Bilibid Stories: This morning I got to see and talk with a number of former inmates who came back to the Bureau of Corrections in response to call for them to surrender themselves or be shot to death before the deadline. Although I do not know the almost two hundred “surrenderees” personally, I have met a number of them. I dare say that I have talked and interacted with many of them. They may have committed criminal acts in the past. But that was in the past, where many of them were under the influence of drugs, overcome with emotions, overpowered by alcohol, not as or not even educated, and driven by the urgency of basic needs, among others.
During their time in prison they paid for their crimes. Life in prison is not a vacation. Life in prison is difficult. One has only to hear the cries and the pains of the inmates. One has only to see the tears and faces wrought with pain and anguish. One has only to feel the sorrow and agony. But during the time in prison, the inmates also reform. They were given a chance to change, from participating in the spiritual activities like Masses and recollections, enrolling in education classes, attending talks and seminars, learning skills, taking part in sports and programs, etc. And, although this is admittedly not true for everyone, I could say that there are many changed men, good persons. They committed bad things in the past but years of incarceration have reformed them.
During Mass, I looked at each of them. Many were old. Many were feeble. All had the look of sadness uncertainty. The people I talked with shared their sense of acceptance of the situation, but with a sense of loss and dejection. Some of them had already found jobs. Some had begun to spend time with their loved ones. Many I dare say were trying right their lives, for themselves and for their loved ones. But the chance to prove that they have changed, vanished, dissipated. It is as if the hope given them became a fantasy, a dream, a bubble that was suddenly pierced.
Msgr. Olaguer spoke to the men after the Mass. He said that perhaps society is not ready for them to be released. This broke my heart. When is the right time? When they are dead? When they are too old that walking, eating and even breathing becomes difficult and gruelling? When they are too sick that recovery is no longer an option?
When can we look beyond the past and see the present as a gift to these changed men? When can we forgive and give another a chance to change and an opportunity to live a better life? Will release from prison never be a reality?
Let us pray for these men that they may not lose hope. Let us pray for their families who have not given up on them. Let us pray for our society that we do not close the doors on them and simply judge them because of the past. Let us pray for all who experience sadness and a sense of gloom because of what is happening.
May we see the rainbow after the rainfall, the light after the darkness, and the certainty and power of God's love and mercy during these times of loss and uncertainty.
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