Father Ben Uhlenkott, pastor of Risen Christ Parish, and Sharleen Thurston, elementary education coordinator, survey Christmas cards created by Catholic school students in the Treasure Valley. (Courtesy Photo/Risen Christ Parish)
By Philip A. Janquart
ICR Assistant Editor
Parish school children across the Treasure Valley are on a mission.
The young students want their Christmas cards to be more than a simple holiday greeting. They are poised to use their cards to inspire hope in a place where hope often dies.
The idea of inspiring hope and bringing humanity to the incarcerated is nothing new. For over 25 years St. Vincent de Paul of Southwest Idaho has collected store-bought cookies distributed to prison inmates during the holidays. That little something from the “outside” can help lift spirits.
But it was Father Ben Uhlenkott, pastor of Risen Christ Parish in southwest Boise, who proposed adding Christmas cards made personally by parish school children. It came to him after reading “Spec Non Confundit” (Hope Does Not Disappoint), the papal Bull of Indiction launching the 2025 Jubilee Year. Pope Francis’ letter, published in May, refers to “Pilgrims of Hope” in parishes worldwide.
“It emphasizes signs of hope in our communities. One of the ways Pope Francis sees us offering hope is to the incarcerated,” said Audrey Weiss, Co-ordinator of Parish Life at Risen Christ Parish. “When Father Uhlenkott read this, he started thinking about what we do in the Diocese in Boise to support our incarcerated. One of the things that came to his mind is that being incarcerated all the time can be dismal, but during Christmas time, the holidays, it can be really bleak.”
Father Uhlenkott, who served in prison ministry as a seminarian and for many years afterward, said that prison has a way of dehumanizing people and that a simple thing like a cookie can make a big difference in their lives. Adding Christmas cards takes it even a step further. “Reflecting on my years of celebrating Mass for the inmates, what we are doing just made total sense,” he said.
Most Treasure Valley parishes and schools are participating in the effort. Each colorful card reflects what Christmas means to the student who made it. Many portray decorated Christmas trees, gingerbread men and candy canes, Christmas lights, snowmen and hearts. One card even depicts Santa’s sled, seemingly powered by jet-like propulsion.
“My thought was, ‘let’s make this a little more personable for them out there because it’s just kind of … cold,” said Father Uhlenkott. “It’s also a way we can get our kids, our young disciples, involved.”
Weiss has volunteered to pick up the cards from each parish and school and deliver them to Mark Renick, program director for Southwest Idaho’s St. Vincent de Paul’s reentry services, which assists former inmates as they transition back into society.
Renick, a prisoner himself 13 years ago, enlisted the help of about 150 volunteers to deliver the cookies and Christmas cards to six facilities south of Boise from Dec. 16-20. From there, the Idaho Department of Corrections will re-plate the cookies for distribution.
As for the Christmas cards, they have been earmarked, at least initially, for a women’s facility, according to Renick. “We identified one of the women’s facilities, and I think that will work with what Father Uhlenkott’s request was. It will be interesting to see how they react,” he told the ICR.
Renick also reflected upon the volunteers who visit the prisons, saying, “The other thing is to take that volunteer who has maybe never been in prison and allow them to see that this [incarcerated person] is a real human being, which is really powerful.”
Renick said that most inmates look forward to this time of year when they get to see something from the outside, even the wrapper from a product they would see at a store they once patronized.
“Many people who are incarcerated are alienated from family and friends, so it’s a way for the outside world to say, ‘We remember who you are.’”
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