Daily Devotion:

Title: Prison Angel

Date: September 21, 2012

For twenty-five years, Sister Antonia has avoided discussing her life previous to working in one of Mexico’s most notorious prisons in Tijuana. Mexican prisoners pay for imprisonment. If you are poor, you'd better pray Sister Antonia is there for you.

She voluntarily lives inside the prison, in a cell with pink-painted walls. Every day since 1977, she fills her days with practicalities by providing inmates with aspirin, eyeglasses, false teeth, and bail for thousands of first-time petty criminals and thieves. They call her “The Prison Angel”. Inmates, guards, and politicians say one word describes her – saint.

Sister Antonia counsels poorly-paid prison guards, teaches ethics, and rids the prison of torture racks. If sickness, violence, or death strikes, she's ready. Once, during a prison riot, she walked into a hail of bullets and drifting teargas, commanding the fighting to stop. The inmates were so shocked that she would risk her life that they laid down their weapons.

Sister Antonia isn't Mexican. She's a former Beverly Hills beauty and mother of eight, with a background in luxury and enjoyment of her weekend beach home. After her divorce, in the 1960’s, when she was known as Mary Clarke, she began volunteering more and more over the border in Mexico, where she felt she might do the most good. Eventually, she sold her LA home and moved into the prison, where she brings dignity to the poor. She says she is deeply happy.

Let's Pray: Dear God, bless the selfless mission of Sister Antonia and her nuns; may we learn from her example. Amen.

Here’s a Thought: If you want a sense of purpose, be of service.

Source:
Mary Jordan, Washington Post Foreign Service, Tijuana's Live-In 'Prison Angel: American Nun Brings Hope to Inmates on Border, Wednesday, April 10, 2002; Page A01, www.jknirp.com/jordan.htm

The Prison Angel: Mother Antonia's Journey from Beverly Hills to a Life of Service in a Mexican Jail, Penguin, 2006 By Mary Jordan, Kevin Sullivan