290. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."(2 Corinthians 3:17)36

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 290

Ave Maria series

How does God help us to be free men?

Christ wants us to be “set free for freedom” (see Galatians 5:1)and to become capable of brotherly love.  That is why he sends us the Holy Spirit, who makes us free and independent of worldly powers and strengthens us for a life of love and responsibility.  [1739-1742, 1748]

In his farewell discourse to his apostles,  Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to his disciples after his departure.  Painting by Duccio, 1308–1311. …..290

The more we sin, the more we think only about ourselves and the less well we can develop freely.  In sinning we also become more inept at doing good and practicing charity.  The Holy Spirit, who has come down into our hearts, gives us a heart that is filled with love for God and mankind.  We avail ourselves of the Holy Spirit as the power that leads us to inner freedom, opens our hearts for love, and makes us better instruments for what is good and loving. 120, 310-311

“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship.  When we cry, ‘Abba Father!’ it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”  Romans 8:15

[1739-1742, 1748]

HUMAN FREEDOM IN THE ECONOMY OF SALVATION

1739  Freedom and sin. Man's freedom is limited and fallible. In fact, man failed. He freely sinned. By refusing God's plan of love, he deceived himself and became a slave to sin. This first alienation engendered a multitude of others. From its outset, human history attests the wretchedness and oppression born of the human heart in consequence of the abuse of freedom. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

1740  Threats to freedom. The exercise of freedom does not imply a right to say or do everything. It is false to maintain that man, "the subject of this freedom," is "an individual who is fully self-sufficient and whose finality is the satisfaction of his own interests in the enjoyment of earthly goods."(Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, instruction, Libertatis conscientia 13.)³³ Moreover, the economic, social, political, and cultural conditions that are needed for a just exercise of freedom are too often disregarded or violated. Such situations of blindness and injustice injure the moral life and involve the strong as well as the weak in the temptation to sin against charity. By deviating from the moral law man violates his own freedom, becomes imprisoned within himself, disrupts neighborly fellowship, and rebels against divine truth. –CCC

1741  Liberation and salvation. By his glorious Cross Christ has won salvation for all men. He redeemed them from the sin that held them in bondage. "For freedom Christ has set us free."(Galatians 5:1.)³⁴ In him we have communion with the "truth that makes us free." (Compare John 8:32.)³⁵ The Holy Spirit has been given to us and, as the Apostle teaches, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."(2 Corinthians 3:17)³⁶ Already we glory in the "liberty of the children of God."(Romans 8:21.)³⁷ –CCC

1742 Freedom and grace. The grace of Christ is not in the slightest way a rival of our freedom when this freedom accords with the sense of the true and the good that God has put in the human heart. On the contrary, as Christian experience attests especially in prayer, the more docile we are to the promptings of grace, the more we grow in inner freedom and confidence during trials, such as those we face in the pressures and constraints of the outer world. By the working of grace the Holy Spirit educates us in spiritual freedom in order to make us free collaborators in his work in the Church and in the world: --CCC

Almighty and merciful God, 
in your goodness take away from us all that is harmful, 
so that, made ready both in mind and body, 
we may freely accomplish your will.(Roman Missal, 32nd Sunday, Opening Prayer: Omnipotens et misericors Deus, universa nobis adversantia propitiatus exclude, ut, mente et corpore pariter expediti, quæ tua sunt liberis mentibus exsequamur.)³⁸ --CCC

IN BRIEF

 1748 "For freedom Christ has set us free" (Galatians 5:1).

JT Apostles Jesus saying

289. Respect of freedom

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Faith Lesson 289

 Ave Maria series

Must we allow a person to use his free will, even when he decides in favor of evil?

