Last week, we explored how Church and State are called to work together to promote the natural and supernatural flourishing of the human person. One of the most important teachings of Christ is on the proper use of freedom. Simply put, true freedom is the ability to do what we ought, not the ability to do what we want.

    “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Declaration of Independence). God is the Ultimate Good (Summum Bonum) of everything that exists. If it is a clear choice between God and some lesser good, we will inevitably choose God. But our choices are often between earthly goods, and so we are free to choose between good and evil. This is God’s plan: “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” (St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies). God doesn’t want automatons; he wants free men and women who choose him for his sake and find their happiness therein.

    This vision of freedom clashes with a modern notion of freedom that isn’t about choosing what is good, but the raw power to choose. “It’s a free country. I can do what I want. I’m within my rights. To each their own.” I can do what I want, when I want, how I want, where I want, with whomever I want. This freedom isn’t rooted in what is true and good; it’s indifferent to what will make us better people. But the truth is that the more we choose short-term pleasures over our deepest desires for happiness, the less free we will become over time. Habits of vice grow into a life of slavery to sin. But Christ came, taught, suffered, died and rose for our true happiness. “For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit to the yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1).

    This logic of Christ applies not only to individual actions, but to popular concepts like freedom of worship, speech, and tolerance. Worship and speech are only free when they are rooted in the truth about who God is and who he made us to be. This is why Pope Leo XIII controversially quipped: “Error has no rights.” We can tolerate a certain difference of opinion around religion or truth only when we understand that the ultimate goal is to lead everyone to Christ through his Church. We don’t force the truth down people’s throats or impose taxes on non-Catholics, but we also shouldn’t advocate for everyone to believe and say whatever they want. When people believe and say things that are false, it erodes their dignity and can degrade society as a whole. The Church, by tutoring us individually in the exercise of our freedom (to do what we ought), can also teach society how true freedom comes through obedience to God’s law. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to train us in this true freedom and enable us to persuade others of Christ’s freeing message!



    -Fr. Stephen