Liberation of Captives 向俘虜宣告釋放

Third Ordinary Sunday, Year C
Theme: Liberation of Captives 向俘虜宣告釋放

The gospel of John follows an agenda different from that of the Synoptic gospels. For example, Jesus started His public ministry by turning water into wine in a wedding banquet at Cana and his disciples began to believe in him (John 2:11). Then we see Jesus cleansing the Temple in Jerusalem. The perspective is aloft because both “wedding banquet” and “Jerusalem” are pregnant with symbolism of the Kingdom of Heaven. Thus, reading the gospel of John requires a deeper meditation. The Synoptic gospels are more down-to-earth. After baptism and temptation, Jesus began His public ministry in Galilee. In the gospel passage today, we read of his inaugural speech in the synagogue of Nazareth where he had grown up (Luke 4:16). Jesus quoted a passage from the book of Isaiah to declare His agenda, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” (4:18-19, Isaiah 61:1-2) In short, He comes to redeem and to liberate the marginalized.

Previously, I meditated on what good tidings to the poor can be and I could only come up with the idea that their debts be written off. But that action depends on the charity of the “benefactor” and not on the poor themselves. What then can be learnt from the poor whom Pope Francis always urges us to learn? The answer lies here, “Incline your ear, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and oppressed.” (Psalms 86:1) Yes, the Lord answering their prayers is the good news to the poor! Perhaps this is what Pope Francis urges us to do, i.e. to learn from the way the poor pray. Thus, Lord Jesus comes in person to answer the poor’s prayers and to honour His pledge to redeem the captives and the oppressed.

When I meditate on the captives, the faces of the inmates whom I previously visisted come up in my mind. It is not easy to break up emotionally the relationships established. I started visiting inmates in the three correctional institutions in the Tai Lam region one year after my ordination. Prison ministry was supposed to be an ideal area of service because visiting prisoners is one of the corporal works of mercy mentioned in Matthew 25. Moreover, it is also a good opportunity for me to chalk up my spirituality because I’m supposed to meet Christ present among the inmates. I turned out to be rather naïve!

First of all, how am I to meet Jesus among the psychiatric inmates? Some of them were so heavily medicated that they showed no signs of consciousness. Some of them acted more like the walking dead who occasionally yelled at some phantoms they saw. I managed to communicate with a few and found them highly intelligent. They read philosophy books and played chess! It turns out that life in Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre is better than that in the other prisons in Hong Kong. Thus, some prisoners took advantage and they were transferred from other prisons “on holiday” just by showing signs of emotional instabilities! Of course, some unlucky souls were sent there because of language and cultural barriers! A hilarious case in point was a mainlander tourist answering the call of nature in a blind alley in Mongkok. He had to finish his tour in a psychiatric ward and be deported across the border immediately after discharge! The most saddening sight were inmates who had spent roughly half a century there. Assessment doctors kept copying the comments of previous assessments. Perhaps they had come to the conclusion that after release, those poor souls could not survive long outside the prison walls. Where are you, Lord?

The men prison is category B or below. Which means inmates only have to spend several years or a couple of months there. There are different workshops: steel works, pre-fabricated concrete, book-binding, leather, laundry and horticulture for elderly inmates. No wonder inmates of other nationalities always comment that prisons in Hong Kong are like five-star hotels! Most inmates ignore us clergy because they would soon be discharged. Some younger ones bared their chests to show off tattoos and did push up in front of me. Some requested novels instead of bibles. Some wanted me to organize religious classes for them to get away from boring routine chores … A more experienced deacon has reminded me not to believe totally in what the inmates told me. Where are you, Lord?

I found the ministry in the women prison, which is Category A, the most fulfilling. I had been able to bring in bibles and to minister Holy Communion before the pandemic. For them, receiving communion before Easter and Christmas was the most consoling. I was even able to organize two groups of volunteers to do prayer meets on two Sundays per month! Telling the truth, my previous career as a teacher bred in me a very narrow scope of life experience. Visiting prison inmates has broadened my horizon. I’ve seen injustice never seen before. I’ve been able to console never consoled before. Furthermore, I’ve learnt a lot from the women inmates who have or will have spent decades in that institution. Several common themes have I gathered in those visits.
Firstly, after going through the initial shock of imprisonment, they began to re-build their relations with God. They re-discovered God. Imprisonment provides them a lot of time to weep, to pray and to read which was in short supply when they were outside and were “free”. How paradoxical! But if they are able to rediscover God in prison, have we forgotten God outside the walls?
Secondly, some of them opined that the walls were unable to confine their spirits. They were able to visit anywhere they wished. An inmate told me of her near-death experience. Yet another told me she was able to “teleport” herself at the deathbed of her father across space and time … Not a small number started their studies of business management, law and languages … etc. I start wondering who really prisoners are!

We are free to travel around, aren’t we? Suddenly, we find ourselves locked down unprepared by the pandemic! We are free to do what we enjoy, aren’t we? Alas, many people have become drug abusers, compulsive gamblers, workaholics and even Machiavellians! It is hard to accept the reality that to a certain extent, all of us are captives of some obsessions. Obsessions are enjoyable and reassuring. They make us feel like heroes and inflate our egoes. Worst of all, we’re willing to pay the price and to take the risks because we believe that we are taking the control. Regrettably, we’re not. The world keeps telling us that we are not in control. The pandemic is a timely reminder.

Brethren, if we are not able to show God’s face, to manifest Christ’s mercy or to demonstrate the fruits of the Holy Spirit, I’m afraid we’re no better than those inmates in the Tai Lam region. I have no quick fix. I can only pray and I believe God will answer my prayers.
God bless!
2019 Reflection