“He sent me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour. (Luke 4: 18 – 19).
8 – 15 October has been marked as the week for prisoners – a time when we remember all those who are imprisoned. There are many ways in which we can be imprisoned and this week is a call to us to think of those in our prisons and also to reflect on our own situation.
In his mission manifesto, Jesus sets out his programme for liberating those held in any kind of captivity. It is a wide and broad vision and one not limited to those actually in prison for any kind of wrongdoing or those who have been falsely accused of this.
The BBC documentary a few weeks ago highlighted the plight of those held in a Detention Centre – those simply awaiting release or deportation. It was quite a horrific programme as we witnessed the ill treatment meted out to the inmates of the Centre.
There are different kinds of captivity, each with its own anguish and desperation.
For some, there is the captivity of being born into extreme poverty or violent and unjust situations. They may feel bound by this, unable to shake off the shackles of their poverty and they live quiet desperate lives in these situations.
Blindness can prevent us from acknowledging our gifts and talents and allowing the expectations of others to hinder the development of our talents. We cannot see beyond their opinion of us to take authority in our own lives and press ahead in our search for wholeness.
Then I can be so in awe of what others think of me, keeping up appearances, that I am not true to myself and do not become the person God intended me to become.
“For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11.
Accepting the freedom of the children of God brings with it its own sense of responsibility. I am in charge of my own life, I can, to a large extent, determine my own future. However, this is not done in isolation! I am a human being, a member of society with obligations to those I live among.
“To be true to one’s own freedom is, in essence, to honor and respect the freedom of all others”.
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, State of the Union Address, Feb. 2, 1953
Our true freedom lies in our acceptance of our position before God. Accepting the total, unconditional love of God frees us to accept who we are, persons with an immense dignity, sharing in the mission of Jesus Christ, to bring freedom to our world. This is a noble and challenging vocation and let us embrace it with all our being.