CtR Prison Ministry

Christ the Redeemer’s Prison Ministry is hosting a Kolbe Retreat at the Wallace Pack Unit in Navasota Texas!

Date	October 24-26, 2019
Place	Wallace Pack Unit in Navasota.  This is only 45 minutes from CTR!  No hotel required!
Starts	We meet Thursday morning at 6 a.m. at the Pack gate.  After that, we’re in at 6 a.m. and out by 5 p.m. each day
Ends	Saturday at 5 p.m.
Leadership	Jim Norris is Director Co-directors are Roger Martinez and Tony Palumbo
Cost	$150 per person
Hotel	Not required!

If you’ve wanted to take part in one of these awesome retreats, Pack is a great place to start.  Please pray about this and consider volunteering. You have a chance to provide comfort and grace to someone who desperately needs it and you will walk away changed.  And, as one of our Fathers said when describing this ministry, not everyone can start a sentence with, “You know, the day I walked out of prison…”

We will come back with training dates and the details on cook day.    

God truly blessed us at the Ellis retreat we had back in July.  The reunion for that retreat will be held on 14 September from 8-11 a.m.  We need to be at the Ellis Gate at 7:30 a.m. Please bring a dozen donuts in a clear bag.  The food team will provide coffee and juice.

For questions, contact Jim Norris ( jim@sweetwatermortgage.com), Elle Norris                      ( Elle@sweetwatermortgage.com) or Bryan Bradburn ( bbradbur@bellsouth.net).

 

In Matthew 25, Jesus called for us to visit and to care for those in prison. The CtR Prison Ministry is inspired by Christ’s exclamation to serve our incarcerated brothers. We obey Him by ministering to and helping meet the spiritual needs of our Catholic brothers in prison, by sharing the agape love of Jesus Christ with all men in prison regardless of their faith, and by promoting unity and understanding within the entire body of Christ in prison. 

We are there as peacemakers and servants and our goal is that by our service these men will believe that they are worthy of the love of God and that they can share and live that love in prison and in their communities and neighborhoods when they get out.   

We fulfill this mission by hosting Kolbe retreats and follow-up ministries at two prisons that we have adopted, the Ellis Unit in Huntsville and the Pack Unit in Navasota. 

The Kolbe retreat allows male volunteers only and the Dismas retreat provides opportunities for both male and female volunteers. Between retreats, we offer weekly follow-up ministries including communion services, Bible studies, the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) and theology classes.

For more information on how to volunteer for the this retreat and for information on follow up ministries, please contact Jim Norris at prisonministry@ctrcc.com.
 

St. Maximilian Kolbe Prison Ministries
Our ministry is named for St. Maximilian Kolbe.  Fr. Kolbe was arrested in the early days of World War 2 and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp for the crimes of sheltering refugees, including 2,000 Jews and for issuing anti-Nazi publications.  He continued his service as a priest and ultimately volunteered to die in the place of a total stranger. This man, Franciszek Gajowniczek, was present in St. Peter’s Square in 1982 when Fr. Kolbe was canonized by St. John Paul II.

For more information about this ministry, including follow ups, RCIA and theology classes in the units, please contact Jim Norris at prisonministry@ctrcc.com.