{"id":5841,"date":"2019-11-01T00:25:21","date_gmt":"2019-11-01T00:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/?p=5841"},"modified":"2019-11-30T08:05:22","modified_gmt":"2019-11-30T13:05:22","slug":"freedom-our-glory-our-burden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/freedom-our-glory-our-burden\/","title":{"rendered":"Freedom. Our Glory… Our Burden."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Every once in awhile it helps me to go back to some of\nthe theological books I collected in seminary and early\npriesthood. There I find in writing some of the\n\u201cfundamental principles\u201d that help explain the Christian\nFaith. Words that define realities like \u201cperson\u201d, \u201ctruth\u201d,\n\u201cguilt\u201d, \u201clove\u201d, \u201cspirit\u201d, \u201chistory\u201d, etc.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s look at one of these defining principles . . . . Freedom. What is freedom exactly? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a twelve-year-old mind, freedom means \u201cstaying up\nlate \u2018cause there\u2019s no school tomorrow!\u201d Or . . . summer\nvacation starts this Friday! Or . . . no homework. For a\nchild, freedom means \u201cnot having to do something\u201d,\nwhich thereby makes them free to do whatever they\nwant. In fact, we all have this initial experience of being\n\u201cset free\u201d.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On closer look however, things go much deeper. Human freedom is what sets man apart from everything else in creation. Think of it. Every creature you see, whether (as we used to say) animal, vegetable, or mineral, is harnessed to a natural order which totally determines what it becomes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flowers in spring, the geese flying south in a wing,\nthat stone at the end of your driveway, are all part of a\nnatural order. This \u201corder of nature\u201d requires flower,\ngoose, and stone to act in a particular, predetermined\nway in order for them to be what they are. (Beware! The\ngoose that stops by your kitchen to have coffee with you\nis really not a goose!).\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isn\u2019t this fun?!\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The human being however is a different creature. We are\nset in \u201copenness\u201d to becoming. (It\u2019s like we\u2019re driving a\nconvertible with the top down . . . while the rest of nature\ndrives a hard top with the windows closed!)\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means we must discover the character of our nature – – – who I am. Our freedom is not \u201cfreedom from\u201d but freedom \u201cfor\u201d. We are summoned by our freedom to action that defines us as we go. We become \u201ctruth tellers\u201d or \u201cgenerous\u201d or \u201cpatient\u201d or \u201cforgiving\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or, equal in possibility, we can become \u201cliars\u201d, \u201cgreedy\u201d,\n\u201cunforgiving\u201d, etc. It\u2019s up to us. We\u2019re free. This is the\nwonderful dignity of the human being as created by God.\nGod has made us, in effect, co-creators of ourselves. Our\nactions put into history who we are. We \u201cbecome\u201d. And\nbecause it was done in freedom . . . we become\n\u201cresponsible for it\u201d.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Some people don\u2019t like this. The responsibility that\nweighs on every human to create for themselves their own\ncharacter and to stand by that as defining who they are . . .\nis too heavy.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just wanna be. I\u2019m the boss. I say what I want to do.\nAnd, oh by the way, nobody tells me who I am or what I\nshould become.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now here\u2019s the kicker . . . Don\u2019t miss this. Our human\nnature, as created by God, is to share in His nature! God\ncreated us to have His love as our meaning.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know this because God has revealed it to us in Revelation (Sacred Scripture). What does the bible tell us about ourselves? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. We are made in God\u2019s image and likeness (Genesis). <\/li>
  2. We are God\u2019s children. 1 John3: 1-3 \u201cBut it is not yet clear what we shall become . . . but we know when Christ appears (the Day of the Resurrection) we shall become like him, because we shall see him as he really is.\u201d<\/em> <\/li>
  3. Ireneaus said it centuries ago; \u201cthe glory of man is to see God.\u201d <\/li>
  4. The purpose of the gift of freedom is to one day share in the nature of God…. that is a share in the pure, selfless, joyful, eternal giving of Himself in the relationship of the Trinity. God has a place for us in the Trinity! <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    So back here on earth – – – what are we to do with our\nfreedom? Love God with all our heart. And love our\nneighbor as Christ has loved us.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Let\u2019s get to work! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Fr. Tim <\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Every once in awhile it helps me to go back to some of the theological books I collected in seminary and early priesthood. There I find in writing some of the \u201cfundamental principles\u201d that help explain the Christian Faith. Words that define realities like \u201cperson\u201d, \u201ctruth\u201d, \u201cguilt\u201d, \u201clove\u201d, \u201cspirit\u201d, \u201chistory\u201d, etc. Let\u2019s look at one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weekly-column"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5841"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5844,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5841\/revisions\/5844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}