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The Lay Apostolate

(899) The initiative of lay Christians is necessary especially when the matter involves discovering or inventing the means for permeating social, political, and economic realities with the demands of Christian doctrine and life. This initiative is a normal element of the life of the Church: "Lay believers are in the front line of Church life; for them the Church is the animating principle of human society. Therefore, they in particular ought to have an ever-clearer consciousness not only of belonging to the Church, but of being the Church, that is to say, the community of the faithful on earth, under the leadership of the Pope, the common Head, and of the bishops in communion with him. They are the Church." (Pope Pius XII)

(900) Since, like all the faithful, lay Christians are entrusted by God with the apostolate by virtue of their Baptism and Confirmation, they have the right and duty, individually or grouped in associations, to work so that the divine message of salvation may be known and accepted by all men throughout the earth. This duty is the more pressing when it is only through them that men can hear the Gospel and know Christ. Their activity in ecclesial communities is so necessary that, for the most part, the apostolate of the pastors cannot be fully effective without it. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1997, #899-900)

"It Takes A Reformed Criminal To Reform Criminals"

Publications

All publications are free to members of the LampStand Foundation.

Our publications examine the terrain where crime, history, Catholicism, human and organizational behavior, walk along paths through the criminal city we cannot readily perceive, but within which we can discern a deep rubric of transformation, redemption, the prodigal son's return, and urban-contemplative spiritual warrior knights, enriched and strengthened by Catholic teaching and daily sacramental praxis; in response to the ancient anointing recalled by the Decree of Vatican II:

"2. The Lord Jesus, "whom the Father has sent into the world" (Jn 10:36) has made his whole Mystical Body a sharer in the anointing of the Spirit with which he himself is anointed. In him all the faithful are made a holy and royal priesthood; they offer spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ, and they proclaim the perfections of him who has called them out of darkness into his marvelous light. Therefore, there is no member who does not have a part in the mission of the whole Body; but each one ought to hallow Jesus in his heart, and in the spirit of prophecy bear witness to Jesus." (Pope Paul VI (1965) Presbyterorum Ordinis #2)

Chulu Press Books

Chulu Press is an imprint of LampStand.

The Criminal's Search for God: Criminal Transformation, Catholic Social Teaching, Deep Knowledge Leadership, and Communal Reentry: by David H. Lukenbill (2006) About a criminal life, personal transformation through education and deep spiritual work, the principles of Catholic social teaching, and the type of leadership needed to develop and manage effective criminal transformation programs. E-Book (Free to members)

Carceral World, Communal City: by David H. Lukenbill (2007) "The criminal world in the United States, with the carceral shaping of it, has become a coherent entity and within that entity it is the criminal world leadership to whom we must look for transformative leadership who have already transformed the pain of their suffering into the power of teaching others." (p. 8). E-Book (Free to members)

LampStand Policy Primers

St. Dismas Day Policy Primer #1 : (Terms-Thesis-Policy, March 25, 2007) E-Report (Free to members)

Summary: A criminal, as we use the term, is a professional criminal. Our thesis is that it takes a reformed criminal to reform criminals, and the policy we suggest is that of providing financial support for a model reentry program managed by a reformed criminal.

St. Dismas Day Policy Primer #2 : (Catholic Social Teaching & Capital Punishment: A Tradition of Support, March 25, 2008) E-Report (Free to members)

Summary: One of the strongest statements from Christ concerning capital punishment is Matthew 18:6. The magisterium of the Catholic Church supports the use of capital punishment. Those within the social science field informed by Catholic teaching, with professional knowledge of criminal justice issues and an understanding of how evil is expressed within the criminal world, embrace that tradition. Research clearly indicates that capital punishment deters crime and saves lives.

LampStand Leadership Resources

Resources for Leaders of Criminal Transformation Programs (An annotated listing of professional associations, books, journals, newspapers, websites, reports and other resources for grassroots leaders.) E-Booklet (Free to members)

A Catholic Grassroots Organization Model (A workbook about a model reentry community program, staffed by one transformed criminal, helping 60-70 reentering prisoners annually on an annual budget of $70,000.00) E-Booklet (Free to members)

Annotated Catholic/Criminal Justice Bibliography (A resource that can help guide study, research, and reference around the issues that intersect with Catholicism and criminal justice.) E-Booklet (Free to members)

LampStand Leader's Circle: Definitions, Experiential Requirements, Daily Practice, & Resources (A workbook defining the professional criminals our work is directed to, their life benchmarks, and the daily practice necessary to become a member of the LampStand Leader's Circle. E-Booklet (Free to members)

LampStand Periodic Monographs

LampStand Monograph #1: (Capital Punishment & Matthew 18:6) E-Paper (Free to members)

Abstract: Matthew 18:6 is perhaps the clearest expression of support for capital punishment spoken by Christ. The Catholic & Protestant commentaries about this verse and the teaching of the entire chapter reveal the vigorous sanctions - capital punishment and banishment - Christ taught as applying to the members of the church community who violate its teachings. Matthew 18 has long been acknowledged as a Discourse on the Church, but not enough attention has been devoted to its support for capital punishment; and the historic support of the magisterium for capital punishment, and the corrosive direction taken by some segments of Catholic leadership in the United States to abolish capital punishment, all of which are the subject of this monograph.

"God longs for the tears of criminals; He thirsts for the tears of sinners." (St. John Chrysostom)