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July 14, 2021Freedom!
As I had written last week in the first installment of FREEDOM!, we know that many in our country are seeking guidance, protection, liberty, and freedom from the means of our society or from those that govern us and perhaps are straying more and more from the Divine. In true independence, as Catholics, we are inspired by our God-given freedoms and liberties, especially our religious freedom so we can live in and love through God’s peace, His promise to all humankind. This peace is given by Our Lord to our world, to our country, to our communities, to our families, and to our very soul as we follow the commandments of love which are freely chosen by all those who embrace and live the teachings of Christ.
Our God the Father in heaven, Our Creator, made each and every one of us in the Trinity’s image, as God’s words and works in our world offer us true freedom through mercy and love. God freely gifted us Jesus Who freely gave up His life as a saving gift to humanity and endowed us in our Baptism to receive the Holy Spirit Who freely and abundantly bestows upon us the graces to be liberated from any powers in the world so we can freely choose to follow God’s ways, to bring Christ’s Mission of Mercy and Love to those around us so they too can experience His saving Truth and Goodness.
As mentioned last week, Pope Francis proclaimed that true freedom is not freedom from something, it is a freedom for something. True freedom is given to us from God, given to us to make good decisions with an informed conscience based on the teachings of Christ Jesus which leads to a good life. While upholding the commandments and laws given to the prophets like Moses, Jesus wanted to teach people "the proper approach" to the law, which is to recognize that Divine laws are instruments God uses to teach His people true freedom and responsibility. The Pope reminds us, "We should not forget . . . to live the law as an instrument of liberty that helps [us] be freer, that helps [us] not be a slave to passions and sin.”
In order to freely follow Him and His ways, God teaches us to examine our lives against the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, and all that is encapsulated in the Two Great Commandments of Love (The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength, (Deuteronomy 6:4-5); You shall love your neighbor as yourself, (Leviticus, 19:18). When we look at the limitations in how we live our lives, we determine the areas from within our being that sometimes prevent us to be liberated so we can purely and lovingly make holy choices in our lives. Besides the external constraints of societal pressures and teachings that may establish forms of oppression, persecutions, and hindrance to our beliefs, we may place constraints on living freely within ourselves by erecting an internal prison of anxieties, fears, sorrows, discontent, discouragement, or apathy where we begin to feel limited and imprisoned in our own souls. During these times, and in these areas, let us turn to Our Savior, Our Liberator, Jesus, Our Brother and Our God, and pray for deliverance from these areas that hold us captive either from external or internal barriers. Let us embrace that which makes us truly free. Let us turn to and rely on the Lord and embrace with open hearts, mind and souls, the One Who gifts us with His very Being. Let us freely embrace Our One and Only God, and choose Life, Liberty and True Freedom!
Stay tune next week for our last in a series of what is meant by true Freedom.