Lectio — Bound by Love
“This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?” — Luke 13:16
Jesus sees a woman bound for eighteen years and does not ask whether she deserves liberation. He simply sets her free. I wonder whether I have become so accustomed to my own bondage that I no longer recognize the freedom offered by love. Am I bound by conscience, by resentment, or by something I have yet to understand?
Meditatio — Bound to a Place
For me, The Glenn speaks of God’s love and his boundless affection. Its soil, water, and pastures are, as Pope Francis suggests in Laudato Si’, a caress of God. My friendship with God is bound to particular places, and few are more deeply woven into my life than St. Mary’s Cathedral.
I began school there in first grade, received my First Communion and Confirmation, discovered my Catholic faith, married Kim, and raised our family there. My parents’ funerals were celebrated there, and the gardens my father planted remain. Yet this place of love has also become a place of pain.
Yesterday, when stewardship cards were distributed at Mass, I declined one. I remain bound by the consequences of Bishop Patrick J. Zurek’s 2019 letter, A Reflection on Christian Life, which distinguished “the few” from those described as “the faithful and loyal disciples that the Lord Jesus desires.” I understand myself to have been among those few, and I was prohibited from serving in ministry.
Although I have since been told the prohibition was lifted, the letter remains. When I was invited to return as a Confirmation catechist, Bishop Zurek initially reaffirmed the ban. Later, Father Tony told me it had been lifted. But I still seek clarification of the public judgment expressed in that letter. My conscience has not changed. Given similar circumstances, I would again speak out as I did in 2019.
And so I ask myself: Am I bound by fidelity to conscience, or have I allowed the pain of rejection to bind my heart? Perhaps both truths demand examination. Love does not require me to abandon conscience, but neither does conscience excuse me from love.
Oratio — A Prayer for Freedom
Lord Jesus, you saw the woman bound for eighteen years and called her to freedom. Look upon the bonds I carry. Preserve my conscience without allowing resentment to harden my heart. Give me courage to speak truth, humility to examine myself, and love for those with whom I disagree. May I never mistake stubbornness for faithfulness, nor silence for peace. Bind me to your love alone. Amen.
Contemplatio — Bound to Truth
In paragraph 146 of Magnifica humanitas, I encounter a warning about education without a love for truth. Information alone cannot replace research, reflection, discernment, and silence. I recognize this danger in my own struggle with the Church.
I can know the words of a bishop’s letter, remember every painful conversation, and still fail to understand the whole truth. Likewise, others may know the institutional history without understanding my conscience. If truth is a common good, neither side possesses it merely by claiming authority or injury.
Jesus did not free the woman by denying her eighteen years of suffering. He acknowledged her bondage and restored her dignity. Perhaps genuine reconciliation also requires acknowledging what happened rather than pretending it no longer matters. I must remain bound to the patient pursuit of truth, but that pursuit must always be animated by love.
Actio — Bound to Love in Action
Today I will spend time in silence, examining whether my actions arise from love or lingering hurt. I will pray for those responsible for the 2019 letter and for the community of St. Mary’s Cathedral. I will continue seeking truthful reconciliation without surrendering my conscience, remembering that synodality requires listening as well as speaking.
Here at The Glenn, I will also remember that boundaries can protect life, as my fences protect the sheep, but boundaries can become prisons when they prevent love from entering or leaving.
Song Pairing — “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”
The Hollies (1969). This song reminds me that love transforms burdens into responsibilities willingly carried. Even when relationships become painful, I am called to regard others not as adversaries but as brothers and sisters whose dignity remains bound to mine.
Movie Pairing — The Mission (1986)
In The Mission, I encounter the struggle between conscience, institutional authority, repentance, and love. The image of a man carrying his burden until he is released from it challenges me: Have I accepted the freedom Christ offers, or am I still dragging a burden I cannot release?
Poetic Reflection — Bound
Bound to the soil where memories grow, Bound to the truths I think I know. Bound to a Church that shaped my days, Bound to its wounds, its love, its praise.
Yet Christ who straightened the woman's frame
Calls me to freedom in his name.
Not bound by bitterness, fear, or pride,
But bound by love, with truth beside.
Lord, may the bonds I choose be bonds of love.