The Splendor of Christian Freedom

Fr. Yul P. Ibay is the Administrator of Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish, Corpus Christi Beach.

Discussion on freedom encompasses modern thought in practically every point of importance. Freedom is eminent in our deliberation on institutional organizations like politics and religion. It is central in our reflection about more deep-rooted institutions such as morality, the educational experience, and marriage.

The late Pope John Paul II declared, "On the threshold of a new millennium we are witnessing an extraordinary global acceleration of that quest for freedom which is one of the great dynamics of human history." Indeed, contemporary society holds freedom in high esteem. It has always been a word to stir people's hearts. Politicians promise or proclaim it. Heroes and martyrs offered their lives to win it for themselves or others. The same sound of longing for freedom continues to ring in our ears in this age. This universal longing for freedom is truly one of the distinguishing marks of our time. Very often we tend to think of freedom as the absence of any constraints, especially those that in any way hinder us from doing what we want to do, or what we feel like doing.

God created human beings in freedom. Second Vatican Council Document Gaudium et Spes declares that genuine freedom is an outstanding manifestation of the divine image in human person. A human person is inseparable from freedom, that freedom which no external force or constraint can ever take away, and which constitutes his fundamental right, both as an individual and as a member of society.

Genuine freedom is rooted first and foremost in the search for truth and it is rooted in the truth about human person. The truth referred to here is not an abstract reality but "the truth of God, the Creator and Redeemer, and the truth of man, created and redeemed." Separation of human freedom from this truth negates man's condition as a creature of God, "as the visible image of the invisible God,... the subject of rights which no one can violate."

St. Thomas Aquinas said that the way by which one conceives the relationship bet-ween freedom and law is thus intimately bound up with one's understanding of the moral conscience. Freedom of conscience is never freedom ‘from' the truth, but always and only freedom ‘in' the truth. The experience of conscientious decision-making authenticates that the freedom of conscience is never freedom from the truth but always and only freedom in the truth. Freedom is to live according to one's conscience. Because of freedom, a human being must therefore be able to make his choices in accordance with values to which he gives his support; this is the way in which he will show his responsibility, and it is up to society to favor this freedom, while taking into account the common good.

Christian moral teaching, even in its Biblical root, recognizes the definite significance of a fundamental choice which qualifies the moral life and employs freedom on a radical level before God. It is said that human freedom is rightly regarded as being not only the choice for one or another particular action; it is also, within that choice, a deci-sion about oneself. Tendencies to disjoin fundamental option and particular actions go against the teaching of Scripture itself, which sees the fundamental option as a genuine choice of freedom and links that choice profoundly to particular acts. By their funda-mental choice, human beings are capable of giving their life direction and of progressing, with the help of grace, towards their end, following God's call.

Freedom is not merely a right that one claims for oneself. It is also a duty that one undertakes with regard to others. The freedom of each human individual and each community must respect the freedoms and rights of other individuals and communities. The best guarantee of freedom and its real attainment depends upon the responsibility of individuals and peoples, upon the concrete efforts of each person at his own level, in his immediate environment, nationally and internationally.

Pope John Paul II asserts that following Christ means living with Him and in Him the true meaning of freedom. It is the freedom of the children of God. It is the freedom accomplished by Christ, participated in grace, and articulated in compassionate love for all men and women, primarily for the disadvantaged, the poor and the oppressed. This is the freedom that truly liberates. Jesus is the one who reveals and lives fully the true meaning, the innate and original logos, of human freedom, gift of Himself in the love of God and of His brethren.

The apex of this revelation is reached in the death of Jesus on the cross. Thus, Christian morality is centered on Jesus Christ and on His freedom. Christ's freedom is loving unconditionally, sharing unselfishly, serving generously, and saving humankind even at the cost of His life.