Hi Richard and all comrades!

I just read your article...written on Good Friday. Good Friday...in Westville, Shannon Drive settlement, Lacey Road Settlement, Kennedy Road...this is the day of the Cross. But what does it mean CROSS in Westville, Shannon drive....Ash Road? I remember that when I was a child I alway been told that Jesus died because of my/our sins. But now I'm beginning to discover a new meaning. The Cross is not the instrument of a God who needs the suffering of the people. I am discovering that Jesus died not because of my sins but because of the way he lived. Jesus was executed because he was preaching a good news of liberation. He was preaching peace, love, resistance to the logic of the empire. Jesus dreamt a society with no poor, and oppression. Jesus died because of the God he preached. He preached a God who could be found outside the Temple, a God who did not need sacrifices. The God of Jesus was a God who scared the authorities.

All the pain experienced in Kennedy Road, Shannon drive, Lacey Road, Ash road, Jadu place...is not willed by God! This is the good news. If these crosses are not God’s will, it means that God dreams something different for the people. God’s dreams for all of us are about happiness and a dignified life. God does not send suffering as a test of obedience or as a punishment. Therefore, the crosses that people are bearing today are meaningless because they are imposed by a system of death. They are there to be combated rather than to be understood and accepted. In other words, the suffering that unpoverished are enduring must not be seen as God’s will, rather it should be conceptualized as tools of an oppressive system that marginalizes people and reduces them to cheap labour. That is whay such crosses are meaningless: the system that produces such oppression, such crosses, must be called with its own name: sin. The situation of poverty and oppression is due to an economic and political system promoted and sustained by a minority. This must be considered a sin. That is why, the suffering of the people is a non sense that cannot be absolutely confused with the will of God.

Nevertheless, the Cross of Jesus remains there as the wisdom of God. Therefore, how is it possible to understand this scandal? Which kind of Cross can deliver and sustain the struggle?

Bearing the Cross of Christ means to be delivered from oppression and such a Cross is the one borne for the sake of liberation, freedom and love. Only this Cross has meaning because it is a Cross endured for the cause of the Kingdom and, struggling for this cause leads to suffering and, sometimes, even death. This can be seen in the life of Jesus.

Jesus died because of his life, his option for the poor, his fidelity to the Kingdom and his radical solidarity with human beings. The Cross is a symbol of the full story of Christ’s becoming human, suffering and dying. That is the good news! Jesus remained faithful to the project of the Kingdom and in this way entered in solidarity with all those who are bearing a Cross for their fidelity, love and liberating actions. This is the meaning of the Cross! In his death, Jesus transformed the cross from an instrument of humiliation into an instrument of struggle against slavery, oppression and death. This aspect of Jesus’s Cross can also help to understand that the suffering of the impoverished is a cross without meaning and that they are called to bear a heavier one: the Cross borne because of the struggle against oppression and poverty.

The Cross that liberates and gives life is the Cross borne for the cause of the kingdom. When men and women are struggling for houses, water and more generally for a dignified life, are giving meaning to the Kingdom of God. This is a Cross that generates love and transformation in this world. That is the Cross that Jesus bore. Jesus died so that people could stand upright. Jesus died so that people could find hope to struggle against a system of death which pushes people to live in makeshift houses. Following Jesus is to live out his subversive plan, his stance for the poor against the situation of misery and oppression. Following Jesus means placing oneself at the service of liberation from all oppression. As Jesus’s life taught us this can easily lead to persecution and suffering. That is also what is happening in this country...in Kennedy Road, Westville, Lacey Road...

Ciao

Filippo