said. “My brother was involved in many criminal cases and arrested and beaten up by the police. He went to prison many times. During these periods, there was no contact with the family. But later, I found our mother doing something seemingly odd. She collected a handful of small stones from the courtyard, wrapped them in a piece of cloth and kept them under her pillow. Every night, when we all went to bed, she would take the stones and spread it on the floor. She would kneel on them, spread out her hands and recite a rosary, interceding to Mother Mary for her younger son. She did this for the last 15 years.”
The brother stopped. He was in tears and so were the rest, including the prodigal son. This is the power of the prayer of a mother. Prison ministry is a ministry of prayer. It is because of the intense prayer of that mother that God made use of some priests and sisters to bring back the young man home. Now he lives a very happy life and his people are happy that he has come back home.
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