GOD'S FREEDOM
Francis C Joseph
When
God made the World, he gave freedom to man to take control over the animals,
birds, fishes and everything else in the world. He only said to not to touch the
two trees but man disobeyed him, he became slave of sin. Then in Exodus we see
that God gave freedom to the chosen people, he gave them the Promised Land. Then
why Jesus came? Jesus came to save the world from sins and not to free them from
the Romans who were ruling at that time. If Jesus took away all our sins then
why do we sin? Jesus knew this; therefore he gave us the sacrament of Penance to
come back to his freedom once again. He also gave us the sacrament of Anointing
of the Sick so that we can come back to him repenting before we die, then he
will tell us what he told to the good thief in John ch: 23:43, “Today you will
be with me in paradise.”
To
achieve freedom we must be united with our lord Jesus Christ. Being in love or
in touch with him by our prayers and good deeds, which can unite us in him. I
suppose by now a curious question must have aroused in your mind that “what is
this freedom I am talking about? The freedom I am talking about is not the
worldly freedom but it is the freedom from sin, to come back to the Lord, it is
the freedom, which means united with the Lord, it is the freedom to preach the
good news. To set ourselves free we must know the truth. Now what is the truth?
The truth can be different in people’s point of view. But for me the truth is
that Jesus is risen from death and is the Son of God. And I know that this is
the main reason of our freedom, and we have to proclaim this, it also our
mission on the Earth. Freedom can also be expressed as living with God in
heaven. After getting freedom our work is to help others to free themselves from
their sins. As in Matthew ch: 27:51
“The curtain in the temple split into two
pieces, when He died.” In olden times there used to be a big curtain, which
divided the Most Holy Place from the other part of the temple and people except
the priest were not allowed to go inside. But Jesus tore that curtain so that
man can reach God again. This is what we must do. We must help others free
themselves from their boulder of sins, so that they can reach Jesus again.
Freedom
is eternal if achieve it on Earth. In heaven we cannot achieve freedom, as the
people who are not free in the Earth will not go to
Heaven. When we are free we have certain benefits. But our benefits are
not rights but are the gifts of the Holy Spirit like courage, peace, wisdom,
etc. needed to proclaim the Good News; he provides it because he wants to be
successful. But we are not quite bothered as the task is very hard.
We
have to be free because it is said in Romans ch: 8:8,
“Those who are in the
flesh cannot please God.” It clearly says that the people who belong to the
world are not destined towards Heaven, if they do not change their lives. Now I
would like to discuss a small proverb from Kabir’s teachings (poem), which clearly says that when worldly things are present in our hearts God cannot be
there. And when God is present worldly things are not there. The way of love is
very narrow, (it also means hard) that God and worldly things cannot be together
in our heart (translated from Hindi). When we are free we become dedicated to God and God will also be
with us. Some people might say that “As is am free then why should I obey God?
Then it is their biggest mistake as disobeying God means becoming a slave of sin
again.
So
now I would like to conclude my talk by repeating my message for your life
again, “have faith in God and free yourself from all bondages of the Earth to
preach his holy name and your reward will be eternal freedom. Remember what
Jesus said to Martha, the sister of Lazarus,
“I am the resurrection and the
life. He who believes in me will have life even if he dies. And he who believes
and lives never die.” This is Jesus Christ’s promise to us.
THANK
YOU
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