In a public interview on Wednesday, Pope Francis explained the freedom of Christianity. He pointed out that freedom does not lie in being away from others, seeing them as an annoyance that restricts our actions, but in loving our neighbors within a group.
(Vatican News Network) Freedom is not “dissoluteness”, following personal will and selfish impulse, but serving one another: “In serving we become free people.” Pope Francis emphasized the above thoughts during a Wednesday public reception hosted by the Paul VI Hall on the morning of October 20th. This time the teaching of the Catechism still uses the “Book of the Galatas” as the theme. The Apostle Paul stated in the book that freedom is by no means “an excuse for the indulgence of lust” (cf. Galata 5: 13-14).
The Pope said that the Apostle Paul used this letter to “introduce us major new ideas of faith” one after another. In fact, we have received a “new life” through the sacrament of Baptism, and received the greatest grace to be children of God. Therefore, we have transformed from a belief in observing the rules to a belief in life, putting the life of communion with God and brothers and sisters, that is, the life of charity at the center. Once again, we face the paradox of the gospel: “By serving, not doing what we want, we become free people.” Here again, the pope presents the example of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples.
“There is no freedom without love. Freedom to do whatever one wants is not freedom, because it only considers itself and is not fruitful. Only through love: this is the love of Christ who sets us free, and this love enslaves us from the most sinister , Our ego is liberated; it can be seen that freedom grows with love. But beware: this is not the love of inner emotions, nor the love of fiction, nor is it seeking just the passion that we like and want: not by These, but by the love we see in Christ, do charity: this is truly free and liberated love.”
The Pope therefore emphasized that when we obey our instincts and fail to make good use of our freedom, we will feel great emptiness, which is nothing but “a freedom in the arena.” The Pope quoted another letter from St. Paul. The apostle replied to someone who misunderstood freedom and thought everything was possible: “Everything is possible, but not all good!” (1 Cor. 10:23). Encourage “people not only to seek their own interests, but also to the interests of others” (ibid., 24). The Pope said, “This is the debunking of any selfish law of freedom.” If anyone tries to reduce freedom to just following one’s own hobbies, Paul puts the need for love first.
“The only thing that makes others and ourselves free is the freedom led by love. It knows how to listen but does not force it, it knows how to love but does not persecute, build without destroying it, and it does not use others for its own convenience, and treat it kindly. They do not seek their own benefits. In short, if freedom is not for serving, if freedom is not for good, it will be ruined and not fruitful. If freedom is not for good, it will not be fruitful. On the contrary, in love inspires The liberty you have left will go to the poor, and you will see the face of Christ in their faces.”
Indeed, when Paul talked about the freedom granted to him by other apostles to preach the gospel, he emphasized that they only commanded him to remember the poor. The Pope said, “This means that your freedom as a preacher should be the freedom to serve others, not for your freedom, to do what you like to do”. The pope therefore emphasized the scope of a free group rather than an individual, which needs to be rediscovered at this historical moment.
“However, we know that one of the most popular modern ideas about freedom is’your freedom begins, my freedom ends’. But this lacks a relationship! It is an individualistic view. On the contrary, who is After receiving the liberating grace of Jesus, he would not think that freedom lies in being away from others and treat them as troubles. He could not watch people hide themselves, but should always enter a group. The social dimension is for Christians. It’s extremely important because it makes them focus on public welfare, not private interests.”
The Pope finally stated that the epidemic has made us realize that we need to help each other, and we should believe that others are not hindrances to my freedom, but my opportunity to achieve full freedom, “because our freedom comes from God’s love, Medium growth”.
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