Father Zach Presutti, S.J., was named an Opus Prize finalist in late July and could return to New York from November’s award ceremony with $1 million to benefit Thrive for Life, a ministry for the incarcerated that he founded in 2017.
Hosted annually at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California, “the Opus Prize is given annually to recognize unsung heroes, anywhere in the world, solving today’s most persistent social problems. The organizations represented by the finalists will receive $1.2 million—$1 million for the Opus Prize laureate and $100,000 each for two finalists,” according to the university’s website.
Established by Father Presutti with the support and encouragement of Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Thrive for Life is a faith-based ministry dedicated to helping individuals overcome challenges and live purposeful lives. Through mentorship, counseling, and community support, they empower people to develop spiritually, emotionally, and practically.
Thrive for Life operates three Houses of Study – two in New York, one in Milwaukee – along with programs across six correctional facilities in New York and New Jersey. The organization has helped transform thousands of lives behind and beyond prison walls.
“I’m very grateful for [the award] and very grateful for their generosity, but it’s really the award for the Thrive for Life community because the community is much more than me,” Father Presutti said in a Zoom interview with The Good Newsroom on Monday, August 12.
“The community is composed of faith-based organizations, parishes within the Archdiocese of New York, parishes within the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, the various correctional facilities, corporations, other religious communities, it really makes up the whole Body of Christ so that we’re able to accompany our brothers and sisters both behind and beyond the prison walls,” Father Presutti said.
He was first exposed to the lives and challenges of the incarcerated during one of his early assignments as a priest. It remains a source of inspiration for him.
“The lives of the people that I have encountered behind the prison walls have given my own religious life, life.” Father Presutti continued, “The prison is a ripe ground for the Holy Spirit. It is in this context that the Holy Spirit is really working overtime to convert hearts, to be the loving and generous people that God wants us to be.”
Both the incarcerated and the formerly incarcerated deserve the care of lay people and those who have not had the same experience, Father Presutti said. “We are Catholics. Catholics have a fundamental belief in the dignity and value of each human life, that is at the core of who we are. Despite what you have done or what you have failed to do. God’s name is mercy, so at any time throughout our life, at any moment of any breath, we are able to convert and we are able to change our ways and to live out of the gift of God’s love,” he said.
Father Presutti asked for prayer support for the ministry of Thrive for Life and for the currently and formerly incarcerated. To support Thrive for Life in other ways, visit their website.