FREEDOM
Very often we feel restricted
in our situation, our family, or our surroundings. But
maybe the real problem lies elsewhere: in our hearts.
— Interior Freedom, p.20
True freedom is not so much
something man wins for himself; it is a free
gift from God, a fruit of the Holy Spirit, received in
the measure in which we place ourselves in a
relationship of loving dependence on our Creator and Savior. This is
where the Gospel paradox is most apparent: “Whoever
would save his life will lose
it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” In
other words, people who wish to preserve and defend their
own freedom at any cost will lose it, but those willing to
“lose” it by leaving it trustingly in God’s hands will save it.
Their freedom will be restored to them, infinitely more beautiful,
infinitely deeper, as a marvelous gift from God’s tenderness. Our freedom is, in
fact, proportionate to the love and childlike trust we
have for our heavenly Father.
— Interior Freedom, p.14-15
No
circumstance in the world can ever prevent us from believing
in God, from placing all our trust in him, from loving
him with our whole heart, or from loving our neighbor. Faith, hope, and
charity are absolutely free, because
if they are rooted in us deeply enough, they are able
to draw strength from whatever opposes them! If someone
sought to prevent us from believing by persecuting us,
we always would retain the option of forgiving our enemies
and transforming the situation of oppression into one
of greater love. If someone tried to silence our faith by killing
us, our deaths would be the best possible proclamation of
our faith! Love, and only love, can overcome evil by good and draw good out of
evil.
— Interior Freedom, p. 24
Faithfulness to mental prayer
is a school of freedom. It is a school of truth in
love, because it teaches us, little by little, no longer to place
our relationship with God on the shaky, unstable basis of
our own impressions, moods, or feelings, but on the solid
foundation of faith—God’s faithfulness, which is as firm
as a rock. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today,
and forever” (Heb 13:8), for “His mercy is from
generation to generation” (Lk 1:50). If we persevere, our
relationships with other people, which are likewise
superficial and changeable, will become more stable, more
faithful, deeper, and hence happier.
— Time for God, p.32
“For you were called to
freedom, brethren” (Gal 5:13). So says St. Paul in the letter to the
Galatians. God calls us to freedom. But instead of being given
to us instantaneously and in full measure, this
freedom is built up progressively and patiently day by day, by
being faithful to God’s calls.
— Called to Life, p.11
