Monday, October 10, 2016



Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

(Galatians 4:22-24.26-27.31-5:1; Luke 11:29-32)

The young man was also a parachutist.  He enjoyed telling people about the freedom one feels jumping out of an airplane.  There is no restriction of motion, no containment of euphoria.  One feels refreshed, stimulated, and in control of his destiny.  In today’s first reading St. Paul speaks of a moral freedom that also leaves its possessor in elation.

The moral freedom of Christians is not the absence of law.  They too should fast at times and receive the sacraments.  No, their freedom consists in hosting the Holy Spirit as their guide and strength.  The Spirit enables them to perceive the truth and then to live it.  It releases them from worry and moves them to the happiness for which they were created.  As Paul writes, “For freedom Christ set us free.”

Moral freedom is a gift that we endeavor to keep.  We must not allow the enticements of illicit pleasure and unrestrained egotism to entangle us.  The Spirit will alert us to these pitfalls and will give us the resolve to avoid them.  Nevertheless, we must decide to follow it.