Kairos

Kairos Weekend: Thursday October 17 through Sunday October 20

 Kairos is a ministry of the church, a ministry of the apostles whom Jesus has called into community and sent forth into the environment of the correctional institution. Kairos has been called the best example of the early church in existence today. It is a ministry which our parish has been involved in for many years. Each Kairos weekend allows Christians to serve as advocates for Christ (not advocates for the inmates) and to show those who have committed crimes that God loves them (as he loves us all) despite what they have done. We participate in Kairos weekends because Jesus commanded us to: For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me. Mt 25: 35-36.

Saint John Paul II describes a situation where entire groups of the baptized have lost a living sense of the faith, or even no longer consider themselves members of the Church, and live a life far removed from Christ and his Gospel. In this case what is needed is a new evangelization or a e-evangelization. The new evangelization pertains to a very specific group of people: fallen-away Christians. Kairos prison ministry provides a way for us as the body of Christ to answer the call of Jesus and of our church to reach out to bring God’s love to those in prison. The first focus of the Kairos ministry is for volunteers to enter prisons representing Jesus and, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, bring the love of God and his desire to be known to all His children in prison.

We are all called to minister to people in prison, however, many people do not have the ability or the desire to enter a prison. The second focus of the Kairos ministry is to enable the entire body of Christ to fulfill the mandate that we must minister to those in prison. Everyone in our parish can participate in the Kairos ministry; this is done by providing tangible signs of God’s love:

• Cookies – Most people who know of the Kairos prison ministry know that the team will bring thousands of homemade cookies to the participants who attend the weekend (42 men attend a Kairos weekend), the correctional officers, and the staff of the prison. You can share God’s love by being a cookie baker and praying for the people who will eat the cookies that you bake. There are specific rules that must be followed, and these are in the Kairos Cookie Instructions. You can make as many bags of a dozen cookies each that you want. Cookies must be delivered to the parish office by noon on Thursday October 17.
  Cookie Instructions
  
• Posters and Place mats – Hand decorated posters and placemats help participants on the Kairos weekend know they are not alone. Everyone can step into the prison by signing a poster from your church, religious education class, Cursillo Group – everyone you can think of. The posters support an important talk given during the weekend – “You are not alone.”
  Poster Instructions
  Placemat Instructions
  
• Meal tickets – Sponsor a meal for a participant. Meal sponsor cards have a suggested donation of $10.00 but whatever you can afford will help support the costs of the weekend.
• Prayer – Participation in the prayer vigil – All of the activities in preparation for and during the Kairos weekend are blanketed with prayer. During the weekend, a continuous prayer vigil is maintained. Individuals sign up for a 30-minute time slot during which they pray for the people (participants and team) who are on the Kairos weekend. You can pray during your daily prayer time, while you drive to work, almost anywhere. You can sign up by following this link:
  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c084faea722a5fb6-kairos