Human freedom is one of the most defining qualities of human nature. Through the use of human freedom we make choices that build up our character and deepen our faith. Indeed, one of the most striking qualities of Jesus in the gospels is his freedom.

He is not limited by the power of the Scribes and Pharisees nor is he afraid to call Herod “fox”. He mixes with prostitutes and tax collectors, he cures the social outcasts by touching them, he puts his arms around little children and, as his final radical gesture of freedom, “ he opened his arms on the cross and put an end to death ” (Preface – Eucharistic Prayer II).

Our world today makes us think we are not free. We limit ourselves and our possibilities when we believe our genes fully and finally determine us. Of course many of our physical and mental qualities are genetically determined but not exclusively so. Neither are we fully and finally determined by our environment.

This point came up at the 10 th Anniversary Conference of Catholic Theology in the Caribbean Today (2003). Dr Gerald Boodoo reiterated his notion of “forced context” – that we in the Caribbean live and theologise in a context imposed on us from the times of slavery and indentureship to the present pax americana with its accompanying forces of globalisation.

CONFRONTING “FORCED CONTEXTS”

Sr Diane Jagdeo, theology lecturer at our Regional Seminary, agreed we live and theologise in a “forced context” but pointed out that we in the Caribbean have always been able to break out of “forced contexts”.

This is seen especially in the struggles of women – they have kept their marriages and family together despite unfaithful husbands and absent fathers; they made do with what little they had, educating their children all the way up to university level; they ensured their children were introduced to the tenets of their faith from young; and they did all this while firmly rooted in their religious traditions.

Women also did this in communion with one another and not by themselves – “ There in their presence he was transfigured. ” The Caribbean experience therefore is ample rebuttal of the fatalism imposed on us – sometimes by ourselves, sometimes by others.

Today's gospel of the Transfiguration is filled with significance for us at this point in our history. We face a “ mountain ” of obstacles – increasing poverty as well as crime and violence; a politics too polarised by race; a breakdown in our education system, and a creeping agnosticism occasioned by increased wealth to name a few.

We need to remember we can change this – we too, in company with one another, with Jesus leading us - as he led Peter, James and John - can make our ourselves, our families, our communities and our country look different. We must not think that our collective human freedom is so paralysed that we can do nothing and change nothing.

Today's gospel therefore gives us hope. We need to work together as a nation; the government cannot do it alone nor can the Church. We must climb the mountain of hope together, offering the collective wisdom of our faith traditions. In this journey Jesus is both leading us and with us.

May this Lenten season renew not only our personal vision, but also our collective vision; may it help move us from what we are to what we can become.