Jail Reflections
Easter Sunday, April 4th, 2021 3rd Anniversary of the Kings Bay Plowshares Action. – July 7th, 2017 – Treaty on the Prohibition of nuclear Weapons. Deeply concerned about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences that would result from any use of nuclear weapons, and recognizing the consequent need to completely eliminate such weapons, which remains the only…
Read MoreHoly Week Approaching March 27th, 2021 The daily penance here is fitting for the season of Lent. Jesus must die for the nation and to bring the dispersed children of God together. The innocent lamb is slaughtered, like the hopes of so many of the women being brought into the prison system. The Bureau of…
Read MoreAn Appreciation of My Fellow Plowshares Friends: by Martha Hennessy (Martha sent this from prison to her friend John Dear, who typed it up and shared it with us. It is a series of reflections about each of the other participants of the Kings’ Bay Plowshares). Steve Kelly, S.J. Steve has been in custody for…
Read More“Leg Irons and Handcuffs” Prison Reflections from Patrick O’Neill (transcribed and edited by J. Mark Davidson) March 30, 2021 A Health Concern On Tuesday, March 15, I was standing in my cubicle talking to my friend Mike and my cubemate Mark. Suddenly, I started feeling very hot and I took off my long-sleeved shirt and…
Read MoreMartha Hennessey is a Catholic Worker and longtime peace activist who has fought for the abolition of nuclear weapons. She is currently incarcerated for taking part in a Plowshares Action on April 4th, 2018. The Plowshares Movement is a group of Catholic activists who follow the teaching of the prophet Isaiah heeding the call to…
Read More“Humility” Prison Reflections from Patrick O’Neill (transcribed and edited by J. Mark Davidson) March 25, 2021 Winter into Spring “March has been an indicator of spring. The winter snow and ice has been gone for two weeks, and the “Rec yard” track is almost dry. The sub-30 temps have been gone for a while. Some…
Read MoreMarch 10th Third Wednesday of Lent Matthew 5: 17 – 19. “I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” The new law is the completion of the old, not its destruction. The spirit of the law should adhere to moral duty and meet human needs. “A faith cannot renounce its roots, yet it cannot…
Read MoreMy prison cell view of the COVID-19 pandemic Mar 16, 2021 by Patrick O’Neill Lisbon, Ohio — While the difficulties associated with COVID-19 are omnipresent, the hardships are even greater for those of us in prison. Matthew’s Gospel notes the work of mercy: “I was in prison and you visited me.” The problem for the…
Read MoreMarch, 2021 This week marks my tenth at the Danbury Federal Prison Camp for women in Western Connecticut, where I’ve been sentenced for my part in the King’s Bay Plowshares disarmament action. A group of five, including my husband and two co-defendants dropped me off at the door on December 14th. I spent the next…
Read MoreMarch 4th, 2021 Albert Woodfox, in his book, Solitary, published in 2019, documents how the state of Louisiana was especially brutal in the treatment of prisoners at the infamous Angola prison. Mr. Woodfox and two companions were particularly targeted in their struggle for justice, carrying out the values and principles of the Black Panther Party.…
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