"See the fast that pleases ME:
breaking the fetters of injustice
and unfastening the thongs of the yoke,
setting the oppressed free
and breaking every yoke.
Fast by sharing your food with the hungry,
bring to your house the homeless,
clothe the one you see naked
and do not turn away from your own kin.
Then will your light break forth as the dawn
and your healing come in a flash.
Your righteousness will be your vanguard,
the glory of YAHWEH your rearguard.
Then you will call and YAHWEH will answer,
you will cry and HE will say, I AM here."
- Isaiah 58:6-9
(Unfastening the thongs of the yoke. Here we have a glimpse of the tremendous effort demanded of all in order to do away with every form of slavery: from the small privileges that working companions compete for, to the laws that keep entire groups marginated. It includes breaking the yoke of husbands' domination over their wives and the disputes between neighbors when no one dares to take the first step.
It is not enough to be converted to GOD "from the heart," for conversion comes about by changing both persons and structures. These make us share in the injustices and sins of the society in which we live. An incredible number of sins--corruption, prostitution, violence--are linked to colonialism and the economic and cultural dependence that go with it.
Sharing your food with the hungry: and that on a world scale for humankind is one, the only Adam of whom CHRIST is the head.
Your light with break forth as the dawn. We see the leaders of the nations come together, discuss and study in order to solve the urgent problems of humanity. No light breaks forth. It is a known fact that the research of a scientist does not bring him directly to great discoveries. Rather, he often finds the solution suddenly where he did not expect it. In the same way, human problems resist theoretical solutions, but unexpected ways will be found when every nation and every segment of society willingly shares and no longer oppresses others.)
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