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Cuarenta Semanas: Cartas Desde la Prision
Forty Weeks: Letters from Prison is a tremendous spiritual tool to be used both by the incarcerated and those who offer them pastoral and spiritual guidance. It can also be a great resource for the families of those who are incarcerated.
In August of 2016, Fr. Watson, president of Sacred Story Institute and author of the original Forty Weeks: An Ignatian Path to Christ with Sacred Story Prayer, received a letter from a federal inmate seeking spiritual advice. His name is Richard Rafael Roman or just simply, Ritchie. He had been given a copy of Forty Weeks by a Catholic deacon friend of his: Patrick Logsdon. Their relationship went back to 1987 when Ritchie lived in Anthony House, a Catholic transitional home for addicts and former felons seeking a way back into society. The house was run by Deacon Pat and sponsored by the St. Vincent de Paul Society in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, NY. Ritchie, in his early fifties when he first contacted Fr. Watson, was starting year nineteen of a twenty-five-year sentence for armed bank robbery. He was sent to prison in 1997. Ritchie and Fr. Watson corresponded for a month or so before it was suggested Ritchie go through the Forty Weeks program and write questions for each week of the program. Fr. Watson agreed he would send him advice for each week. Ritchie gave his permission for Fr. Watson to publish the correspondence in a special version of the Ignatian formation program, Forty Weeks, to be called Letters from Prison. Fr. Watson was convinced that working together he and Ritchie could help many currently incarcerated people find the Lord of healing, hope, and peace through a special edition of Forty Weeks. If the Forty Weeks spiritual program was helping Ritchie so much, how many more could be helped with the addition of his personal story and reflections, along with some of Fr. Watson's spiritual advice?
It is the prayer of both Fr. Watson and Ritchie that many currently incarcerated people who believe they have no value or future can find in the healing light of Christ through the Forty Weeks Letters from Prison, and new hope to believe that they have a Sacred Story that Christ can make possible even in prison.
In August of 2016, Fr. Watson, president of Sacred Story Institute and author of the original Forty Weeks: An Ignatian Path to Christ with Sacred Story Prayer, received a letter from a federal inmate seeking spiritual advice. His name is Richard Rafael Roman or just simply, Ritchie. He had been given a copy of Forty Weeks by a Catholic deacon friend of his: Patrick Logsdon. Their relationship went back to 1987 when Ritchie lived in Anthony House, a Catholic transitional home for addicts and former felons seeking a way back into society. The house was run by Deacon Pat and sponsored by the St. Vincent de Paul Society in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, NY. Ritchie, in his early fifties when he first contacted Fr. Watson, was starting year nineteen of a twenty-five-year sentence for armed bank robbery. He was sent to prison in 1997. Ritchie and Fr. Watson corresponded for a month or so before it was suggested Ritchie go through the Forty Weeks program and write questions for each week of the program. Fr. Watson agreed he would send him advice for each week. Ritchie gave his permission for Fr. Watson to publish the correspondence in a special version of the Ignatian formation program, Forty Weeks, to be called Letters from Prison. Fr. Watson was convinced that working together he and Ritchie could help many currently incarcerated people find the Lord of healing, hope, and peace through a special edition of Forty Weeks. If the Forty Weeks spiritual program was helping Ritchie so much, how many more could be helped with the addition of his personal story and reflections, along with some of Fr. Watson's spiritual advice?
It is the prayer of both Fr. Watson and Ritchie that many currently incarcerated people who believe they have no value or future can find in the healing light of Christ through the Forty Weeks Letters from Prison, and new hope to believe that they have a Sacred Story that Christ can make possible even in prison.
536 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 18, 2019
2 people are currently reading
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About the author
William M. Watson
43 books1 followerFr. Bill Watson, S.J. specializes in building enduring Ignatian-based programs that stand the test of time. The Encounter program at Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon will turn 40 in 2019 and has transformed the school. The 5-Day Ignatian Retreat at Georgetown University will have its 30th anniversary in 2017 and the Georgetown Freshman ESCAPE retreat celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2016.
Many evangelization programs have a shelf-life or become the victims of unplanned obsolesce. The evangelization programs of Sacred Story Institute, based on Fr. Watson’s past track record, will become part of your faith community and endure in their relevance and effectiveness for decades to come. Invest in programs that will carry your faith community forward, built on the time-tested spirituality of St. Ignatius Loyola.
Many evangelization programs have a shelf-life or become the victims of unplanned obsolesce. The evangelization programs of Sacred Story Institute, based on Fr. Watson’s past track record, will become part of your faith community and endure in their relevance and effectiveness for decades to come. Invest in programs that will carry your faith community forward, built on the time-tested spirituality of St. Ignatius Loyola.
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