17th May

When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted. Psalm 77, 2

In prison

The prisoner stands in front of the chaplain of the prison. He has a letter in his hand.

"Mr. the chaplain, I wanted to see you one last time.

- What is happening to you? Are you ill?

- Since eight years that I see the sky through bars. Until now, I held out . Somebody thought of me wrote to me, awaited me. Here is the last letter. My wife has left me. My life does not have a sense any more."

The chaplain knows the prisoner. He is not one of those who play the comedy of the suicide to obtain an improvement of their fate. "Your life as a prisoner, now that all have abandoned you, touches me deeply. And yet God does not want to give you up. He is seeking for you. He wants to meet you. I believe that the hour has come so that you turn yourself to him. I will pray for you and ask you to do something: "Read the Gospel that I have given to you".

Two days later on Sunday morning, the man is there in the chapel where the chaplain presents the Gospel. His face is shining. In the loneliness of the cell, God met the despaired. He gave him more than the freedom which he hoped for. He gave hime the safety of his soul.