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Criminal Justice Principles

Prayer

For those of us whose apostolate is within the world, the prayerful power and contemplative intercessions of the religious has our back, for they are a mighty arm of the Church and their prayer is one of the sharpest swords of the Word, now as it was centuries ago, when St. Teresa of Avila wrote these words: "I think we should act as people do when, in time of war, the enemy has overrun the country and the king finds himself hard pressed. He retires into a strongly fortified town from whence he sometimes makes a sortie. The small company with him in the citadel, being picked men, are better than a large army of cowardly soldiers; thus they often come off victors, they are not vanquished for there is no traitor in their ranks and famine alone can conquer them. No famine can force us to surrender--it may kill us--it cannot vanquish us! But why have I told you this? To teach you, my sisters, that we must ask God to grant that, of all the good Christians in this fort, none may desert to the enemy, that no traitor may be found here, and that the captains of this castle, or city--that is, the preachers and theologians--may be proficient in the way of our Lord. Since most of these are religious, you must pray that they may advance in perfection and may follow their vocation more perfectly. This is very necessary, for, as I said, it is the arm of the Church and not of the State which much defend us now. We, being women, can fight for our King in neither way: Let us, then, strive so to live that our prayers may avail to help these servants of God who have laboured hard to arm themselves with learning and virtue with which to help their Sovereign." The Way of Perfection, [1565]. (1997). Rockford, Illinois: Tan Books and Publishers. (pp. 16-17)

With Peter, to Christ, through Mary, for the greater glory of God

Organizational Overview

Our Mission: Transforming the repentant criminal, suffering from his distance from God, into a deep knowledge leader who can teach other criminals the path to redemption through the Catholic Church.

Our Core Beliefs

Suffering transformed builds souls. Just as the muscle tissue tearing that leads to greater physical growth resulting from body building, suffering is soul tearing which, through redemption, allows soul growth.

1) Deep knowledge leadership--college educated, transformed criminals, professionally trained to manage criminal transformative organizations-- will dramatically improve criminal transformation.

2) Catholic social thought forms the intellectual and spiritual foundation of criminal transformation.

3) Grassroots criminal transformation organizations need ongoing access to capacity building services.

4) Business and professional leadership, working to create community social capital through the transformation of criminals, will benefit from gaining knowledge about Catholic social thought.

Our Program

Lampstand's direct teaching work is supplemented by grassroots leadership resources, monthly e-letter, quarterly newsletter, annual policy primer research report, periodic monographs, and books from Chulu Press (a Lampstand imprint) published every winter.

We want to facilitate the development - from among the 30% of reentering criminals who do not return to prison - of reformed professional criminals whose personal transformation, education, and reconciliation or conversion to Catholicism has led them to want to help others, and inspire these potential leaders to seek graduate degrees, professional organizational training, learning in Catholic social teaching, and assume a leadership role in the community helping other criminals transform their lives.

It is because of their culturally determinant influence and status within the carceral/criminal world, that the professional criminal who has transformed his life, is able to have authentic access to other penitential criminals, which is absolutely vital to attaining any substantial and sustainable success in criminal reformation.

"Dom Chautard, a French Cisterian abbot, shows in the Soul of the Apostolate that the essence of every apostolic work undertaken for our Lord is the interior life of grace within the individual apostle's soul-a life that is fed by prayer and conformity to the will of God. The reason the apostle's interior life is "The soul of the apostolate," he explains, stems from the very nature of God, which is Goodness itself, and which overflows in His Will to communicate Himself to others." (Tan Books)

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"Criminals & the Church

"96) From the very beginning, criminals played a major role in the Church--the good thief Dismas being an early example--and another was the transformed criminal who became pope, St. Callistus (died 222). His experience-based decree selection caused a severe political break in the Church, but restored its heart of mercy and redemption, when he decreed forgiveness for major sinners after confession and penance, against the wishes of many early Christians." (David H. Lukenbill (2008) Carceral World, Communal City, p. 87)