What could draw 200 people on Thursday morning, March 17, 2011, to St. Angela Merici's parish hall? No, it was not a St. Patrick's Day bash. Rather, Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, famous author of "Dead Man Walking", commanded the time and attention of interfaith folks who came from many parts of Southern California—Carlsbad to Ventura. Many chose to come because of their familiarity with the film based on Sister's book starring Academy award-winning Susan Sarandon who portrayed Sister Helen Prejean. Both the book and film transformed many a proponent of the death penalty to the reality that such a punishment is not only immoral but completely unacceptable in a civilized society.

The charm of this petite nun with a Louisiana drawl is her ability to tell a compelling story. Following a delicious luncheon at tables decorated with a theme picked by each seated group, Sister Helen took the podium. She underscored the fact that storytelling has transformative power, both in the telling, and the respectful listening. She reminded the group that Jesus' most effective teaching method was story-telling. By listening to another's story face-to-face, one awakens to the basic truth that all human beings have beauty—even those our society exiles to the modern Gulag of death row.

During one of her recent tours to England, Sister Helen was asked how the people of the United States could support the death penalty. Her answer was: "We never think about it." She explained that in her own life, change occurred only when she saw the suffering prisoner and could not simply walk away from the injustice.

Sister Helen compared her own advocacy for abolishing the death penalty to the way any social change occurs—by responding "yes" to a series of new experiences. For her, it all began with a simple request that she be a pen pal for a person on death row. Being an English major, she figured it couldn't be that difficult to write an occasional letter. She certainly didn't anticipate that the prisoner would write back, or that he would invite her to visit him face-to-face. She did not imagine that an encounter with this reviled and exiled neighbor would serve as the catalyst of change in her own life. She was able to see the prisoner's hidden beauty. Step by seemingly insignificant step, all change occurs, somewhat organically, with no prepared blueprint-- "The path is made by walking." It applies to all seekers of a deeper life, and especially those who take Jesus as guide in His exhortation: "I was in prison and you came to visit me…" (Matthew 25)

Our fears keep us separated from visiting the neighbor in prison. These fears are fueled by a bombardment of media depictions of violence perpetrated by "those people." We are fed misleading information. Statistics show that 70% of those incarcerated are there for non-violent crimes, usually drug-related. In fact, though Caucasians have a far higher incidence of drug use, those incarcerated for such offenses are overwhelmingly black. Indeed, as author Michelle Alexander concludes in her book, "The New Jim Crow", the U.S. prison system is itself a reincarnation of that degrading phenomenon since today in the U.S. one out of every three black males aged 20 to 29 is incarcerated.

Change can only be spurred by enlightenment, always a grace.

An "enlightened people" does not build 27 new prisons in a period of thirty years and only one new university as is true in California. This state, which is comparable to the Fertile Crescent as the birthplace of creative ideas and trends, has more prisoners (over 700) on death row than Texas!

Perhaps the most significant nugget of truth which Sr. Helen shared is that each one of us is a globule of dough waiting to be leavened. When the yeast enters, it slowly but surely causes the dough to rise, to break out of its boundaries, to be transformed.

In the course of her talk, Sr. Helen Prejean praised the work of the Center for Restorative Justice Works (CRJW) headed by Sister Suzanne Jabro. This organization spearheaded many programs to link those outside prison to those within. The Get on the Bus program has enabled over 10,000 children to connect with an incarcerated parent. The "Crossover" program has paved the way for many outsiders to come into CIW for a personal encounter with the women inside. Two former prisoners were present at the talk and had been part of the Crossovers. A group of college students who participated in a Crossover program with prisoners of a similar age conceived of establishing a garden run by women women prisoners. It has so grown it is now known as: Cultivating Dreams." After her talk, Sister Helen will join other outsiders to be part of a Crossover at CIW.

The day's inspiring event promises to be an annual occurrence. Be on the lookout for details, and for Sr. Helen Prejean's new book, soon to be completed and published, "The River of Fire." It is a prequel to her first book, "Dead Man Walking," and explores her spiritual journey before awakening to her passion to abolish the death penalty.

By Sister Annette Debs

Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet