I am not sure if you are aware of this, but our church provides various ministries to prisoners, to address the spiritual needs of those who maybe got lost in life, made a terrible mistake, those who may now regret their sinful acts. There are many wonderful priests that serve as a prison chaplain. I must admit that quite often I thought to myself - why? Why do we provide a service like that to those criminals? They don’t deserve that. Well, I think I was wrong. And I learned about that while listening to Jesus’ response to those who accused Him of spending time with tax collectors and sinners. He said: “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” Jesus never gave any approval to any kind of sin. No, but He did use every opportunity to correct the sinner, to bring him or her to conversion, and to forgive them. We can’t run away from sinners in this world, we can’t hide from them. But just like Jesus, we must use every opportunity to help them to find Jesus and His mercy.
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