‘Someone stronger must come and break the chains’ (Inner Word).
Sinful humanity is bound by chains with which Satan has bound it. He seeks to separate men from salvation in order to indirectly hurt God, who loves them so much. The chains are of various kinds.
Let us think of small and large addictions, of various dependencies and of sin which, if not stopped, spreads like a cancerous tumour and penetrates with its poison into the body and soul of man. Added to this is the fact that one persons sin often drags others along, so that they too become entangled in this web of darkness.
We could describe in much greater detail the condition in which humanity finds itself, but it suffices to summarise it in the following words from the Letter of Saint John: “We know that we are of God, and the whole world is in the power of the evil one.” (1 Jn 5:19). We cannot free ourselves from these chains of misfortune by our own strength.
The verse from Scripture we have just heard hints at where liberation comes from: only God himself can break the chains.
Our Father has sent His own Son to help men as a good Samaritan and to free those who have fallen prey to thieves (cf. Lk 10:25-37). Only through the forgiveness of sins can man be freed from these chains of hostility, which the devil tightens more and more out of hatred for us and to accuse us before God. A stronger one must come (Lk 11:22): one whose love is greater than the hatred of the Evil One; one who rebuilds what has been destroyed; one who breathes life where death reigns; one who erects the kingdom of love and melts the ice that surrounds our hearts; one who can cry out from the cross:“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34). Who, if not our beloved Father, could accomplish this work? To Him be praise, glory and thanksgiving forever.