Inside an austere chapel at the Madison Correctional Institution, Bishop Earl Fernandes knelt to wash the feet of inmates serving time for their crimes on Holy Thursday morning.
The bishop returned on April 6 to the state prison in rural Madison County he’d visited two weeks earlier to show the Church’s solidarity with these men and to offer them a ray of Easter hope in the midst of their confinement.
In a homily during the morning prayer service, Bishop Fernandes referred often to the the 13th chapter of St. John’s Gospel. He reminded the men that sin can be crippling, “but on no merit of our own, God bends down to offer love into our mortal souls, to heal us and make us whole. …
“Sometimes, being in here (in prison), you might say, ‘A big stone is keeping me here,’” the bishop said. “But think about Easter Sunday and how Jesus rolled back the stone of His tomb … and remember His words, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. As the Father sends me, so I send you. …
“Today, we remember how Jesus bent down in humility and washed His disciples’ feet. And so, as your bishop, I am washing your feet as a reminder that God’s love never fails, to remind us that there is a love stronger than death, so that one day we might be fit for His service.”
Inmate Scott Cracraft, one of the men whose feet were washed by the bishop, found the experience “very moving.”
“It’s a blessing to be at this institution which allows us to participate in the Mass and in services such as today’s morning prayer,” he said.
Bishop Fernandes’ willingness to come and celebrate Holy Thursday with the washing of the inmates’ feet was humbling, he said, and gave him great hope that one day he will be able to be a witness for Jesus and a light to others who have lost their way in the world.
Cracraft said that his faith keeps him strong inside the prison walls and focused on Jesus as the Light of the World.
Searching for spiritual fulfillment, Cracraft had begun studying the Catechism of the Catholic Church in Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) classes in October 2021 through the encouragement of a longtime Catholic friend who was once incarcerated.
On Feb. 21, 2023, Cracraft came into full communion with the Church when he was confirmed as a Catholic by Father Joseph Eddy, O.deM., a Mercedarian order priest who serves as the chaplain at Madison Correctional.
“Fr. Eddy has been a real blessing,” Cracraft said, to him and the other men who are practicing Catholics or those drawn to the Catholic faith.
Inmate Joseph Garcia chose not to have his feet washed but said it was inspiring to see the bishop washing the feet of his fellow inmates.
“Things like this, where a bishop comes to celebrate Holy Thursday or Mass (which he did two weeks ago), is something I never thought I’d see within these walls,” Garcia said. “Even when I was in the service (U.S. Air Force), I didn’t experience anything like what we had today. …
“What’s most meaningful to me is the fellowship we experience here in the Catholic community, and in the Mass itself. It’s changed the way I see things — what having faith really means.”
