Jesus Christ our Liberator
For most of this year, we have finished our prayer for the day by praying “Through Jesus Christ our Liberator, who is alive and reigns with you….” And I wonder what we understand by that. What is it we are being liberated from, especially during these unusual times of pandemic? And what are we being liberated into?
Our readings for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Exodus 3:1-15, Romans 12:9-21, and Matthew 16:21-28 are about liberation. They sit in conversation with each other, and all that lies behind Peter’s exchange with Jesus. When Peter names Jesus as the Anointed one, or liberator, the kind of liberation he was looking for was not what Jesus was offering. He’d missed this conversation. I suspect the same is true for me at times.
I wonder if the late Maya Angelou was closer to what Jesus was trying to teach through his life and ministry[1]: “I am grateful to have been loved and to be able to love, because that liberates. Love liberates. It doesn’t just hold -- that’s ego. Love liberates. It doesn’t bind.”
Over the last few weeks we have been reminded in our gospel reading of God's abundance: abundant generosity, abundant mercy, abundant compassion, abundant love for all. As we read these passages what might love be liberating us from, and what is love liberating us into?
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