I Prayed Today
A Reflection on Luke 4:16-19

I prayed today with the oppressed:
Members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and representatives from La Florida and Los Ñeques prayed together today calling upon God to strengthen our hope and courage, to keep us on the path of Christ so that we do not succumb to the fear and growing despair that pervades the region, and to continue to fill us with the Holy Spirit so that we can continue to pray and struggle together to transform the violent reality of life in Colombia.

The people of the Opón River suffer, struggle, and live lives of hope in the midst of violence from paramilitaries and guerrillas. In violation of international law, these armed groups carry out violence within the communities and in family yards, ask families to buy them food, assassinate community members, and threaten personal violence to community leaders. Both groups interfere with community life. The AUC/BCB [Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, Bloque Central Bolívar] control fishing in the area waterways. The FARC/EP intervene in family disputes and demand paths in the jungle be cleared.

I proclaimed freedom for the prisoner:
In shared prayer, during the evaluation and discussion of the community process of Life, Dignity, and Peace and CPT's accompaniment, we proclaimed the release of the captive and the year of the Lord's favour. We did so by proclaiming our hope in the transformative power of love; and that this radical love of God and Christ is working through our voices, our actions, and our prayers for transformation from the violence of the armed conflict that has lasted 50 years -- to a reality of hope, abundant life, and joy-filled peace.

I prayed today with the oppressor:
As the meeting closed and community members and CPT personnel shared a meal, two members of the FARC guerrillas made their presence known by asking to speak with members of CPT. After the conversation, I, along with other CPTers, talked and prayed with the guerrillas. They were the same individuals who minutes earlier kept watch over the communities' meeting, thus intimidating the people present and the communities' unity and Process of Life, Dignity, and Peace.

I prayed for peace:
During the shared liturgy between CPT and members of the communities and the short prayer we had with the guerrillas, it became clear that we are brothers and sisters created in the image of God. I was reminded that they are all victims of the same war; often members of the armed groups have lived in poverty and have experienced similar violence in their own communities. It surprised me when each group prayed for similar hopes: peace for the people of Colombia, an ending to the injustices experienced within the country and particularly in the Opón, and expressed vulnerability as we prayed for the well being of families, friends, and comrades.

In familiar yet different ways, together we prayed for peace. We prayed for a New Jerusalem to be constructed in Colombia and in the Opón where peace, justice and love will be abundant and where God and Christ will strengthen our unity to struggle for freedom and liberty from the violence and death of oppression and injustice.