Freedom is not free!

WORD 2day: Monday, 28th week in Ordinary time

October 10, 2022: Galatians 4: 22-24, 26-27, 31 -5:1; Luke 11: 29-32

Freedom, is not an all sweet gift. It was Jean Paul Sartre who made that provocative but profound statement, "we are condemned to be free". Freedom comes with the duty attached. We are free, free to choose and the responsibility of the choice is laid entirely upon us. It would be childish to clamour for freedom but shy away from the responsibility that entails. 

We are free children of God, declares Paul. With that freedom comes the condition that we are to be held responsible for all the choices we make. Let us raise a question to ourselves: who decides whether I should be happy or not? Yes, it is our choice, or rather our choices. We could decide to be happy or not; we could make that choice despite the conditions that surround us, whether favourable or not. 

Secondly, the free choices we make amount to the consequence we face. The Lord grants us the greatest gift of freedom, and leaves us with the responsibility for our choices. That is why, when we choose not to see the presence of God, when we choose not to find the moments of grace, when we choose not to realise the opportunities to do good, when we choose not to identify our brother or sister in the person next to us, we are choosing to rush towards a state that is so sad and so inhuman. 

We are free children of the promise (cf. Gal 4:22-24); yes we are given the great gift of freedom. But Freedom is not free; we have to pay for it with our personal responsibility!