Freedom

This post first appeared on Instagram on December 2, 2020.

What is freedom?

“Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”
-Pope Saint John Paul II

So what is it that we “ought” to do?

Catholics are required to obey the commandments and the precepts of the Church. We are also counseled to perform corporal and spiritual works or mercy.

In many places in the United States, Catholics are not free to do many of these things.

Where I live, we are not free to worship inside a church. At all. We may worship at the altar of all sorts of hedonism and materialism, but not before the the Savior of the World in His humble tabernacle. This restriction impedes my freedom to do as I ought.

Where I live, small businesses and almost all schools have been and continue to be closed. Many families are unable to provide for their children, and children are unable to receive adequate education. This restriction impedes their freedom to do as they ought.

Where I live, we are not free to invite a lonely friend over for dinner, or visit an elderly relative who is languishing from lack of familial contact. This restriction impedes our freedom to do as we ought.

Maybe you’re not seeing these things in your part of the country. I assure you, they are happening.

Maybe these restrictions don’t seem like a big deal to you. My response would be: find someone who has lived under totalitarianism in any form and ask them what *they* think. Ask them if these restrictions are reminiscent of another time in another country. And then take heed of their answer.

Open your eyes. Claim the freedom that was bestowed upon you by Christ’s death and resurrection. And then use that freedom to do as you ought. Live freely in order to know, love, and serve God in this world so that you might be happy with Him in the next.