Yesterday we celebrated the 250th anniversary of The Declaration of Independence.What is freedom? This is a very important question. It is easy to go about our lives ignoring this question. Sadly it is when our freedom is taken away that we begin to fight for our freedom. So it is very important to have a sound understanding of what freedom is.

The Catholic understanding defines freedom not as the mere ability to do whatever one wants, but as the power to do what is good and right. Rooted in human dignity, true freedom means using free will to align oneself with God, which leads to authentic human flourishing and joy.

Freedom vs. License: In Catholic teaching, "license" is the pursuit of unbridled personal desires without regard for morality or truth, which often leads to the slavery of sin. Indulging our passions leads to slavery. True freedom serves the good and just.

Teleological Purpose: Freedom is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end. That end is God. Humans are given the free will to choose to seek, love, and unite with their Creator. True human freedom allows to know and delight in what is good, and true, and beautiful.

Truth and Freedom: Rooted in Scripture (John 8:32), the Church teaches that truth and freedom are inseparable. Living a moral life according to the truth actually expands a person's capacity to choose goodness.

Responsibility: Because humans are rational moral agents, freedom comes with inherent responsibility for their actions. Irrational animals are governed by their instincts. The human person is endowed by God with reason and the freedom to choose. We will be granted the consequences of our choices.

Romans 6:22-23 “But now that you have been freed from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit that you have leads to sanctification,* and its end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

One of the most important encyclicals we need to rediscover is Pope Leo XIII's Libertas (1888), on the true nature of human liberty.  This encyclical explains what true liberty consists of, followed by a lengthy exposition of the Church’s condemnation of liberalism, in the Enlightenment/classical sense rather than today’s narrower use of the word.  Most people who call themselves conservative now would, in certain ways, fall into the category of liberalism as defined by Leo.  Prophetically warning of the evil consequences of political liberalism, Leo also takes aim at various false liberties in which modern people take such pride:  freedom of speech, writing, thought, and worship.  As startling as Leo’s teaching may be to modern Catholics, his fundamental principle is the one that Pope St. John Paul II enunciated when he said that “freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” Pope Leo XIII:  “Man by a necessity of his nature, is wholly subject to the most faithful and ever-enduring power of God; and that, as a consequence, any liberty, except that which consists in submission to God and in subjection to His will, is unintelligible.  To deny the existence of this authority in God, or to refuse to submit to it, means to act as one who treasonably abuses his liberty; and in such a disposition of mind the chief and deadly vice of liberalism essentially consists.”

RIGHT-TO-VOTE AMENDMENT 

Please come learn why the Kansas right-to-vote judicial amendment vote set for August 4 is shaping up to be one of the most important voter choices of our lifetime. Find out why a YES vote restores your voice in selecting powerful State Supreme Court justices who are now chosen behind closed doors with little or no accountability to the people.  Join Chuck Weber, former executive director of the Kansas Catholic Conference after 10:00 AM Mass on Sunday, June 21 in the Parish Hall for this brief and informative presentation about this critical issue.