PRISON MINISTRY
MARY COTTINGHAM | STC
Bringing the Word of God
“Brother Pedro” Costilla ministers in both English and Spanish, to men and women, who are incarcerated in Corpus Christi Nueces County Jail. On a weekly basis he brings them the Word of God, encourages the sacrament of confession, and at the end of the day puts them in God’s hands.
Hungry for the Word of God
“F
By Mary Cottingham South Texas Catholic
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me” (Mt 25:35-36).
or more than 30 years, Pedro Costilla has started his Bible study in much the same way, greeting each incarcerated man and woman as “brother” and “sister” and leading them in an opening prayer. “They [the guards] call it church,” but he lets prisoners know that he’s from the Catholic Church. Many years ago, Costilla, “Brother Pedro” to the inmates,
helped spread the Gospel to the incarcerated in Beeville’s East (now closed) and West Garza Units, the McConnell Unit, San Diego’s Glossbrenner Prison, Three Rivers Federal Correction Institute, County Substance Abuse Treatment Facility (SATF) and Juvenile Detention Centers. Now every Thursday morning, he continues to bring the Word of God to them at Corpus Christi Nueces County Jail.
WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST
|
FALL 2021
| S O U T H T E X A S C AT H O L I C
29
