Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to
the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the
flesh, you shall die: but if by the
Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. (Rom 8:12-13)
As a
created contingent being, created by God in His image and likeness, and a
devout Roman Catholic, born and raised in the United States and in The Church, it seems there is a vast difference between
the beliefs of the founding fathers of United States and teachings of the
Catholic Church. This country was not
founded on doctrines of The Church but those of fundamentalist-protestant
beliefs. Example being, sola fidei and
sola scriptura, “saved by faith and scripture alone,” meaning all a person has
to do in order, “To be saved” is to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior
and the Bible, with no suffering because Christ suffered once and for all, so
we do not have to suffer. This stands in
complete contradiction to Christ and His Church.
And he said to all: If any man will come
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; for he that shall lose
his life for my sake, shall save it. (Lk 9:23-24)
Does
it not seem to indicate, the term denying one’s self and taking up his cross, indicates
suffering and pain, and not giving into one’s one desires and lifestyle in
order to avoid suffering and pain to that of the gospel and Christ? Would that further contradict what United
States stands for?
If the world hates you, know ye, that it
hath hated me before you. If you had been of the world, the world would
love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out
of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember my word that I said to
you: The servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will also
persecute you: if they have kept my word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for
my name's sake: because they know not him who sent me. If I had not come, and spoken to them, they
would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. He that hateth
me, hateth my Father also. If I had not
done among them the works that no other man hath done, they would not have sin;
but now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. But that the word may be fulfilled which is
written in their law: They hated me without cause. (Jn 15:18-25)
And now I come to thee; and these things I
speak in the world, that they may have my joy filled in themselves. I have
given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the
world; as I also am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldst take them
out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from evil. They are not of
the world, as I also am not of the world. (Jn 17:13-17)
This
does not mean that we as citizens of the United
States are to hate the world and all that it
is, but to not be of the world and only in the world, as we exist. The world and all of its’ created technology
is not evil in and of itself, but rather the use of such technology that leads
us away from God and the teachings of His Church, is wrong. Hence, the idea of freedom as described in
the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, speaks of a person having the
ability to live without being told how to live, what to do, eat, buy or sell,
as controlled by the government. Is that
not what Thomas Jefferson wrote to declare the independence of the colonies
from Britain?
Freedom (noun):
- the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint: He won his freedom after a retrial.
- exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
- the power to determine action without restraint.
- political or national independence.
- personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery: a slave who bought his freedom.
- exemption from the presence of anything specified (usually followed by from ): freedom from fear.
- the absence of or release from ties, obligations, etc.
- ease or facility of movement or action: to enjoy the freedom of living in the country.
- frankness of manner or speech.
- general exemption or immunity: freedom from taxation.
- the absence of ceremony or reserve.
- a liberty taken.
However,
the freedom that Thomas Jefferson spoke of was not the freedom that Pope John
Paul II refereed to as the freedom to act as a creation of God, Our
Creator. The freedom to act, as we
should, morally is not the same as having or being given the license to
drive. If we earn the privilege to
drive, do we not have to obey rules and laws or do we have the freedom to drive
where and how we want, in whatever way makes us feel good? As God created all that is, was, and will be,
do we not have a moral conscious in which to follow, which given to us only by
our Creator?
“Instead, true freedom
implies that we are capable of choosing a good without constraint. This is the
truly human way of proceeding in the choices--big and small--which life puts
before us. The fact that we are also able to choose not to act as we see we
should is a necessary condition of our moral freedom. But in that case we must
account for the good that we fail to do and for the evil that we commit. This
sense of moral accountability needs to be reawakened if society is to survive
as a civilization of justice and solidarity.
