Romans
12:9-21
 |
| Ice on convent window |
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in
suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the
saints; extend hospitality to strangers.”
Few of us will remember with any
clarity the names Patrick Sonnier or Robert Willie from the
1970’s—80’s era. In her publication Dead Man Walking, Sr.
Helen Perjean, a young Catholic nun wrote a pen-pal letter to an
inmate on Louisiana death row in Angola Prison—he wrote back.
Patrick Sonnier was later put to death by the electric chair, but not
before Sr. Helen had fostered in him a sense of dignity and hope in a
God who cares for us all.
Still later she became spiritual
advisor to inmate Robert Willie, pleading his case at a Prison Board
hearing, only to have it turned down. Her no nonsense yet hospitable
manner persuaded Robert that he too can die with integrity and hope
with a new found faith in Christ.
Sr. Helen went on to minister to the
families of victims or rape and murder, promote Amnesty International
to abolish the death penalty around the world. Her own suffering and
anguish through all this, balanced by faithful prayer is her constant
strength as she continues to this day the work she started.
Janice Barnes
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