For a person to be able to use his freedom is a fundamental right based on his human dignity.  An individual’s freedom can be curtailed only if the exercise of his freedom is detrimental to human dignity and the freedom of others.  [1738, 1740]

Jesus then said to those Jews who believed in him, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”John 8:32 …..289  

Freedom would be no freedom at all if it were not the freedom to choose even what is wrong.  It would violate the dignity of a man if we did not respect his freedom.  One of the central duties of the State is to protect the liberties of all its citizens (freedom of religion, of assembly, and association, freedom of opinion, freedom to choose one’s occupation, and so on).  The freedom of one citizen is the limit to the freedom of another.

“The martyrs of the early Church died for their faith in that God who was revealed in Jesus Christ, and for this very reason they also died for freedom of conscience and the freedom to profess one’s own faith—a profession that no State can impose but which, instead, can only be claimed with God’s grace in freedom of conscience. A missionary Church known for proclaiming her message to all peoples must necessarily work for the freedom of the faith.”  Pope Benedict XVI, December 22, 2005

[1738, 1740]

FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY

1738 Freedom is exercised in relationships between human beings. Every human person, created in the image of God, has the natural right to be recognized as a free and responsible being. All owe to each other this duty of respect. The right to the exercise of freedom, especially in moral and religious matters, is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of the human person. This right must be recognized and protected by civil authority within the limits of the common good and public order.(Compare Dignitatae Humanae 2 § 7)³² –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

HUMAN FREEDOM IN THE ECONOMY OF SALVATION

1740 Threats to freedom. The exercise of freedom does not imply a right to say or do everything. It is false to maintain that man, "the subject of this freedom," is "an individual who is fully self-sufficient and whose finality is the satisfaction of his own interests in the enjoyment of earthly goods."( Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, instruction, Libertatis conscientia 13.)³³ Moreover, the economic, social, political, and cultural conditions that are needed for a just exercise of freedom are too often disregarded or violated. Such situations of blindness and injustice injure the moral life and involve the strong as well as the weak in the temptation to sin against charity. By deviating from the moral law man violates his own freedom, becomes imprisoned within himself, disrupts neighborly fellowship, and rebels against divine truth. –CCC 

Pope Francis Gospel reading

288. Every act directly willed

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 288

Ave Maria series

Is man responsible for everything he does?

Man is responsible for everything he does consciously and voluntarily.  [1734-1737, 1745-1746]

Brothers Don C. (pointing) and Bill Bragg consider the uplifted and tilted bedrock forming the opposite bank of a small Upper Peninsula Michigan stream.…..288

No one can be held (fully) responsible for something he did under coercion, out of fear, ignorance, under the influence of drugs or the power of bad habits.  The more a person knows about the good and practices the good, the more he moves away from the slavery of sin (Romans 6:17; 1 Corinthians 7:22).  God desires that such free persons should (be able to) take responsibility for themselves, for their environment, and for the whole earth.  But all of God’s merciful love is also for those who are not free; every day he offers them an opportunity to allow themselves to be set free for freedom.

“The good man is free, even if he is a slave.  The evil man is a slave, even if he is a king.”  St. Augustine (354-430)

“The way to the goal begins on the day when you assume full responsibility for your actions.”  Dante Alighieri (1265-1321, Italian poet, author of the Divine Comedy)

[1734-1737, 1745-1746]

MAN'S FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY

 1734 Freedom makes man responsible for his acts to the extent that they are voluntary. Progress in virtue, knowledge of the good, and self-discipline enhance the mastery of the will over its acts.–Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition 

1735  Imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachments, and other psychological or social factors. –CCC

1736  Every act directly willed is imputable to its author: 

Thus the Lord asked Eve after the sin in the garden: "What is this that you have done?" (Genesis 3:13.)²⁹ He asked Cain the same question.(Compare Gen 4:10.)³⁰ The prophet Nathan questioned David in the same way after he committed adultery with the wife of Uriah and had him murdered.(Compare 2 Samuel 12:7-15.)³¹ –CCC

An action can be indirectly voluntary when it results from negligence regarding something one should have known or done: for example, an accident arising from ignorance of traffic laws. –CCC

