Hey Deacon

.
This past week we celebrated our Independence Day. Many of us enjoyed food, family, maybe some time on the lake, and perhaps some fireworks. And somewhere along the way we also gave thanks for the freedoms that we all enjoy here in the United States of America — freedoms that were bought and are continuously preserved at great price by others whom we will never know in this lifetime.

Our American freedom is enshrined in our Declaration of Independence, which is the founding document of our freedom. It recognizes that all people are created equal, and that from God we have all been given “inalienable rights,” which means our rights cannot be granted or taken away by any earthly government. As Americans, we love our freedom or what we like to consider “freedom.” For our society, freedom often means being able to do pretty much whatever we want, as long as it’s not hurting anyone else. But as Catholic Americans, we ought to have a radically different view of “freedom.” 

To help make this point, I quote one of the Church’s modern-day saints, Pope St. John Paul II, from a homily he delivered in Baltimore, Maryland (October 1995). He spoke to this nature of freedom in the context of the American experiment. He said: “America has always wanted to be a land of the free. Today, the challenge facing America is to find freedom’s fulfillment in the truth: the truth that is intrinsic to human life created in God’s image and likeness, the truth that is written on the human heart….” St. John Paul goes on to state that freedom requires “a shared commitment to certain moral truths about the human person and the human community.” 

Freedom separated from truth, especially the truth about the human person, ceases to be freedom. Rather, it becomes a human fad that cannot transcend our material nature. Our country is quickly losing this shared understanding of the human person. It has changed the definition of marriage, the human family, and even one’s sexual identity. Government and society threaten our shared commitment to the truth and therefore our freedom. Finally, St. John Paul delivers the most memorable line of this homily: “Every generation of Americans needs to know that freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” 

Our God-given freedom is a gift, given without cost or being earned. But that does not mean there are no responsibilities attached to this gift. We are free for a purpose, for a reason. That purpose is so that we can choose what is right and thus, conform our life to the truth — the truths of the natural law and the truths God has revealed in Jesus Christ and His Catholic Church. Truth is not relative; thus, a person cannot create their own ‘truth’ if it contradicts Truth. Selfish and hurtful actions are not exercises in freedom, but rather a corruption of our own human nature.

 Jesus cautions us that “whoever commits a sin is a slave of sin” (Jn. 8:34). When we avoid sin and follow Christ, we become freer. Freedom requires perseverance in choosing the good — and the good is defined for us by the one who alone is good, Jesus. Only by looking to him will we realize the true meaning of freedom.

Author Bio:
 Deacon Dan Vaughn
.