Sunday, July 6th, 2008
Daily Archive
Two Gifts – Two Freedoms
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 06 Jul 2008 | Tagged as: Miscellaneous
The First and Second Readings at Mass this Sunday reveal two distinct gifts that God deigns to bestow upon the earth. The first, explains Zechariah (9:9-10), involves the political order, in which messianic peace and tranquility will eventually vanquish war and oppression. The second gift, described by St. Paul in Romans 8:9-13, is more profound. It involves the gift of the Holy Spirit himself, who will perform in us the same wonder he performed in Christ–the raising of life from death.
Thus, the Scriptures today reveal to us two gifts–two freedoms. The first is an exterior freedom enjoyed in the political realm, a freedom from oppression and slavery, while the second is more interior, a spiritual freedom, whereby one gains liberation from sin and death. The challenge for Catholics, especially American Catholics, is to relate these two freedoms properly in everyday life.
The trick is to realize that one can enjoy the second gift without the first, but not the first without the second. In other words, spiritual freedom can be enjoyed without political freedom, but not political freedom without spiritual freedom.
The events surrounding this week’s remarkable rescue of the Columbian-French politician Ingrid Betancourt from her guerilla captors can help us to see this principle in action. After returning to France, Betancourt made these comments, which were printed by the New York Times.