Dear St. James family members,

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatian 5:1

We are in the season of Great Lent. John McCarthy is a British journalist. He worked for a television news agency during the Lebanese civil war. In 1986, he tried to leave that country for security reasons. He was kidnapped at gunpoint by Islamic fundamentalists on his way to the airport to leave the country. After five years of hardship, he was released on August 8, 1991. An Italian diplomat named Giandomenico Picco risked his life to mediate negotiations for his release as a UN representative. Picco has repeatedly risked his life to save innocent hostages, and so he is known as a “disarmed soldier of diplomacy.” It was 20 years later that John McCarthy met this diplomat, Picco. McCarthy's words during his first meeting with Picco were very touching: “Thank you for my freedom.” Now, we are in a crisis where we have lost the clarity of the freedom we have