Jesus said: "If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed."
Gospel of John
In this particular Gospel reading from John, there is a rather unusual dialog going on between Jesus and the Pharisees. This conversation indicates that the synagogue leaders did not have an understanding of what Jesus was speaking about when He made this statement. When Jesus challenged them to be His disciples, to discover the truth of the message that would make them free, their response was that they were never slaves to anyone. What do you mean, You will make us free? they said.
It reminds me of conversations I have had during my working years. If I were to speak to one of my fellow employees about being free, they would immediately think that it had to do with what we would do after retirement. For them, this would be a time when we would be able to do whatever we wanted, when we wanted. Freedom was looked upon as the ability to make choices for ourselves, free from duties and obligations.
Is this what Jesus means by this statement?
Fr. George Maloney, a Jesuit, wrote an eight day retreat book called "Alone With The Alone". The forth day of his eight day retreat is called: "Jesus, the Freest of all persons". In this chapter, he raises the question: "How do you know when you are free?" His answer: True freedom, that which Jesus possessed, consists in freely determining to live your life as your heavenly Father would wish you to. Maloney explains that freedom means that in all our choices, we act out of love to please God, and this freedom comes only as we experience God's love for us in Christ. It is a healing of our mistaken identity as we prayerfully encounter Jesus who loves us and breaks down our self-imposed prison walls.
"If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed."
From this we see that the freedom Christ offers is not to do what we want, when we want, but an inner condition. It is the power to speak and to act, to respond to life and all it has to offer without all of our self-imposed restraints. It is as St. Irenaeus has said: "The Glory of God is man, fully human and fully alive."
If I am enslaved by any addiction, whether it be to drugs, alcohol, whatever; having the choice to do what I want, when I want, will not give me freedom from my addiction. This addiction will also be an obstacle to living to the potential that God intended. Christ, through being His disciples, through seeking and discovering the truth of the Gospel message, will free us from our addictions and any other forms of self-imposed restrictions so that we may live as God intended us to live. "We are God's work of art, created in Christ Jesus, to live the good live, as from the beginning, God intended us to live it."
Jesus is speaking of a type of freedom that we often see and hear expressed in Pope Francis. In one of his recent homilies, he said: Serve one another with love, and not allow the "omens of destruction"; hatred, envy and pride to defile our lives.
As disciples of Christ, these are the things we need to be freed from, and in being free, we can live and act responsibly as God's children. We cannot be released from these impediments through our own power, but we can through Christ.
If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed, for we will be healed of our mistaken identity as Jesus' love breaks down our self-imposed prison walls, and we experience the New Life that comes through faith.
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