1737  An effect can be tolerated without being willed by its agent; for instance, a mother's exhaustion from tending her sick child. A bad effect is not imputable if it was not willed either as an end or as a means of an action, e.g., a death a person incurs in aiding someone in danger. For a bad effect to be imputable it must be foreseeable and the agent must have the possibility of avoiding it, as in the case of manslaughter caused by a drunken driver.  –CCC

1738  Freedom is exercised in relationships between human beings. Every human person, created in the image of God, has the natural right to be recognized as a free and responsible being. All owe to each other this duty of respect. The right to the exercise of freedom,especially in moral and religious matters, is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of the human person. This right must be recognized and protected by civil authority within the limits of the common good and public order.(Compare Dignitatis Humanae 2 §7)³²

IN BRIEF

1745  Freedom characterizes properly human acts. It makes the human being responsible for acts of which he is the voluntary agent. His deliberate acts properly belong to him. –CCC

1746  The imputability or responsibility for an action can be diminished or nullified by ignorance, duress, fear, and other psychological or social factors. –CCC

People  Don C and Bill

287. A decision in favor of the good is always a decision leading toward God.

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 287

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

But doesn’t “freedom” consist of being able to choose evil as well?

Evil is only apparently worth striving for, and deciding in favor of evil only apparently makes us free. Evil does not make us happy but rather deprives us of what is truly good; it chains us to something futile and in the end destroys our freedom entirely.  [1730-1733, 1743-1744]

The kiss of Judas  by Giotto di Bondone (1266-1337).   As long as freedom is not bound definitively to God, our ultimate good, there is the possibility of choosing between good and evil—(compareCCC #1732 below).…..287

We see this in addiction: Here a person sells his freedom to something that appears good to him.  In reality he becomes a slave.  Man is freest when he is always able to say Yes to the good; when no addiction, no compulsion, no habit prevents him from choosing and doing what is right and good.  A decision in favor of the good is always a decision leading toward God.  51

[1730-1733, 1743-1744]

MAN'S FREEDOM

1730God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions. "God willed that man should be 'left in the hand of his own counsel,' so that he might of his own accord seek his Creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him."(Gaudium et Spes 17; Sirach 15:14.)²⁶ Man is rational and therefore like God; he is created with free will and is master over his acts.(St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 4,4,3:Patrologia Graeca 7/1,983.)²⁷–Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY

1731Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility. By free will one shapes one's own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude.–CCC

1732As long as freedom has not bound itself definitively to its ultimate good which is God, there is the possibility of choosing between good and evil, and thus of growing in perfection or of failing and sinning. This freedom characterizes properly human acts. It is the basis of praise or blame, merit or reproach. –CCC

1733 The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to "the slavery of sin." (Compare Romans 6:17.) ²⁸–CCC

IN BRIEF

1743 "God willed that man should be left in the hand of his own counsel (Compare Sirach 15:14), so that he might of his own accord seek his creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him" (Gaudemus et Spes 17 § 1). –CCC

1744 Freedom is the power to act or not to act, and so to perform deliberate acts of one's own. Freedom attains perfection in its acts when directed toward God, the sovereign Good. –CCC

JP Kiss of Judas

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 3, 2019

This magnificent synagogue was made of white limestone and wonderfully ornamented. Archeologists have determined that the 2-story synagogue was built around the beginning of the third century A.D., because of its architectural style, decorations, and inscriptions. Therefore it was not the synagogue in which Jesus taught, although it was most likely built upon the same site as the first century synagogue.

Lectionary: 72

Reading 1   JEREMIAH 1:4-5, 17-19

The word of the LORD came to me, saying:Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,before you were born I dedicated you,a prophet to the nations I appointed you.
But do you gird your loins;stand up and tell themall that I command you.  Be not crushed on their account,as though I would leave you crushed before them;for it is I this daywho have made you a fortified city,a pillar of iron, a wall of brass,against the whole land:against Judah's kings and princes,
against its priests and people.  They will fight against you but not prevail over you,for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.

