User:Aloysious Kalyowa/sandbox/FREEDOM IN FAITH

FREEDOM IN FAITH “So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:3 The walk of faith is a walk of freedom. Freedom of accepting the Good News and refuting all that doesn’t go with the truth. In every faith, freedom is paramount. One should be entirely free to profess their faith- because that is what it means to be a child of God, to be set free from any sort of slavery. Sharing the concept of freedom from a Catholic Christian point of view, the mysteries of our faith are well summed up in the Creed! Truth is primarily revealed to us through the sacred scriptures and the official teaching of the Church! Why Sacred scripture? Because it is God’s word. Why Teaching of the Church; because sacred scripture never fell from heaven like Manna! God continues to inspire her children throughout the times by means of those he chooses to lead them in freedom. How free should my freedom be? Is my freedom limited at any moment whatsoever? In the telecommunication world, there are normally offers of unlimited calls-unlimited internet access-expiring within a month or calls can be only unlimited to subscribers of the same telecom company. So to say, these “unlimited” are limited to one month or a particular relation! Can these policies change? Yes, they can! But any change is allowed, they are binding. That means, I can enjoy their offers, keeping in mind the “terms and conditions.” Is my profession of faith in the particular church limited? Not at all! Actually, everyone is free to join or profess the Christian faith. I profess the faith that has already been passed onto me. I am not an author or an inventor! I subscribe to this fact, conscious that it is the answer to my search for truth-God- and in total freedom. Faith is never forced! Faith is not slavery. So, if we are free, why are we not allowed to do anything we wish? It is because we are free in the very direction that leads us to God. If we no longer find meaning and direction in this faith; in total freedom, we look for an alternative. A faithful is called upon to guard what he/she received “13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.” (2Timothy 1:13-14) So, what if I no longer find meaning in my church, do I lose my faith? Let us may be start with the question; Do I need the church? The answer to this is in Catechism of the Catholic Church no’s 775 “The Church's first purpose is to be the sacrament of the inner union of men with God. Because men's communion with one another is rooted in that union with God, the Church is also the sacrament of the unity of the human race” and. 780 “The Church in this world is the sacrament of salvation, the sign and the instrument of the communion of God and men.” So, if I need salvation, the church is a means to attaining it. In faith, there is free entry and exit. Faith should be helping me to answer my call to live with God. All that which helps me to hear and answer that call, I should welcome. The moment I no longer feel/experience this, in good faith and discernment, I should look for an alternative (humanly speaking). “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16) The only slavery to be accepted, is slavery to God (1Peter 2:16) “Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves” Religious freedom should be a guided freedom. Guided in the path of truth and true freedom. One can do anything in Christ! But not every alleged profession should be taken to represent Christ’s word. That is why I can’t make of my freedom a profession of faith or else, faith would be personalized. I don’t determine what to believe. But I can accept to believe in a certain way, so long as it answers my thirst for God. Sometimes freedom can be misused! That is why the church remains with prescribed way of guiding her children. In so doing, the church is not doing her will, but rather the will of Christ. That is where the different between the church and members of the church comes in. the difference between the catholic profession of faith and the way of life Catholics are leading in relation to the Gospel. The church doesn’t found its content of faith on what its members can, want to or desire to believe. It is based on what Christ revealed as the way to the Father. St. Paul writing to the Romans cf Rm6:14, “I'm not under the law anymore, I'm not under sin's dominion anymore and I'm free to do what I want to do”. I am free to do what I want, because of the grace of God within me. I know what God wants of me. Freedom in the sense of the real concept, is being able to respond to God’s call with conscious Yes and follow in love and total giving to God and the neighbour. Sense of and purpose of direction: I am moving towards God, and not God coming my way. Even if He were to come, He only does so to indicate me the way to Him (I am the Way, The Truth and the Life John 14:4-6). Still I am free to follow or not. I am free to choose any way that helps me to reach God safely and within my means. One can travel on sea with a Ship, Ferry or Sub Marine. Whichever you choose, you need to calculate well other factors surrounding. It would may be look less practical to think of swimming across the sea. The choice doesn’t necessarily depend on the availability of the means; it also depends on the state of the available means! It depends on the capacity of these means in themselves! Not everything that looks like a sub marine could be a real one. Discernment is very important in matters of faith, guided by the Holy Spirit. Freedom in the Spirit: Galatians 5: 13-14. You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” And this is what the catholic church teaches! If there is any deviation from this, then it is not worth following it. This deviation doesn’t depend on how I define things. It is seen in line with the primary call to perfection of each one of us. Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect (Mathew 5:48). God’s call and purpose for human life is immutable across our human history. Though circumstances under which we respond to this call could be different, the essence of it never changes. That is why changes are possible within the church only if they help to reach what is not changeable. We cannot change the substance to meet the expectations, because expectations are variant as much as human limitedness is witnessed in variant proportions in different people. That is why Christ sums it all up in the law of Love. Love total abandonment and dependence to God-and unlimited openness to his kingdom and his creation. It is irrational to continue in a path parallel to this. However, I should not limit reality to my personal experience. Need for the Holy Spirit who teaches us all truth. (John 16:3). The Spirit who teaches us the Way, the way of Love.

Be and not be at the same time? Mathew 5:37 “All you need to say is simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” In the spirit of truth, a believer accepts that which leads to God. The same way cannot be both true and false at the same time. Chances of being a strong catholic and at the same time denying some core principles of its creed could be possibly found in heaven. But before we reach there, we shall follow the non-contradictory principles of this others. Two things can’t be and not be at the same time or in the same context. If I say Yes, I automatically imply no conformity to the rest. If I say yes but in my mind having no, then I am not in the truth! I am not in God. Faith is therefore not a mere profession or utterance of empty words. It is a profession of what we believe and we are moved to live it in our lives. Unity of all our faculties is necessary in the profession of faith. This is the call of the Catholic Faith for all her children. Whoever lives with her, lives within the path of truth. Conclusion: 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". (Catechism of the Catholic Church no.1733 and Cf. Rom 6:17)) “Authentic freedom is an outstanding manifestation of the divine image within man. (Gaudium et Spes 17) Let us not confuse our ultimate call to holiness with every echo we could hear. Let us not manipulate God’s word to make it personal, to the extent of deviating others. Let us remember that our freedom is unlimited in as much as it lived within love-and only God can give it to us. It is the Son to set us free and therefore we can’t determine our freedom with our own making. It does not depend on what so and so are doing. Unless in my way of life I have tried to obey Jesus word, then my claim of being free in God is all in vain. For he tells us in John 8:32 "If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

Rev. Fr. Aloysius Kalyowa 05th November 2016 Pamplona-Spain