Responsibility and the dangers of a mistaken idea of freedom...
“Each man has a covenant with the Lord; each man shall hold full
responsibility for his soul and the souls of those he loves.”- Our Lady of the Roses, June 15, 1974
It
is a truth of faith that the human person is free. That is, we are
not determined to any destiny, but rather by our freewill actions we
are self-determining. Bearing this in mind, if man is free, he is
then responsible. Even with all the talk of freedom in our society,
the idea of responsibility remains an unpleasant topic for
many.
Love
for the law of God
In order for us to follow the law of God, we must have a right attitude
towards God and His laws. Christ tells us, “I came that they may
have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). His yoke is easy
and His burden is light to those who love. Far from being a
restriction on our freedom, the lawful man is indeed the only free
man, for he has an interior freedom and purity of conscience that he
bears with him always. The Book of Ecclesiasticus
proclaims, “The fear of the Lord is honor, and glory, and
gladness, and a crown of joy” (Ecclus. 2:11). As Pope John Paul II
has stated,
...He
is actually the one who created freedom and is its most authentic
friend. His commandments have no other purpose than to help people
to avoid the worst and most shameful form of slavery, that of
immorality, and to foster the development of true freedom. (John
Paul II, general audience of July 24, 1991)
And
in the words of the philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand:
Far
from being incompatible with true freedom, obedience to moral
obligations constitutes the perfection of man's transcendent
freedom. (Trojan Horse in the City of God, 129)
Exchange
for a higher good So much in our lives depends on trust, and most importantly, who
it is that we put our faith and trust in.
But God never fails us, He is forever “faithful and true”
(Apoc. 19:11). The spirit of the world, however, mocks the laws of
God and His Church, the spirit of the world is blind to the fact
that the faithful children of God enjoy an inner peace that cannot
be taken away, even in the midst of trials. As Our Lord has said,
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the
world giveth, do I give unto you” (John 14:27).
St. Augustine says, "The
good man, even though he is a servant, is free: the wicked man, even
though he is a king, is a servant. He has as many masters as he has
vices" (City of God, IV, 3).
The world mistakenly seeks happiness in worldly treasures
that corrupt, yet despises the very Gospel message which promises
man’s true and everlasting happiness. And this gift of Christ is
given freely out of love: “And he that thirsteth, let him come:
and he that will, let him take the water of life, freely” (Apoc.
22:17).
“If
you would enter into life, keep the Commandments” – Mt. 19:16-17
When the young man in the Gospel asked Jesus, “Teacher, what good
must I do to have eternal life?” Jesus answered him, “If you
wish to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Mt. 19:17). Pope
John Paul II comments on this exchange between Jesus and the young
man, pointing out that “a close connection is made between eternal
life and obedience to God’s commandments” (Veritatis Splendor,
12). Other parts of
Scripture point this out very clearly: “he that loveth iniquity
hateth his own soul” (Ps. 10: 6-7); “He that hath my
commandments, and keepeth them: he it is that loveth me” (John
14:21); and, "He who saith that he knoweth Him, and keepeth not
His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1
John 2:4).
Mistaken
ideas of freedom and morality
St.
Paul exhorts us to put off the old man and not return to our former
sense of slavery to sin: “be not conformed to this world” (Rom.
12:2), and “Stand fast, and be not held again under the yoke of
bondage” (Gal. 5:1). We must daily work out our salvation, and by
God’s grace persevere in His love and in His Commandments. But
this world is a “vale of tears” and it is self-deceptive to
believe otherwise. A faithful Christian will be persecuted and
despised by those who reject Christ, because a faithful Christian is
a censure to their selfish and sinful conduct. As Scripture says,
“For whom the Lord loveth, he chastiseth” (Proverbs 3:12), and
“Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake: for
theirs is the kingdom of Heaven” (Mt. 5:10).
With the powerful influence of the mass media and the
apostasy of society in general, at no other time in history has the
follower of Christ had so many intrusions and attacks upon his
Faith. By a constant bathing in our materialistic, hedonistic
culture (that is, for the most part, diametrically opposed to the
Faith), we can’t help but be affected in some measure by these
harmful influences.
Many have adopted these false ideologies paraded before them,
to the danger of their own souls. Some Catholics even use the
current opinions and customs to determine their behavior, the
“everyone’s doing it” mentality.
Thus, immorality and immodesty have encroached upon the lives
of Christians, and such behavior is rationalized because it is the
social norm. The Commandments, nevertheless, are timeless and
unchangeable. As St. John the Evangelist writes, "He who saith
that he knoweth Him, and keepeth not His Commandments, is a liar,
and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:4).
Sorrowfully, the lives of Christians are often
indistinguishable from the social norm.
Others
choose to govern their lives according to expediency, the path of
least resistance. This is the “it works for me” ideology. This
utilitarian view is self-serving, not God-serving. This is another
immoral lifestyle.
Yet
another common ideology is that whatever feels good at the moment
must be the right thing, “because God wants us to be happy.”
Here, subjective feelings and emotions rule our lives instead of the
knowledge of right and wrong, and we become our own standard of
morality. Self-gratification and sensual pleasures then master our lives.
This particular ideology prevents a person from taking up the cross
of Christ and sacrificing for Him. A person ensnared in this false
view is particularly susceptible to human respect, and often chooses
the way of the crowd over the way of the Gospel.
The
Church is our guide
We
are in such great need of spiritual support, particularly today, and
this is why Christ has left us with the assistance of His Church.
Holy Mother Church is our shelter, strength, and guide in this
“vale of tears.” We should thank God daily for the many gifts
that are available to us through the Church, and for the great Holy
Father that now guides the Church in His name. The following quote
from our Holy Father bears special attention. It is one of the
greatest summaries on authentic human freedom that has ever been
made:
Some
pretend to establish on their own what is good or bad, and thus
refuse to be directed by another, either by a transcendent God or
by a Church which represents him on earth. This position generally
results from a great ignorance of reality. God is conceived as an
enemy of human freedom, as a tyrannical master, even though he is
actually the one who created freedom and is its most authentic
friend. His commandments have no other purpose than to help people
to avoid the worst and most shameful form of slavery, that of
immorality, and to foster the development of true freedom. Without
a trusting relationship with God, it is not possible for the human
person to achieve fully his own spiritual growth. We should not be
surprised, then, when we see that an attitude of moral autonomy
easily produces a form of subjugation worse than the feared
heteronomy: dependence on the opinions of others, on ideological
and political ties, on social pressures, or on one’s own
inclinations and passions. Whenever one believes or boasts that he
is independent, free from all servitude, he thus reveals that he
is subject to personal opinion and to other old and new forms of
domination over the human spirit! It is easy to see that the
attempt to do without God, or the claim not to need the mediation
of Christ and his Church, comes at a high price. (Pope John Paul II, general
audience of July 24, 1991)
“If you know in your hearts, O pastors, that souls are in danger of
being corrupted, misled, and even destroyed, and you do nothing
about it, because you do not wish to offend your superiors, because
you value your life in this world too much and your good living; I
assure you, O pastors, you shall stand before My Son and He shall
not know you. You will be disowned, banished from eternal life in
Heaven, and you shall join your father who is the father of all
liars, satan, and the prince of darkness.”- Our Lady of the Roses, March 18, 1977
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