All over Southern California, Christmas morning was filled with robust choruses belting holiday tunes … but none quite like the singalong that broke out at Los Angeles County’s Men’s Central Jail, on Wednesday, Dec. 25.
Gathered to near-overflowing in the facility’s stalwart old chapel, inmates joined in a spontaneous, joyful rendition of Jose Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad.”
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna greeted the impromptu performance — which came after 150 inmates packed the pews for jail’s traditional Christmas Day service — with hearty applause, as did many of his deputies.
Archbishop José H. Gomez celebrated Christmas Mass for the general population prisoners at the county’s cavernous jail.
Each year, Gomez takes the faith to those who cannot go to church. The Mass has become an annual tradition, which the diocese says allows the incarcerated to take part in holiday festivities despite their situations.
The hope: That Christmas Mass’s words of peace, hope and forgiveness will forge a link in the inmates’ rehabilitation journey.
“Christmas reveals the truth about our lives,” Gomez said during his homily at a Christmas Eve Mass at the cathedral the day before. “And the truth is this: We are born to become like Jesus, every one of us. We are born to share in his divine nature. In this Child, we find the way to true happiness.”
Sheriff’s deputies lined the walls and the back of the chapel, while singers and a guitarist performed during the service.
Many of the vast facility’s inmates, who number 3,400 more or less, could not attend the Mass and stood in their cells hoping for a glimpse of Los Angeles’ top Catholic cleric.
“It’s not lost on us that (the inmates are) away from their families, their children, their parents,” said Luna, “so this offers them just a little of a connection and we’re so grateful to the Archbishop of Los Angeles who’s able to come in and do this on Christmas Day.”
“This is very important to us, we look forward to it,” said inmate Jeff Nestler, a 68-year-old retired Navy veteran who’s served 21 months in detention as he awaits trial on assault charges.
“Anything to help you get through the day is appreciated,” he said. “The church service today helps us get through it”
Nestler grew emotional as he spoke, sharing memories of his children and five grandchildren, who live in the Inland Empire and on the coast.
“It’s nice to hear the words ‘we care about you’ but we hear those words a lot,” he said, covering his eyes as they welled with tears. “But for Archbishop Gomez and Sheriff Luna to come down here and say it in person, that really means they do care. Without them showing up, we get empty words. It means a lot to me.”
“We have several department members and a lot of our custody command staff who are joining me here today,” said Luna, “and I’m grateful to them because they’re giving up time with their families too to be here and while they’re [the inmates] are here in ours custody We take responsibility for them so being able to give them this little feel of home is very important for all of us.”
The prisoners, who listened quietly and intently to the archbishop’s homily, have very few material possessions while living at the facility. They each have a blanket, a towel, a pair of socks, a pair of L.A. County-issued shoes — and a handful of other items.
Usually, the small number who are allowed to be present in the chapel are being rewarded for good behavior and growth while incarcerated.
In another Christmas tradition at the jail, Archbishop Gomez visited the jail’s third floor — where prisoners are far more restricted, sometimes violent, and often troubled.
Asked about his message to the inmates, Luna responded: “Merry Christmas, happy holidays, hang in there. I know that your journey hasn’t been easy but Christmas is about hope and I want to make sure they continue with that hope, that hopefully they can get better, go back out into the streets and never come into this environment again.”
City Editor Jill Stewart contributed to this report