Today’s\nreadings concern our actions: what we do and why we do it. Moreover, the\nreadings also issue a reminder that our actions have consequences. When\nspeaking about actions, it is essential to remember that we have been created\nin the image and likeness of God, which means that each of us has been given\nfreedom and reason, and has been created for happiness. Thus, these three\nelements are crucial: free will, reason and an intrinsic desire for happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Essentially,\nfreedom is the ability to choose between two courses of action. To inform this decision,\nhowever, God has given us reason, and in doing so, He has also made us\nresponsible for the consequences of our actions. In other words, because we can\nchoose and have the ability to do so rationally, we are responsible for whether\nour actions move us closer towards that goal of happiness or not. It is this\nrelationship that Sirach points out in our First Reading today: “Before\neach person are life and death, good and evil and whichever one chooses, that shall\nbe given” (Sir. 15:17). What becomes instantly clear to this picture is\nthat if we are to choose, and to do so rationally, then we need the proper\ninformation to make decisions. Therefore, God has not only given us these\nfaculties but through Jesus, He has also revealed to us how we are to act. This\nis what our Second Reading speaks about. God is not the only one that is trying\nto speak into our decisions and choices. Indeed, many voices are trying to tell\nus how we are to act. Who do we listen to? God’s wisdom or the world’s?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today’s\nworld exalts freedom, and our freedom is indeed precious. But, contrary to what\nthe world tries to say, our power to choose is not an end unto itself. It is\nnot a matter of being free for the sake of being free. Instead, as God’s wisdom\ntells us, our freedom is precious because by choosing to act as God has\ncommanded us to, we move closer to our goal: happiness. And, as St. Paul\nexplains to the Corinthians, this happiness is not just any happiness, nor even\nmy personal idea of it. Instead, it is the happiness for which we were created,\na bliss that we cannot even begin to fathom: “No eye has seen, nor ear\nheard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love\nhim” (1 Cor. 2: 9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That this\nhappiness is reserved for those who love him, implies, to a certain extent,\nthat we who love Him can already begin to experience it here in this life. In\nthe Gospel, Jesus says: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law\nor the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (Mt. 5:17).\nSubsequently, he goes on to give even higher standards of conduct than what the\npeople of his time were accustomed to. However, this is not a restriction of\nour freedom, but rather the path to an even greater one. Once again, contrary\nto what the world says, our freedom is not for the sake of being free. Instead,\nit is freedom for something. It is the power to choose the good, to choose that\nwhich is going to bring us happiness. In short, it is a freedom that is for\nlove. Jesus’ words in the Gospel are definitely a high standard. Nonetheless,\nthey are the invitation, and in themselves, the grace, to conduct ourselves\naccording to the kind of Love that made us, and that, already in this life,\ngives us a taste of the happiness reserved for us in heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Santiago Torres <\/strong>\u2013 St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fot. Ricky Turner\/Unsplash.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2211,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,17,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-strona-glowna-najnowsze","category-strona-glowna-slider"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n