Truly Free

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Cor. 3:17).

Tomorrow is the 4th of July when we will celebrate our independence as a nation, and the freedoms that our Constitution grants to us. Within that paradigm, and against some events that have happened recently, I’ve been contemplating about what freedom really is – and what it is not.

Some people believe that being free means being allowed to do what you want, whenever you want. However, the truth is that one person’s “freedom” necessarily impinges on another person’s “freedom.” For example, freedom of speech allows one person to express himself in any manner he chooses. However, his choice of words may be considered offensive or obscene by another person. In that scenario, the listener’s “freedom” has now been “violated.” Obviously, the problem here is one of agreement, as people don’t agree on what constitutes obscenity.

At the last Supper, Jesus prayed that the apostles would be one, even as He and the Father are one (cf Jn 17:21), and once the Holy Spirit had been sent, the community of believers was of one heart and one mind (Acts 4:32). Still, the early Church had to struggle through issues like whether or not a man had to first be circumcised before he could be baptized into the community of faith. There wasn’t instant agreement among the community then, just as today – even among people of good will.

So how do we move beyond such an impasse into true freedom? The answer lies in discerning what the Spirit of God has to say. As Paul said to the church in Rome, what we have received is not a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but… a spirit of adoption through which we cry ‘Abba,’ ‘Father’ (Rom. 8:15). That same Spirit leads us back to the eternal Word of God, Jesus, who tells us that if we remain in His word, we will know the truth and the truth will set us free (cf. Jn. 8:31-32).

Real freedom cannot be legislated by any government. We are truly free only when we give ourselves completely and generously to the One who has sent us to incarnate His love to the world. Because He freely gave Himself to us, we are in turn, free to give ourselves in love and in service to one another, to pour ourselves out like a libation, to borrow a Pauline metaphor. For we know that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, not future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rm 8:38).

Prayer Request: For those who are in bondage of any kind.

Prayer (attributed to St. Ignatius of Loyola):

Lord, teach me to be generous. Teach me to serve You as You deserve;
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to ask for reward,
save that of knowing that I do Your will. Amen.