New Skete Monasteries News

  By Ida Williams   Have you ever been called to do something that is out of your comfort zone?   Something that you think about over and over again, wondering if you made the right decision?   This happened to me recently, and I am very happy that because of my faith, and a shining example from Sister Cecelia and Kenneth, I stepped out of my boat of fear. Last fall I received an email from Sister Cecelia letting me know that I was going to receive a letter from a young man named Kenneth: a person with justice system involvement, who is currently incarcerated.   She went on to tell me it was up to me if I decided to correspond with this young man. The letter arrived, and it was well written, many pages long, and contained questions about my job.   He had read my article “ The Faces of Dog Training at New Skete. ”   He also included information about himself, never speaking of the crime he was incarcerated for, but giving a glimpse into his life and his desire to learn.   So man

  By Kenneth, guest writer Hi. My name is Kenneth.   I truly appreciate the loving and caring people at the New Skete Monastery.             I am incarcerated in Columbia Correctional Institution and have been since I was 18 years old.   I was wrongfully convicted of an armed robbery in 2015 for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.   In this incident no one was hurt, and I had nothing to do with this [crime], but being from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and not being able to pay a lawyer’s fees to adequately defend myself, I lost my freedom to the prison system.   I was and still am distraught after this incident. This is my first adult case in my life!   I was so depressed and grief-stricken, to the point where I did not want to live any more, at all.   I tried suicide three times.   I thought it was the end for me...until one day while in segregation, where I was separated from everyone in the world, and having nobody to talk to or anything to do, this nice man next door to me l