Questions for Reflection/Discussion by Catholic Men
1. Why did Michael Thompson in his early years have no hope? What caused this to change?
2. What is now the basis of his hope as a Christian? What is the basis of your hope?
3. Why do you think that Michael now says, “I thank God for even that rugged road in prison”?
4. Michael says he now lives a “new life.” What are some of the attributes of that new life? Are there any that he describes that need to be a deeper part of your life? Which ones?
[Editor's Note: This article is the second in a series on the theme “Being a Man of Hope.” Click here to find the first article.]
“I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
Today, that’s one of my favorite verses in the Bible, but it didn’t always reflect my life. I spent more than fifteen years in and out of prison, without any hope and without any plans or goals for my future. That all changed a few years ago when I came face to face with God’s love.
On My Street Corner. Growing up in the inner city, I never heard the word “love” mentioned in my family. Love was just a word for wimps. My parents died before I was fourteen, and good role models were few and far between. Even though I graduated from a Catholic high school, I didn’t really know who God was.
Since I hadn’t received much love during my teen years, I reached out for any attention. I passed by an opportunity to go to college because I was living day by day, with no purpose or plans for the future. I wanted to be like the guy I saw on the corner — the one with a wad of money in his pocket and a nice car — getting attention however he could, even if it was negative. So I began to sell drugs, and wound up in prison for the first time at twenty-one years old.
That was the beginning of a vicious cycle for me which lasted seventeen years. I’d get out of prison, go back into my old environment and end right back in prison again. In between prison stints, I spent a lot of time standing on the same street corner in town, a man without hope. One day as I was wasting away my life on that corner, the father of a street friend saw me. He told me his son had gone to a mission for street people and the homeless. When he said he could see some definite, positive changes in his son, I decided to go to the mission too.
Overcome by Love. When I walked through the rescue mission door on August 7, 1995, I was greeted with hugs and compassion. Slowly I began to experience God’s love through those who cared for me at the mission. Over the next six months, the love that had been missing from my life became real to me, and the truth of the Gospel began to sink into my mind and take hold of my heart. Finally, after so many years of living on my own strength and making a mess of my life, I surrendered to God.
These four years since my conversion have been the best of my life. What I didn’t have before, I have today: a future and a hope. I know who I am in Christ Jesus. I know why I was created. I know what my purpose is. There is a plan for my life. I have goals and good order in my life. I have a wife and a family and a home, and we live in a way that I believe is pleasing to God. Sure, I have troubles like everyone else, but I have something available to me now that I never had before — the Holy Spirit dwelling in me, giving me the strength to overcome difficulties and temptations and anything else that might rise against me.
When I look back on my life today, I realize that my time in prison did something for me that I couldn’t have done for myself: It pulled me out of an environment that was destroying me. I was killing myself on that street corner. We all take different journeys to get to the place where God can reach us. Sometimes we have to be beaten up and broken in order for God to come in and fix us. I was a broken man all those years. I had a big hole in my heart, and I tried to fill it with girls, cars, money, and drugs, but nothing ever satisfied me. Now I thank God for that rugged road in prison because it brought me to the place where I am today. I wouldn’t change that for anything in the world.
Living My New Life. My life has become very stable since my conversion. I’ve grown in perseverance, and I’m learning what it means to have endurance. I’ve been able to tell my family and friends who had been harmed by my behavior how sorry I am for that. They are extremely happy with me and with what Jesus has done in my life. Since coming to know how much God loves me and how much He has forgiven me, I’ve also learned to forgive others. I’ve realized that holding on to things that were unjustly done to me just kept me in bondage, so now I’ve let go.
Prayer has become important to me, because it’s my communication with God. When I’m not praying regularly, I miss out on much of what Jesus and the Father have made available to me. It’s often the time I spend in prayer with Him that He reveals things to me. I also intercede for others so that they will come to know the love of God, that they will be restored, and that they will be healed from whatever is hurting their lives.
Hope in Jesus Christ. Jesus comes to the needy and the brokenhearted. There are many men and women in prison who wound up there because there was no love in their lives. If we reach out to these people and love them, their lives can be changed. I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing now than working on staff at the rescue mission. There are currently twelve male residents — former inmates — who came to the mission because of what God did in my life.
There is hope for the men and women who are incarcerated in prisons throughout the country. Hope that comes from Jesus. Hope that doesn’t cost anything. Hope that is real and genuine. Hope that is available to anyone who turns to Christ.
Jesus didn’t come to save the righteous; He came to save sinners. Those in prison are often strong and proud. These are good qualities, but humility is needed among many prisoners so they can accept when they are defeated. Anyone who has spent time in prison, whether for one year or ten, has been defeated. I know, because I was there. But anyone who believes that Jesus is who He said He is and humbly turns to Him can receive the strength to live a new life pleasing to God. I know this as well, because I’m living that new life now. Just as He promised, God has given me a future and a hope.
Questions for Reflection/Discussion on Page 2
(This article is part of NFCM's sponsorship of the Catholic Man channel and originally appeared in God Alone: Stories of the Power of Faith, The Word Among Us Press, 2000. Used with permission from The Word Among Us. It was also part of the Catholic Men’s E-zine, Being a Man of Hope, (Mar-Apr 2003 issue) which is available on the NFCM website. You may email them at info@nrccm.org.)
