Father Gordon MacRae continues his discussion in a blog post at “These Stone Walls.” Among other things, he said:
“Donna-Marie writes of the “tremendous transforming power” of our works of mercy, but that transforming power is not only directed to the recipients of our mercy. It transforms us as well. I do not recommend picking up hitchhikers but the young man who stopped on my road to Jericho that night was also transformed by his own work of mercy. And I was transformed by the one that resulted in my being stranded on that road…”
In his recent blog post from a New Hampshire prison, Father Gordon MacRae speaks about his pilgrimage with my book: 52 Weeks with Saint Faustina.
Among other things that this priest prisoner (imprisoned under false charges) wrote is this:
“I confess that I turned to the page, read just the first sentence, “Each day we fight a battle,” and then stopped because something happened that hasn’t happened for a long time. Suddenly, inexplicably, tears welled up. This journey is going to cost me something of myself, something stored up over these years in prison. I need to catch my breath, and then proceed….”
It’s a great post, so you’ll want to read the whole thing. However, if you are looking for his thoughts on my book, click on this link and scroll down a bit until you see the book cover image for 52 Weeks with Saint Faustina: A Year of Grace and Mercy.
I want to share a bit about Father MacRae, from his Bio:
On September 23, 1994, Father Gordon MacRae, a priest of the Diocese of Manchester, NH, was confined to a prison cell to begin a sentence of sixty seven years in the New Hampshire State Prison…
Father MacRae maintains his innocence of these claims, an assertion of truth for which he has paid a very high price. Had he accepted one of several well documented pre-trial “plea deals” offered by the State, he could have left prison after one year. For standing by the truth, Father MacRae now serves a draconian prison term more than sixty times the sentence that would have been imposed had he in fact been guilty or willing to pretend so.
You can see much more about this fine priest unjustly imprisoned at his Bio page of his blog These Stone Walls, including:
In 2006, Cardinal Dulles asked Father MacRae to “contribute a new chapter to the volume of Christian literature from believers who were unjustly imprisoned.” The result is These Stone Walls, described by author, Father James Valladares in Hope Springs Eternal in the Priestly Breast as, “the finest example of priestly witness the last decade of scandal has produced.” These Stone Walls has been selected by Our Sunday Visitor as Readers Choice for the Best of the Catholic Web in the area of Spirituality, and as a second place finalist for Best Catholic Blog at About.com. These Stone Walls and Father Gordon MacRae have been cited in numerous books and articles in both Catholic and secular publications.
Please pray for Father Gordon MacRae and all those who have been unjustly imprisoned. May God bless Father Gordon and all of the others.
I just found out yesterday that my book 52 Weeks with Saint Faustina fell into the hands of a prisoner. I don’t want to give away the story yet because I want you to get the chance to read his blog post on your own.
This is how he began his blog post…
“The GTL Tablet I purchased last year revolutionized life behind these stone walls, but I found myself quickly becoming dependent on its technology. Prior to the tablet, my only phone access was through a few outside collect-call-only telephones with poor connections. Depending on where we were living, there were up to 40 prisoners for each available phone. Just imagine living in a house with 40 adolescents sharing a single telephone. Not even Dante’s Inferno could depict such a scene.
In a New Hampshire winter, placing calls from prison meant long frigid waits outside in the howling wind and weather. After two winters of daily calls to TSW helpers in just that way, these tablets became available. I had heard rumors that they would have telephone capability, but I had serious doubts that this prison would ever allow such a thing. I was therefore shocked when my $149.00 GTL tablet arrived in April 2018 equipped with headphones, a microphone, and a phone app.
It worked great, and the prepaid calls placed through GTL were just a fraction over one-cent per minute compared with the up to 15-cents per minute we were paying for the privilege of getting frostbite. No more sharing a single telephone with 40 other prisoners. No more standing in line shivering early in the morning. No more having to talk on a phone after the last five guys sneezed on it. You get the point. The GTL tablet and its available features changed how life is lived here.
Until I dropped it…”
His story is really fascinating and you’ll see that it now involves my book, 52 Weeks with Saint Faustina: A Year of Grace and Mercy.
As well, this prisoner said he is going to pilgrimage with Saint Faustina and blog about it.
So, take a look at his blog post. I have no doubt that you will find the story fascinating. It is here.
Enjoy his blog post and let me know your thoughts in the comments. By the way, I dug further and read his back story. I won’t say any more for now to allow you to read it as well. Please pray for him. He surely needs our prayers.
