15 April 2025 - Santa Maria in Trastevere - Holy Week
Prayer in memory of those who died in prison
Matthew 25: 31-40
'When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations 15 will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Dear friends,
In Jesus' passion, life and death confront each other in a prodigious duel. He, a friend of us sinners and of the most wounded, fights so that life may blossom where death seems to dominate. Jesus wants to snatch from hell and torment those who suffer most; he fully identifies with them.
Jesus, the only innocent one, has the face of a prisoner, often naked, hungry, thirsty, sick. He asks to be visited and loved, overturning all judgement precisely where stigma and solitude would like to conquer and extinguish all hope. He mixes with them and dwells in their humanity, because everyone is worthy of love and everyone is worthy of salvation.
At the heart of this evening prayer there are 108 lives broken by despair, at least 2,262 have been saved in extremis by cellmates or agents. This has happened since January 2024 to date. Another 204 died in places of detention, where all frailty too easily turns into pathology, amplifying discomfort and suffering.
These lives, these women and men, challenge our prayer and ask us this evening a Easter light of resurrection be lit for those who left us and for all those who have remained. May they know and finally experience Easter. Jesus gives them back to us as brothers and sisters.
His wounds are their wounds, those of the body, the soul and the mind, which in abandonment become prey to division. 6,000 are the prisoners in our country who have a serious psychiatric diagnosis, and 15,000 who take psychotropic drugs.
God does not tolerate the excessive power of evil, this is the reason why he sent his son and why he allows himself to be found in prison, so that the revolution of the Gospel may begin here too, and his compassion may be alive everywhere. This is the redemption offered by Jesus himself: the conversion of all to love, liberation from evil, merciful justice, protection of the weakest and defence of the dignity of all. And forgiveness for those who beg for it desperately and do not know whom to ask or how to offer it.
To free prisoners and bring good news to the poor is the life of Christians, because it is the life of Jesus. How painful it is, however, when the window on tomorrow appears barred and closed forever. How many mothers are wounded by the distance from their children or their families or by the feeling they have not been able to protect them. How many lost young people are a living appeal for the Church and society to become mothers and fathers to those who no longer have them or never had them.
Some of them have experienced the terror of going to prison or even the terror of being free, when there is no one outside waiting for you. And in abandonment, how many deadly addictions reduce existence to nothing.
The psalms give word to their pain: Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress. Incline your ear to me when I call upon you, answer me quickly. (Psalm 102). And in the loneliness of a cell: Do not be far from me, for anguish is near and there is no one to help me.
Others, adults and elderly people, might implore they no longer have to die waiting for care that is not always guaranteed. And again, in detention and deportation centres, how many, feeling they have no future after having crossed the Mediterranean, deserts and mountains at the risk of their lives, have sunk into fear or ultimate failure?
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, he was followed by the sick people who had been healed, by friends, by people freed from demons. Jesus had become their neighbour, and in him they recognised a love that did not judge them, that separated them from the root of their suffering, healing them and making them capable of good. And many became his disciples. Jesus gave meaning back to their lives. They are the first, in their need, to give praise, and they are the first to whom the kingdom is promised.
What a surprise to see hope resurface when you are listened to and embraced, even inside a prison cell. And even when you have been hurt by evil or have hurt others, Jesus helps us to get back on our feet. The hand of a friend, a gaze capable of seeing into the depths of the soul and painful thoughts, are a first glimmer of life that breaks the darkness. They are the first step on a path that Jesus wants to be one of complete liberation, a path that must and needs to continue.
The gratitude that overwhelms us is truly disproportionate to the crumbs of love that fall from our table. That gratitude often becomes a prayer that protects us. Today, moved by Jesus' covenant with every prisoner, we pray for those who have disappeared and for those who are still living.
May the Lord support those who are on trial and help us to free them from irrevocable condemnation, so that together we may be liberated from evil. And this Easter, may we renew our love with active courage and prayer.
O Lord,we may encounter you and love you. You who said: Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me. Amen.
Don Marco Gnavi
(translation by editorial staff)
