With Independence Day approaching, I’ve been thinking about our freedom as an American nation. Every year, we celebrate our liberty and remember our founding fathers who fought to ensure the freedom of all American citizens.

While we may have the liberty to do whatever we want, many people are not happy. Our nation is more hateful and divided now than ever before. And I don’t think that’s what our founding fathers wanted.

I know technically we are free because we have the rights to do whatever we want. However, I believe so many of our nation’s issues come from people being slaves to their own selfish ambitions.

So it got me thinking, how can we truly be free?

How can we, as Catholic Christians, be an example to the rest of the world and live out our freedom with purpose and responsibility?

The Purpose of Freedom

God fashioned each of us as rational beings with a soul, intellect and free will. The freedom to choose is an inalienable right every human being is entitled to. But have you ever stopped to think about why God gave us the gift of freedom?

God didn’t have to create us in the way He did. He could have easily designed us so we would automatically obey Him.

So why didn’t He?

Because then we couldn’t love! Without the ability to choose our thoughts and actions, it’s impossible to love God or others.

Freedom exists for the sake of love, and love exists solely because of the will…the will to choose. They go hand in hand.

Saint John Paul II has this awesome quote that says, “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”

God didn’t give us our freedom so we could do whatever we like and follow every whim. Rather, He gave us freedom so we could choose to love. So we could choose to say no to our selfish impulses, to do the right thing, and to follow Him in the Church He started. He gave us freedom so we could choose heaven over earth.

The Cost of Freedom

So what’s the catch? Why doesn’t everyone choose to love if it’s what freedom was intended for?

Because the cost of freedom, the cost of loving, is responsibility.

Most people are more interested in using their free will to do whatever makes them happy rather than taking up their crosses and using their freedom responsibly.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect.”

Because God gave us free will, all of our actions have a consequence. We must own up to them, which is also why we must choose the good.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “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.’”

It sounds like a conundrum, but the more we choose the good and the more we choose Christ, the freer we actually become.

Why would this be? If you think about it, we actually have to give up some of our freedom when we follow Christ because we can no longer just do anything we want. So how is this greater freedom?

Because in Christ we receive grace, in Christ we are redeemed, and in Christ, we are truly freed.

True Christian freedom lies in that sacrifice. The sacrifice of abandoning ourselves completely to follow Christ in the Church He began. That is exactly the freedom our souls desire.

Choosing Grace

On Calvary our freedom was won, not through any merit of our own, but because of God’s mercy and goodness. Before Calvary, we were slaves to our sin, slaves to this world. But that all changed when Christ died for us. He atoned for our sins, giving us the opportunity to choose heaven and eternity with Him over this world.

But this fact doesn’t give us a free pass straight to heaven! Even though Christ frees us from the chains of sin, we still must CHOOSE Him. Christ dying for us does nothing if we don’t choose to love Him and accept the graces He wants to freely give us.

Christ died to give us these graces, yet so many people today still live as if Calvary never happened! They refuse grace. Without grace, we will continue to live in bondage no matter how free the world tells us we are. For this reason, we must choose grace every day.

Living Catholic Freedom

So what does choosing grace look like in today’s society?

I like to think of grace as God’s life within us, so the more grace we receive, the more we become like Christ! Before He left us here on earth, Christ gave us so many incredible gifts to receive grace, so we must make use of them!

First, He gave us the Holy Spirit who is alive and well in all of us, and we must listen to Him.

Second, He gave us the Catholic Church. Christ knew we would get lost, misguided, or confused on our own, which is why He gave us structure and authority to guide our spiritual lives and point us to the Truth.

Third, He gave us the wonderful gift of His mother. As He was dying on the cross, Christ gave His Mother to John by saying, “Son, behold your mother.”Christ didn’t just want Mary to be John’s mother, but all of ours! We must never forget the incredible graces the Queen of Heaven and Mother of Christ wants to pour out to us to lead us to Her Son. (To learn about how Mary is the Mediatrix of all graces click here).

Next, we also have all the saints! They’re ones who have walked this earth, sinned, and strived for heaven just like you and me and made it there! Read about their lives and pray through their intercession.

Lastly, and most importantly, Christ gave us Himself in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. As Catholics, we are tremendously blessed to be able to receive Jesus in Communion as often as we want. The sacrament of Confession is also available daily, and what a treasure! Our hearts are purified through the sacraments so we can become holier and happier people.

Christ is continually giving us these opportunities to receive grace and become more alive in Him, so let’s make use of them! We have no excuse not to use our freedom responsibly when God gives us all of these awesome gifts!

So as we approach the celebration of our country’s independence this week, let us remember the purpose and cost of liberty, so we can live out our Catholic freedom faithfully!

From the depths of my soul,

Josie