It is true that our freedom is
weakened and conditioned in many ways, not least as a consequence of the
mysterious and dramatic history of mankind's original rebellion against the
Creator's will, as indicated in the opening pages of the Book of Genesis. But
we remain free and responsible beings who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ,
and we must educate our freedom to recognize and choose what is right and good,
and to reject what does not conform to the original truth concerning our nature
and our destiny as God's creatures. Truth-beginning with the truth of our
redemption through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ-is the root and
rule of freedom, the foundation and measure of all liberating action” (cf. Instruction on Christian
Freedom and Liberation, 3).It would be a great tragedy for the entire human family if the United States, which prides itself on its consecration to freedom, were to lose sight of the true meaning of that noble word. America: You cannot insist on the right to choose, without also insisting on the duty to choose well, the duty to choose the truth. Already there is much breakdown and pain in your own society because fundamental values essential to the well-being of individuals, families and the entire nation are being emptied of their real content.”
ADDRESS AT WILLIAMS-BRICE STADIUM
Pope John Paul II
Given at Columbia, S.C.,
on 11 September 1987.
“When freedom does not
have a purpose, when it does not wish to know anything about the rule of law
engraved in the hearts of men and women, when it does not listen to the voice
of conscience, it turns against humanity and society.” - Pope John Paul II
I
would assert that if we as Roman Catholics are truly seeking to follow God and
not the United States
and that of the world, we have the freewill to do what is morally right and to
avoid evil regardless. As St.
Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans,
“Who then shall separate us from the love of
Christ? Shall tribulation? or distress? or famine? or nakedness? or danger? or
persecution? or the sword? (As it is written: For thy sake we are put to death
all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.) But in all
these things we overcome, because of him that hath loved us. For I am sure that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any other
creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:35-39)
If we
as followers of Christ are not called to imitate Him, deny ourselves, take up
our cross and suffer to the point of death, what then are we to do, to imitate
Him? Is the United Sates Conference of
Catholic Bishops taking the first step in preparing us for the possibility of
suffering for our faith? Are they going
through the proper channels that are put in place in this country in order to
prevent the suffering for Christ that awaits us, if we choose with freewill to
follow Christ as to that of the U.S. Government telling us how to choose and
act by law? Is the USCCB praying for the
right and freedom to live as citizens of the U.S.
to allow us to act and do what we freely wish to do, rather than suffer for
Christ? As there are people all over the
world dying, tortured and put in jail for the name of Christ, are we any
different, living in the U.S.
to be above that suffering for Christ?
To pray for the revocation of laws that not allow us to suffer, when we
choose to follow Christ and not of the world?
Should we as Catholics be praying for the conversation of souls and
working to bring all souls to Christ in, with and through His Church, above
and before praying for the freedom to do as we ought? Would it make more sense to pray for the
conversion of President Obama, his family, friends and all those that follow
him?
“You
are priests, not social or political leaders. Let us not be under the illusion
that we are serving the Gospel through an exaggerated interest in the wide
field of temporal problems.” - Pope John Paul II
If we
pray for those lost souls of the world, would it not make sense that all
political leaders would find Christ in, with, and through His Church on
earth? If we are truly seeking to follow
Christ, as St. Paul and St. Peter,
would not the salvation of souls be our top priority, next to our own eternal
salvation, and be willing to suffer to the point of death?
“If so ye continue in the faith, grounded
and settled, and immoveable from the hope of the gospel which you have heard,
which is preached in all the creation that is under heaven, whereof I Paul am
made a minister. Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up
those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for his
body, which is the church: Whereof I am made a minister according to the
dispensation of God, which is given me towards you, that I may fulfill the word
of God: The mystery which hath been hidden from ages and generations, but now
is manifested to his saints, To whom God would make known the riches of
the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ, in you the hope
of glory. Whom we preach, admonishing every man, and teaching every man in all
wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." (Col
1:23-28)
So
then, it would stand to reason that we are to seek Christ first,
“Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore solicitous for to morrow;
for the morrow will be solicitous for itself.
Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.” (Mt 6:33-34)
In addition, no human being on this earth can separate us
from choosing to follow Christ, which in looking back through history meant
certain death. Which raises the question
that if we are to follow and imitate Christ, and those that followed and
imitated Him before us, why would the idea of suffering and even death for and
in the name of Christ bring us fear, doubt, and confusion? The only kingdom that will last forever is
the Kingdom of God, as this earth is and will pass away regardless of what
anyone says or does.
