ST. CHARLES—Under a sign that read “Character— What you say or do when no one else is looking,” Bishop David Malloy celebrated Mass and encouraged 35 young men at the Illinois Youth Center to realize that “we can’t forget you.”

Asking how many were Catholic, the bishop said that he was “delighted to see you, Catholic or not,” before explaining the rules for receiving holy Communion and how to signal him to bestow an individual blessing upon them instead. He began his homily with an apology for the nearly 20 months

between his ordination as bishop and his first Mass at this facility.

“I should have been here sooner,” Bishop Malloy said. “It is important to come and be here with you.”

The Mass was held at one end of the facility’s library, a large, open room with bookshelves along the brick walls with windows along one side that looked out at a snowy landscape. A transport van brought the bishop, Deacon Mike Giblin of Annunciation BVM Parish, and a couple of other volunteers from the entrance building back to the library where Deacon Richard Martin, director of jail ministry for the diocese, awaited.

The youth center’s chapel, big enough to hold some hundreds of people, was built in an earlier time and now, like some other older buildings within the fenced-in acreage, is unusable.

Although it was a brighter setting than the bishop’s first jail Mass at the Winnebago County Jail, those composing the little congregation also were dressed in blue or gray, and watchful guards strolled among them or hovered close by, just in case there was a disturbance. But like the Mass at Christmas, the participants displayed a quiet respect throughout.

Bishop Malloy gave the teens some evidence to back up his earlier statement, explaining that word had gotten out about his first jail Mass, held on Christmas Day.

“To this day, I have people coming up who never met me to say thank you for doing that,” he said, noting that a judge from another state recently thanked him and told him how important it is for inmates “to know they are not forgotten.”

“We want you to know you are not forgotten,” the bishop said again, describing the Gospel story of the last judgment. God, he said, “will know who of us had a tough time ... who didn’t get the love they needed ... (and) He will bring it all together” in His judgment.

Quoting that Gospel, the bishop noted that God “will give credit” to those who visit the sick and those in prison. “He’s telling us that you are not forgotten,” he told the teens. “Whatever evil was done ... God is still calling you (and) still wants you.

“Don’t let your time here rob you of your faith.”

Bishop Malloy encouraged the young men to hold on to hope, to think of God during their time alone and not allow their problems and sorrows overcome that connection. He told them that the Church wants them to be ready when they meet God, to have converted and changed their lives.

The bishop also spoke of friends whose brother was in prison, how they worried about him and tried to figure out what to have ready for him on his release.

“You have people out there who love you,” Bishop Malloy said. “Use this time to be(come) ready” to return to society.

Sharing a few steps to help that process, he began by saying, “Guys, you have to pray. It’s the first step toward really having God with you ... Thank Him for the little things (each day). Read your Bibles for a couple of minutes each day at least.”

The bishop also encouraged them to ask for forgiveness and to forgive, describing that step as a “constant effort of the heart.”

“Avoid anger,” he said, suggesting that they “think of Jesus on the cross” when they begin to get angry about something. “You are called to be saints, every one of you,” he said, naming Peter and Paul and noting that many saints through the centuries spent time in prison.

“God does not give up on you,” Bishop Malloy concluded. “We are not giving up on you. Don’t give up on God.”

The young men were silent and completely still at that moment before the Mass continued.

After Mass, Bishop Malloy shook some hands and patted some shoulders, speaking with some teens who remained seated and with a handful who came up to talk with him. He teased some of them about “Sox or Cubs?” if they said they hailed from Chicago, and he spoke for a few minutes with Candice Jones, director of the youth centers throughout the State who happened to be visiting the St. Charles facility and stopped in at the end of Mass.