Monday of the 28th
Week in Ordinary Time
October 13, 2014 8:30am
In today’s first reading, Saint
Paul says that we are “free.”
On the one hand, we know that we
have freedom and rights that are based on freedom at least in our country.
We also know that we do have free
will – the ability to choose what to do or not to do in particular situations.
But we may also not feel so free
in some ways.
We may feel that we have so many
responsibilities to our family or employer or whomever that we don’t feel very
free at all.
So what freedom is Paul talking
about here?
Fundamentally, he is saying that
we have the freedom of possibility or lots of possibilities because of our life
in Christ.
We are free to respond to others
with compassion instead of feeling inhibited from showing our care and concern.
We are free to act justly instead
of being restrained by the ways or attitudes of others.
We are free to do what Christ
would want us to do instead of giving in to peer pressure.
We are free to be positive about
the good that is in our world and in others instead of being cynical and
negative.
We are free to be ourselves
instead of worrying about what others will think of us.
We are free to hope for tomorrow
and the future instead of giving in to discouragement.
I think you get the point.
Paul sees freedom not as a
superficial reality.
He sees it as quite profound, as
an empowerment that comes from the Christ living in us and our living in him.