Responsorial Psalm   PSALM 71:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15-17

R. (cf. 15ab) I will sing of your salvation.

In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, and deliver me;
incline your ear to me, and save me.

R. I will sing of your salvation.

Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety,
 for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.

R. I will sing of your salvation.

For you are my hope, O Lord;
my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother's womb you are my strength.

R. I will sing of your salvation.

My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.

R. I will sing of your salvation.

Reading 2   1 CORINTHIANS 12:31—13:13 

Brothers and sisters:Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts. But I shall show you a still more excellent way.
If I speak in human and angelic tongues,but do not have love,I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.  And if I have the gift of prophecy,and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;if I have all faith so as to move mountains,but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own,and if I hand my body over so that I may boast,but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind.  It is not jealous, it is not pompous,It is not inflated, it is not rude,it does not seek its own interests,it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,it does not rejoice over wrongdoingbut rejoices with the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things,hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;if tongues, they will cease;if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. For we know partially and we prophesy partially,but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,think as a child, reason as a child;when I became a man, I put aside childish things. At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,but then face to face.  At present I know partially;then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three;but the greatest of these is love.

Alleluia   LUKE 4:18

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel   LUKE 4:21-30

Jesus began speaking in the synagogue, saying:"Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."
And all spoke highly of himand were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, "Isn't this the son of Joseph?" He said to them, "Surely you will quote me this proverb,'Physician, cure yourself,' and say,'Do here in your native placethe things that we heard were done in Capernaum.'"
And he said, "Amen, I say to you,no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Indeed, I tell you,there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijahwhen the sky was closed for three and a half yearsand a severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israelduring the time of Elisha the prophet;yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian."  When the people in the synagogue heard this,they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town,and led him to the brow of the hillon which their town had been built,to hurl him down headlong.  But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away.

286. Freedom

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 286

Ave Maria series

What is freedom and what is it for?

Freedom is the God-given power to be able to act of one’s own accord; a person who is free no longer acts under the influence of someone else.  [1730-1733, 1743-1744]

Statue of Liberty, NY......286  “God created us as free men and wills our freedom so that we might decide wholeheartedly in favor of the good, indeed for the greatest “good”—in other words, for God.  The more we do what is good, the freer we become.”—(see CCC #1733)    51 

“Being free means self-possession.”  Dominique Lacordaire (1802-1861, famous Dominican preacher)

 “The person who abandons himself totally in God’s hands does not become God’s puppet, a boring  “yes man”; he does not lose his freedom.  Only the person who entrusts himself totally to God finds true freedom, the great creative immensity of the freedom of good.  The person who turns to God does not become smaller but greater, for through God and with God he becomes great, he becomes divine, he becomes truly himself.”  Pope Benedict XVI, December 8, 2005

[1730-1733, 1743-1744]

MAN'S FREEDOM

1730  God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions. "God willed that man should be 'left in the hand of his own counsel,' so that he might of his own accord seek his Creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection[Office1] by cleaving to him."(Gaudium et Spes 17; Sirach 15:14.)²⁶

Man is rational and therefore like God; he is created with free will and is master over his acts.(St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 4,4,3:Patrologia Graeca 7/1,983.)²⁷ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY

1731Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility. By free will one shapes one's own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude. –CCC

1732  As long as freedom has not bound itself definitively to its ultimate good which is God, there is the possibility of choosing between good and evil, and thus of growing in perfection or of failing and sinning. This freedom characterizes properly human acts. It is the basis of praise or blame, merit or reproach. –CCC

1733 The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to "the slavery of sin."(Compare Romans 6:17.)²⁸–CCC

IN BRIEF

1743 "God willed that man should be left in the hand of his own counsel (Compare Sirach 15:14), so that he might of his own accord seek his creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him" (Gaudium et Spes 17 § 1). –CCC

1744  Freedom is the power to act or not to act, and so to perform deliberate acts of one's own. Freedom attains perfection in its acts when directed toward God, the sovereign Good. –CCC

Church 800px Statue 

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 [Office1]Of the Catholic