Freedom
One
Liberating the Children of Israel
When we think about Moses freeing the Israelites, we often think about a great social liberator, someone like Ghandi or Braveheart who fights to gain freedom for his people from an unjust oppressor. And that’s certainly true at one level. The Egyptians did horribly mistreat the Israelites, and God did save His people from that unjust oppression.
But freedom doesn’t exist for the sake of freedom. God didn’t liberate His people just so they could be liberated from the Egyptians. God freed His people so they could be free to worship Him. Because at the end of the day, that’s the only freedom worth having.
Two
The Mission
When God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, and gave him the mission of freeing the children of Israel, He was very clear that this was in order that they might worship Him. He said, “I will be with you; and this will be your sign that I have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” (Exodus 3:12).
Initially, when Moses has his first audience before Pharoah, Moses doesn’t demand that the Israelites be set free forever. All he asks for is enough time for the people to make a retreat and go worship God together.
Moses said to Pharoah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Let my people go, that they may hold a feast for me in the wilderness… The God of the Hebrews has come to meet us. Let us go a three days’ journey in the wilderness, that we may offer sacrifice to the LORD, our God.” (Exodus 5:1-3).
He doesn’t start by saying, “My people need political freedom. My people need democracy. My people need fair working conditions. My people need elected representation. My people need an autonomous system of government.” He says, “God wants his people to worship him with sacrificing and feasting. And you have to let them do that.”
Of course, eventually, God will grant the Israelites complete political liberation from the Egyptians. God does want His people to be free. But God wants their freedom so they will be free to serve and worship Him.
Three
Religious Freedom
Starting with America, religious freedom has become something deeply valued by democratic nations in many parts of the world, and especially the West. The Catholic Church celebrates religious liberty, which, “is based on the very nature of the human person, whose dignity enables him freely to assent to the divine truth which transcends the temporal order.” (#2106).
We are made to know and love God and neither conviction nor love are things that can be forced on people. We need governments to give people the space and the time to find the truth and once they’ve found it, to do their best to live up to it.
But here’s the thing: religious liberty exists for the sake of religious practice. Freedom is for the sake of worship. Which means if we have freedom to practice our faith, but we don’t practice it, then we’re totally missing the point.
Four
Religious Indifference
As we said, freedom is about giving people the space to find God and serve Him. That’s the freedom God wanted for His chosen people. He wanted Pharoah to give them the space to go out to the desert and worship God with a feast and a sacrifice. Just as He wants us to come together and worship God in the Mass, which is the Supreme Feast and the Supreme Sacrifice.
The problem is that people so easily use freedom, including religious freedom, as an excuse for becoming self-serving, to do whatever we want.
That’s not what the right to religious freedom is. As the Catechism says, “The right to religious liberty is neither a moral license to adhere to error, nor a supposed right to error.”
In other words, religious freedom isn’t an excuse to avoid the truth, it’s the opportunity for following the truth. So is that how we’re using our freedom? After all, look at how much freedom we have! Look at the free time we have, the disposable income we have, the way we are allowed to go to mass, and live as Christ teaches.
Are we doing that? Are we making the most of religious liberty? Or has God freed us for His worship in vain?
Five
Freedom is for God
The freedom God granted to the chosen people was supposed to be used for His Worship, for His Honor. When they followed Moses into the desert, they had to decide whether they would use their new freedom to worship God or worship themselves simply by doing their own thing.
Now, during Lent, we’re following Christ out into the desert for forty days and it’s a good time to assess whether we are using our freedom for God, or whether we’re using our freedom just to do our own thing.
After all, we have so many things where we are free to decide what to do with it. What will we do with our political, religious freedom? What will we do with our finances? What will we do with our time? What will we do with our homes? What will we do with our words? Are we actually using these things to glorify God and grow in relationship with him and in virtue? If not, then we’re really missing the point of why we have been granted freedom in the first place.
Suggested Resolutions:
Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you.
How are you using your free time? This week, try to use more of your free time to get to Adoration or a Daily Mass.
Keep track of your free time usage this week. How much do you waste? Can you write down a list of what you do every thirty minutes and keep yourself accountable?