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Health & Fitness

Integrity

I was listening to The Writer’s Almanac this morning and learned that on February 11, 1990 Nelson Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison, outside Cape Town, South Africa. He had been imprisoned for 27 years because of his involvement with the African National Congress. When he was released, he was 71 years old.

Throughout his imprisonment, Mandela had countless supporters, many of whom had never seen him. But his powerful words, his struggle for freedom and equality for all, and his longstanding call for an end to Apartheid, a forced system of racial segregation, reverberated in each of their hearts.  As South Africa continued to reel from the pressure of maintaining Apartheid, Mandela emerged as the symbol of the longed-for-freedom for the majority of black South Africans.

In 1988, under intense pressure from within and without South Africa causing the country to suffer economically, President Botha declared a state of emergency. He offered Mandela a deal: his freedom from prison if he condemned the violence tearing the country apart. Mandela refused. His daughter read his statement to the people: “Let Botha renounce violence … dismantle apartheid. I cherish my own freedom dearly, but I care even more for your freedom.”

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Nelson Mandela is an inspiration to me. His example is a powerful symbol of integrity fueled by his brilliance and purified by his suffering and imprisonment of 27 years. I believe Mandela came to recognize the power of love over hatred and forgiveness over revenge. His realization was especially made evident when he became President of South Africa, making national reconciliation instead of retribution his primary task, and even extending his personal forgiveness and attempts at reconciliation with those who had harmed him. He proclaimed that "courageous people do not fear forgiving for the sake of peace.”

Upon his passing on December 5, 2013, the entire world watched and recalled Mr. Mandela’s astonishing life. Those who mourn this icon of integrity are numerous within South Africa and beyond. This man who acknowledged and proclaimed the God-given gift of the integrity of each person and promoted the values of peace, forgiveness and reconciliation in the midst of oppression, torture and slaughter, has left a profound legacy for all to embrace.

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I wonder if the most fundamental stance that God seeks from each person of faith is to be a person of integrity, upholding the teachings and values that Jesus imparts to us even today, and not swaying from them because of personal interest or expediency. Perhaps this is what Jesus is saying in the Gospel this weekend when we hear him declare: Let your “Yes” mean “yes” and your “No” mean “No.” anything more is from the evil one (Mt. 5:37).  

Jesus’ instruction is very sobering and enormously challenging, as are all of his teachings.  But the power of love is freedom.  We are all made of the same clay, fashioned by the same almighty Potter in the very image of our Creator, out of Love. From the moment of our Baptism on through our life journey, the Church continually teaches about the immeasurable dignity of every person, without exception, and we are continually called to uphold and sustain it.  We dwell in the Love of the One who makes all things possible. We are invited to continually seek the essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to embody it, and to proclaim it fearlessly, lovingly, without exception to all.

 





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