Loaves and Fishes, Free Read
“Young people say, “What can one person do? What is the point of our small effort?” They cannot see that we can only lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time; we can be responsible only for the one action in the present moment.”
But we can beg for an increase of love in our hearts to vitalize and transform these actions, and know that God will take them and multiply them, as Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes. – Dorothy Day, The Catholic Worker, September 1957
I often hear from friends that they want to give up their ministry. The need feels overwhelming, and they cannot imagine how their small part can make any difference. My experience is that God calls us to bloom where we are planted, to help and make changes right where we are, and to let God take over the rest.
This 20th-century social activist reminds us of something else we should remember. We do what God calls us to do, and God will multiply the works we have done, just as with the loaves and fishes. How exciting that the story of the multiplying loaves and fishes did not happen only in Jesus’ time. It happens every day, every hour we do ministry.
I am thinking of one friend, Tandy Cobb, who felt called to send books to women in prison during the pandemic’s scariest period. Tandy is a retired, much-beloved high school English teacher who still wanted to share her love of reading with others and felt called to women’s prison ministry. She presented her idea to our Daughters of the King (DOK) and then to the congregation at Saint Mark’s. As a result, 23 St. Mark’s parishioners joined the ministry, including 16 DOK members.
The books go directly to inmates who have requested them and are not returned. One group contacted other individuals and bookstores for paperbacks. The Boy Scouts helped move the books and gave up part of their scout hut to store them. Donations of money and paperbacks came in. Members of the group met with Tandy three days each month to fill orders from the women in prison.
Then the chaplain at the prison asked the group, now called Free Read, to send books to the men’s prison as well. Soon, they filled an order for 648 books from 324 men and women. Sheila and Carly, two other team members, delivered the two carloads of books to the prison.
The notes inmates write on their book request forms show that Free Read is a program that matters to them. They received letters saying they would leave prison before the last shipment of books they ordered, but could the books be sent to their home address? Most notes express gratitude, but they also offer glimpses into their lives. One man asked them to pray for his release.
One lady asked for a large-print Bible for her bunk-mate, who is almost blind. Another Free Read regular wrote that she has no family to visit her, so she looks forward to receiving books each month. Recently, Mary wrote, “Thank you for the wonderful books. We so enjoy sharing them. So many special friendships are formed. We learn a lot about one another. God bless you.”
Then it became harder to send books to prisoners, but Free Read did not give up. They now send books to those in a local jail, a halfway house, and a homeless shelter for families called Our House.
The group at Saint Mark’s repeatedly says that this ministry blesses them.
Some might believe God is still in “the business of multiplying the loaves and fishes.”
