There's a story about a Lutheran pastor who was arrested by the Nazis and he was
taken into the prison camp where the gates were locked behind him. Then he was
brought into one of the buildings and the door was locked behind him. Then he
was led down a long corridor by the guards and locked in a cell. He then put
his hand into his pocket, pulled out his Bible and said, now I am free. Now I am
free. That story kind of points out the difference between physical
slavery and moral slavery. Physical slavery
has to do with bondage of the body, but moral slavery has to do with bondage of
the soul, especially slavery to sin. Next Sunday we celebrate Independence Day,
but for us our Independence Day is Good Friday. Our declaration of
independence is the crucifixion. That second reading said,
for freedom, Christ has set us free. So stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.
Like we say, we've been set free from sin and death by the cross. Like he says, do not submit
again to the powers of darkness, to that slavery, to those powers of darkness. Socrates, a hundred
years before Christ, said that the worst form of slavery is vice, okay, the worst form of slavery is
vice. One philosophy teacher I had wrote a book called the slavery of permissiveness. We
live in a very permissive society. The society says they worship
freedom, but they divorce freedom from truth. When freedom gets divorced from truth, the desire to be a Christian is
it's no longer liberty.
Like Fulton Sheen defines liberty,
not as the freedom to do as I please,
but the freedom to do as I ought.
License is the freedom to do as I please.
But liberty is the freedom to do as I ought.
Our Lord himself said,
it's the truth that shall set you free.
Because, like we say,
the will is meant to be wedded to the truth.
St. Augustine says,
holiness is truth wedded to freedom.
When we wed ourselves to anything less than God and his truth,
it becomes an addiction.
The slavery of material goods,
the slavery to our passions,
the slavery to pride, self-will,
human respect,
the opinions of others.
You see, there's this paradox
where we're called the land of the free,
but to a large extent we're enslaved to sin.
We're the home of the brave,
but at the same time,
moral cowards,
attacking the embryos and the unborn.
Maybe one analogy,
they ask the question,
when is a train most free?
When is a train most free?
And the answer is,
when it's on its tracks.
Because then it can make the most progress.
A train off of its tracks is not free,
it's a train wreck.
Freedom divorced from truth,
one theologian says,
is an unguided missile.
It's dangerous to have an unguided missile.
Okay?
Because if you,
just like a car,
if you can't direct where the car is going,
okay, like, it's usually a disaster.
Okay?
So, freedom is meant to be directed by truth.
Freedom not directed by truth is dangerous.
So the will is meant to be guided by the intellect.
Freedom derailed from truth is a train wreck.
Truth, the world would tell me that truth is the enemy of freedom.
You're trying to improve.
You're trying to impose your morality on me.
Okay?
That's the lie of the 21st century.
Because as Saint Augustine says,
holiness is truth wedded to freedom.
Without truth,
we can only misuse our freedom.
But the truth enables us to use our freedom as God intends it,
to make progress toward God.
Okay?
And that's why the saints are the most free.
The Blessed Virgin Mary was the most free.
Because she used her free will to move forward toward God.
Okay?
Saint Angela of Mauritius says,
God has given everyone liberty,
and therefore he compels no one,
but only points the way.
He calls, he persuades, he invites.
And truth is God's invitation to his kingdom.
Like we say, in some quarters,
like we say, people think the magisterium,
is the Gestapo.
People think that I'm the church's Gestapo,
trying to impose my opinion on other people.
People think the church is trying to take away our freedom.
But really, the church is trying to empower us
to use our freedom to get where we ought to go.
Where God wants us to go.
Where we'll find true happiness, peace, joy,
everlasting peace.
Where we'll find true peace, peace, joy, everlasting life.
I can just end with this quote of Saint Augustine.
He says,
O Lord, you are the light of the minds that know you,
the light of the souls that love you,
the strength of the wills that serve you.
Help us to know you, that we may truly love you,
so to love you that we may fully serve you,
whose service is perfect freedom.