What is Freedom

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) states that Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility. By free will one shapes one's own life (1731). Human freedom is seen as a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God. So it is a Freedom for something, not a freedom from something. In the United States, we all have a freedom of choosing to follow our Lord and His teachings. On July Fourth, 2022, we affirm our God given rights have the ability to move toward and be “for Our God.” In the deepest sense, freedom is a gift of God because we cannot liberate ourselves from our self-centered desires but to live for and with the “other” – Our God and our brothers and sisters. Jesus states clearly that the two great commandments of love of God and love of neighbor is what our faith is based upon and this is Truth. And Our Lord stated “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:32)

In sections 1732 and 1733 of the CCC, we are taught that “as long as freedom has not bound itself definitively to its ultimate good which is God, there is the possibility of choosing between good and evil, and thus of growing in perfection or of failing and sinning. This freedom characterizes properly human acts. The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes.
Freedom is exercised in relationships between human beings. Every human person, created in the image of God, has the natural right to be recognized as a free and responsible being. All owe to each other this duty of respect. the right to the exercise of freedom, especially in moral and religious matters, is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of the human person. This right must be recognized and protected by civil authority within the limits of the common good and public order (www.vatican.va/freedom). Specifically in Dignitatis Humanae on The Right of the Person and of Communities to Social and Civil Freedom in Matters Religious (Pope Paul VI, 1965), it was declared that  a “sense of the dignity of the human person has been impressing itself more and more deeply on the consciousness of contemporary man. And, that [this] demand is increasingly made that [human beings] should act on their own judgment, enjoying and making use of a responsible freedom, not driven by coercion but motivated by a sense of duty. The demand is likewise made that constitutional  limits should be set to the powers of government, in order that there may be no encroachment on the rightful freedom of the person and of associations. This demand for freedom in    human society chiefly regards the quest for the values proper to the human spirit.”

Human Freedom is a gift of God which flows from the Free Will that has been bestowed on us by our Creator. This Fourth of July, let us embrace all of our God-given rights in pursuing living in a way to pursue happiness in liberty and freedom. Next week we will examine how the freedoms that God gave us can often be     expressed within our country as the expression of religious freedoms which is seen in certain   circumstances as coming under assault. Vatican II described the Church as the “pilgrim people of God.”  We are a people on a journey. A journey that leads us to make a free choice to follow our Lord in choosing a life transformed, a life offering hope. Jesus is with us today as He was over two thousand years ago to make this journey – invite Him to remain with you, to stay with you.
 
His Truth Will Set You Free!