Monday, August 07, 2006
PHL5: CHRISTIAN LIFE AS FREEDOM IN CHRIST
CHRISTIAN LIFE AS FREEDOM IN CHRIST
Freedom in Christ
*Christian life is a call to freedom. The freedom of God’s children is to respond to the Holy Spirit in us and to become more and more like Christ.
*This freedom to do what God wills is not a coercive force that burdens, but a liberating experience which St. Paul calls the Law of the Spirit.
The Law of the Spirit
*The Holy Spirit which is the gift of God’s love in us empowers and energizes us to love in return and to do what God expects of us freely, out of love, not out of fear or because of external coercion.
(Genovesi, 56)
Two Forms of Freedom
*Basic Freedom or freedom of self-determination: ETHICS OF BEING.
*Freedom of Choice: ETHICS OF DOING
Ethics of Being
*Humans decide about “who” they want to be (the quality of being).
*It focuses on the formation of character, the right vision of life, the basic values and convictions which move a person to do what he/she believes to be right.
*The ethics of being is expressed in an existential decision, wherein the person decides on the fundamental project of his or her life.
Fundamental Option
*A person’s fundamental option gives direction to a person’s moral activity. It is the ground of all other commitments.
- Direction of salvation: a self-donating life.
- Direction of damnation: a self-absorbing life.
Ethics of Doing
*Humans decide about their concrete actions (the quantity of things done).
*The ethics of doing is expressed in particular decisions or choices which concerns concrete, particular actions.
Freedom “from” towards Freedom “for”
*Freedom is essentially the power to do good.
*Authentic freedom thus involves a freedom from everything that opposes our true self-becoming with others in the community.
Illusory Freedom
*The temptations of Jesus in the desert symbolize the basic make-believe “freedoms”:
- Pleasure for one’s own self (turning stones into bread)
- Prestige and success at any price (jumping from the roof of the temple)
- Wealth, power and glory (possession of greatness and splendor of all nations).
Freedom and the Good
*The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes (CCC 1733).
*As Christian experience attests especially in prayer, the more docile we are to the promptings of grace, the more we grow in inner freedom and confidence during trials, such as those we face in the pressures and constraints of the outer world (CCC 1742).
Conclusion: Why are we free?
*The purpose of freedom is not primarily to satisfy my wants. Human life is more than a mere satisfaction of desires. Freedom is given us to achieve the fullness of human life. Freedom is there in order for us to bring our life to this fulfillment.
REFERENCES
Aurelio Fernandez and James Socias. Our Moral Life in Christ. Scepter Publishers, Inc. Princeton, New Jersey. 1997.
Segundo Galilea. Ascent to Freedom. Claretian Publications, Quezon City. 1994.
Vincent Genovesi. In Pursuit of Love, 2nd edition. Jesuit Communications Foundation, Inc., Quezon City. 2003.
Ismael Ireneo Maningas. Filipino Christian Morality. St Pauls, Makati City. 1998.
Michael Moga. What Makes Man Truly Human? St. Pauls, 1995.
Freedom in Christ
*Christian life is a call to freedom. The freedom of God’s children is to respond to the Holy Spirit in us and to become more and more like Christ.
*This freedom to do what God wills is not a coercive force that burdens, but a liberating experience which St. Paul calls the Law of the Spirit.
The Law of the Spirit
*The Holy Spirit which is the gift of God’s love in us empowers and energizes us to love in return and to do what God expects of us freely, out of love, not out of fear or because of external coercion.
(Genovesi, 56)
Two Forms of Freedom
*Basic Freedom or freedom of self-determination: ETHICS OF BEING.
*Freedom of Choice: ETHICS OF DOING
Ethics of Being
*Humans decide about “who” they want to be (the quality of being).
*It focuses on the formation of character, the right vision of life, the basic values and convictions which move a person to do what he/she believes to be right.
*The ethics of being is expressed in an existential decision, wherein the person decides on the fundamental project of his or her life.
Fundamental Option
*A person’s fundamental option gives direction to a person’s moral activity. It is the ground of all other commitments.
- Direction of salvation: a self-donating life.
- Direction of damnation: a self-absorbing life.
Ethics of Doing
*Humans decide about their concrete actions (the quantity of things done).
*The ethics of doing is expressed in particular decisions or choices which concerns concrete, particular actions.
Freedom “from” towards Freedom “for”
*Freedom is essentially the power to do good.
*Authentic freedom thus involves a freedom from everything that opposes our true self-becoming with others in the community.
Illusory Freedom
*The temptations of Jesus in the desert symbolize the basic make-believe “freedoms”:
- Pleasure for one’s own self (turning stones into bread)
- Prestige and success at any price (jumping from the roof of the temple)
- Wealth, power and glory (possession of greatness and splendor of all nations).
Freedom and the Good
*The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes (CCC 1733).
*As Christian experience attests especially in prayer, the more docile we are to the promptings of grace, the more we grow in inner freedom and confidence during trials, such as those we face in the pressures and constraints of the outer world (CCC 1742).
Conclusion: Why are we free?
*The purpose of freedom is not primarily to satisfy my wants. Human life is more than a mere satisfaction of desires. Freedom is given us to achieve the fullness of human life. Freedom is there in order for us to bring our life to this fulfillment.
REFERENCES
Aurelio Fernandez and James Socias. Our Moral Life in Christ. Scepter Publishers, Inc. Princeton, New Jersey. 1997.
Segundo Galilea. Ascent to Freedom. Claretian Publications, Quezon City. 1994.
Vincent Genovesi. In Pursuit of Love, 2nd edition. Jesuit Communications Foundation, Inc., Quezon City. 2003.
Ismael Ireneo Maningas. Filipino Christian Morality. St Pauls, Makati City. 1998.
Michael Moga. What Makes Man Truly Human? St. Pauls, 1995.
// posted by deeyawnah @ 6:13 AM 
