Priest Alberto Reyes, a fervent critic of the Cuban government, sent a message this Saturday to political prisoners and their families, with the respect and humility of someone who experiences that reality "from the outside."
In a text shared this Saturday on Facebook, Father Reyes advises them to pray to God with the words that come from their soul. To speak to Him about their pain, anger, and fear. Above all, he warns them to ask for the light of their souls, so that their time in prison does not corrupt them.
For the parish priest of the Archdiocese of Camagüey, the victory of the regime is not to imprison those who question it, but to destroy their souls, fill them with hatred and resentment forever. That is why he constantly prays so that the mistreatment suffered by Cuban prisoners does not kill their smiles or consume their hope.
CiberCuba shares the full text of the publication below.
I have been thinking… (LXXVI) by Alberto Reyes Pías.
I have been thinking about what to say to the families of our political prisoners.
Recently I was asked what I would say to the relatives of our political prisoners, and I spoke without asking for permission, a necessary permission, because behind someone imprisoned for defending the freedom stolen from their people there is so much pain, so much powerlessness, so much uncertainty... that touching that reality is like touching something sacred.
Now I want to put into writing what I said, and other things that I think, from the humility of someone who lives this reality 'from the outside', and can only reach its cells through the connections allowed by the soul.
I dare to speak to all those who accompany their prisoners: children, parents, spouses, siblings... And not only to those who saw their relatives being incarcerated due to the events of July 11th, but also to the relatives of those who were already imprisoned before, and to the long list of those who have been imprisoned afterwards. And I want to speak in the singular, addressing each one.
I want to ask you to pray, to God, as you conceive of Him, and with the words that come from your soul. To pray is to speak with God, and everyone knows how to pray because everyone knows how to speak. Talk to Him about yourself, your pain, your anger, your fear. Speak up to God, cry if tears come to you, argue with God if necessary, but place in His hands all the burden that overwhelms you, all the times you have said: 'I can't take it anymore', all the times you have shouted: 'Until when?'.
Pray for them, over and over, every day: ask for their health, for their integrity, but also for the light of their souls. Ask that this time does not corrupt their gaze, ask that one day, when what are now their prisons become museums of horror and barbarism, the people who visit them can wonder: 'How was it possible for them to leave here loving, forgiving, embracing? How was it possible for them not to leave here full of hatred and vengeance?'.
The victory of an insane power is not to put those who question it behind bars, but to break them from within, make them slaves of hatred, resentful forever, thirsty for eternal revenge. That would be their best triumph, because it would allow them to create a generation that continues them, a generation unable to break the chains of contempt and hatred towards the different, those chains that are today the prison of those who govern us.
Ask God that the bars that imprison their bodies do not manage to imprison their souls, that the darkness of their cells does not extinguish the light in their eyes, that mistreatment does not prevent smiles from arising, and that the uncertainty of waiting does not consume their hope.
Ask, knowing that you are being listened to and understood, because who else but Jesus knows about false judgments, abandonment and loneliness, torture and pain? To whom better than the Christ on the cross can we entrust those who are crucified today for speaking out in the name of an entire people?
To be continued...
What do you think?
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