By Lois Rogers | Correspondent

It's not unusual for Corporal Works of Mercy – the kind acts by which we help our neighbors with their material and physical needs – to meld together.

Take visiting those in prison.

In this Year of Mercy, when changes to federal sentencing laws mean many convicted of non-violent drug offenses will re-enter society earlier than expected, “visiting” those about to be released is of paramount importance, said Vincentian Father Martin McGeough.

For as Father McGeough, coordinator of jail and prison ministry for the Diocesan Department of Pastoral Care, said, delivering mercy to those about to be released, could help lessen chances they will experience hunger, thirst, homelessness and all those conditions can lead to.

Taking inspiration from the Works of Mercy, on Feb. 13, the department of Pastoral Care held a day for its prison ministers dedicated to the issues of re-entry of men and women who have finished their prison terms and are now returning to society.

“Essentially, we decided we wanted to do a day that was going to be dedicated to re-entry," Father McGeough said. "We thought it was a good focus for us in the Year of Mercy – helping those who are getting out of prison to get back into their lives. There are many issues people have when they return to the world.”

To help facilitate this gathering, the department brought in Jeff Keller, director of Re-entry at the Federal Correctional Institution at Fort Dix in Burlington County.

With 4,700 inmates, Fort Dix is among the largest prisons in America. Of that number, almost 25 percent of those in the institution are registered as Catholic, Keller has said.

Before the presentation, Keller and Father McGeough brainstormed about the “many issues people have as they return … how do they get jobs, how do they get social services, the contacts that they will need.”

Just getting the documentation they need to revive old social security cards, drivers' licenses, and passports can become an issue, Father McGeough said. “Sometimes, they need help – prisons are supposed to be helping them but what we were trying to do with this day was to make people who volunteer (as prison ministers) knowledgeable for those re-entering.”

“We focused on giving knowledge to pass on about where they can go and what's available,” he said.

The 35 prison ministry volunteers from around the Diocese who attended the focus day held in St. Gregory the Great Parish, Hamilton Square, came away with “a lot of information regarding what is available in our four counties from Catholic Charities in Ocean, Monmouth, Burlington and Mercer counties,” Father McGeough said, noting they received links to help inmates on their way back to other parts of New Jersey.

In addition, Keller brought numerous handouts that addressed questions that come up regularly about reentry issues.

One of the topics Keller addressed was what do expect regarding job applications and the growing quest to “ban the box” – a box on applications that ask if person has been convicted of a crime.

“If you check yes, that's often as far as it goes. You don't go any farther,” Father McGeough said. “If you take the box out and judge the applicant on the basis of talents and abilities, the (employer) has the opportunity to listen to the man or woman and say, they look good and them a chance.”

The lack of a box doesn't mean the question won't come up, Father McGeough said. “What it means is that the (former inmate) at least has a chance to get into the interview room. The employer can ask but at least he's had the opportunity to listen.”

“We're trying to help people focus” on what society will expect from them “as well as on Bible studies, Communion services and Catholic studies programs,” he said. “We want people to continue to keep in mind that some of these men and women may be going home this year and chat with them about how things look for them as they get ready to go home.”