From the Friars: True Freedom

This 4th of July, as we fire up the grills and gather to celebrate the birth of our nation, let us call to mind the words of Thomas Jefferson which continue to inform and inspire us today, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

The very foundation of our country is founded on the belief that God exists and has bestowed upon man certain rights and dignity, which cannot be taken away. We live in an age when freedom is grievously misunderstood as license. Many live their lives with the attitude: “I am free to do whatever it takes to gratify my own appetites”, with the added caveat, “As long as I don’t hurt anyone in the process”; not considering of course, what it does to themselves.

Freedom is the power to do what we ought to do rather than what we ourselves would like to do. God gave us freedom, that we may be able to choose Him as Lord, the Author of all life, and so come to love Him in order to attain to the perfection He made us for.

Freedom is therefore a means to human excellence.

The Catechism warns us however “There is no freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to ‘the slavery of sin’” (CCC 1733). Recall the words of our Lord, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not continue in the house forever; the son continues forever. So, if the son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (Jn 8:34-36).

Unfortunately, we are witnessing the systemic moral slavery of so many in our country today. In the name of freedom and in a misguided “pursuit of happiness”, faith in God is being pushed out of schools, the workplace and the public square; history and heritage are spurned; Church teaching on marriage and sexual morality is considered archaic and oppressive; and for those who rebel against their own bodies as God has created them, “I will make my own reality!” seems to be the rallying cry.

Is this what Jefferson had in mind? Yet there is reason to hope and even rejoice, as the 6-month Baptist did in the womb of his mother Elizabeth.

The highest court in our land, on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, has spoken in the name of truth and justice.

May God Bless America!