Nearly 43 years ago, after a stint in the U.S. Navy and two of his sweethearts joined convents, D.C. native Michael Bryant entered the priesthood. He followed Christ’s call to serve the least among us, and soon found his vocation in prison ministry. In 2005, he founded the Welcome Home Reentry program through Prison Outreach Ministries Inc., working in the District and Maryland with mentors and those returning to society after being imprisoned. Father Bryant, 70, sat down with The Washington Examiner days before Easter to share thoughts on his faith and the miracle of resurrection. Do you consider yourself to be of a specific faith?
I’m a Catholic and a priest. A Gospel imperative challenges me, and all of us, to believe personally not only in a good and gracious God, but also in a God who is there for everyone — not just for some people, but for everyone. Jesus spent most of his time working with and ministering to the litany of people with all sorts of disabilities – the lame, the blind, the crippled, those outside of the law. That, for me, is at the heart of what we do, and it’s based on my personal beliefs and my role as a priest. We’re impelled to do what our Lord did, and is asking of us — to serve the least among us.
Has your work with those returning from prison given you a new perspective on Easter, and on resurrection?
I think it’s important not to overly spiritualize their experience. But clearly, this week, Holy Week, is about celebrating betrayal and abandonment, through the Last Supper and Good Friday. And then on Easter, we experience a God who doesn’t give up on us. He didn’t give up on Peter even though Peter denied him three times, and he didn’t even give up on Judas — though Judas gave up on God. When Jesus died, he said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” That’s a good guy to have on our side, because all of us screw up in our lives with some regularity.
Where do you find Christ in the people with whom you work, even as society so often looks down on them?
The basic teaching that comes from our Lord comes from the Sermon on the Mount: “When I was hungry, you fed me. When I was thirsty, you gave me drink. When I was in prison, you visited me.” Christ is saying, “I am in that person.” That is the most challenging part of the teaching of our faith — “whatever you did to them, you did to me.” He’s saying, “I am in the poor, I am in the homeless, the naked, the immigrants, the imprisoned.” We are all made in the image and likeness of God.
How can we prepare to hear the Easter message?
I read the newspaper in the morning, and it’s filled with one headline after another about all of the things that are wrong in our world, from rebels losing their foothold in Libya, to the economy in jeopardy, to beating up on President Obama for this or that. After a while, you feel we’re going to hell in a handbasket, and we’re on an express train. There’s so much bad news.
The good news, though, is that our Lord, ultimately, has experienced everything we’ve experienced. He’s taken all of our suffering, and all of our pain, to the cross, where he died. But through the power of God, that instrument of death became the instrument of new life. Imagine if we took an electric chair, or a hangman’s noose, and hung it over a church altar — people would be aghast. And yet, every Christian church hangs a cross to remind us that God has the power to change our sinfulness, and to triumph over death. On Easter we remember what St. Paul said: “Oh death, where is your sting? Oh grave, where is your victory?”
At your core, what’s one of your defining beliefs?
I’ve come to believe that God is a loving God, and He doesn’t give up on any of us, no matter how far we stray. I believe that he is continually calling out to us. I’ve certainly strayed, and God has called me back. I can take great consolation in the fact that he’s called a lot of people back — it’s a fundamental assurance that he’s not going to give up.
– Leah Fabel
