Homily for July 2018 Holy Hour
\nJeremiah 29:8-14
\nPsalm 123:1-2, 2, 3-4
\nPhil 2:5-11
\nJohn 15:9-17<\/p>\n
Two weeks ago, we celebrated the Fourth of July as our<\/em><\/strong> national holiday.\u00a0 As far as I know, we are the only country that celebrates July 4th<\/sup> as a holiday.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because of its significance to us.\u00a0 Of course, it is the date in which the colonists signed the \u201cDeclaration of Independence\u201d that declared our freedom from England.\u00a0 Perhaps the most famous words from it are \u201cWe hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator<\/em><\/strong> with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n They declared independence because of oppression from the king that denied them the \u201cunalienable rights\u201d given by our Creator.\u00a0 Freedom was an important value in the founding of our country.\u00a0 Freedom of religion was why many of the early settlers came here.\u00a0 This freedom is among the freedoms explicitly listed in the first amendment of our nation\u2019s constitution.<\/p>\n Freedom is also an important value in our faith.\u00a0 We have free will to choose what we want to do.\u00a0 Freedom is a topic discussed in Gaudium et Spes<\/em>, one of the principal documents of the Second Vatican Council.<\/p>\n What is freedom?\u00a0 The prevailing secular opinion today is that freedom is the ability to act without constraint to do whatever we want with the one possible restriction being \u201cas long as we don\u2019t harm anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n This would be relativism but is it good use of our freedom?<\/p>\n Yes, we are free to choose to do whatever we want.\u00a0 However, should<\/em> we do whatever we want?<\/p>\n Look at Jesus\u2019 words, \u201cIf you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father\u2019s commandments and remain in his love<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n These words might seem difficult to accept.\u00a0 If a person tells us that if we love them we will do whatever they ask, we might stop being their friend because we feel like they are taking advantage of our love.\u00a0 What is the difference with God?<\/p>\n God loves us.\u00a0 Of course, we might say that our friends love us too.\u00a0 I hope you do have friends that love you.\u00a0 Yet, if they start saying something to us with the words, \u201cif you love me,\u201d we might quickly become skeptical.\u00a0 We anticipate a selfish request from them.\u00a0 Their love (and our love) is imperfect.<\/p>\n On the other hand, God\u2019s love is perfect.\u00a0 Based on his perfect love, he gives us commandments that are good for us.\u00a0 Trusting in God\u2019s love, we are called to keep his commandments.<\/p>\n God is the one who all-knowing.\u00a0 Trusting in his knowledge and love we hear the words God offers through the prophet Jeremiah, \u201cFor I know well the plans I have in mind for you-oracle of the LORD-plans for your welfare and not for woe<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n We are free to do whatever we want.\u00a0 We are free to do something stupid like stepping in front of a train, but should we?\u00a0 We are free to choose to engage in immoral acts, but should we?<\/p>\n When Jesus said, \u201cIf you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,<\/em>\u201d he also spoke of how he keeps the Father\u2019s commandments for him because he trusts the Father.\u00a0 His will and the will of the Father are one.<\/p>\n Paul\u2019s words of the Philippians in our second reading show us Jesus\u2019 complete surrender to our Father\u2019s will.\u00a0 Jesus is the one \u201cWho, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.\u00a0 Rather, he emptied himself,<\/em>\u201d ultimately laying down his life for us on the Cross.<\/p>\n Seeing this, we should keep our eyes fixed on the Lord.\u00a0 Seeing this we should keep his commandments.<\/p>\n Many people today (those who follow relativism) believe that the greatest good is the freedom to do whatever we want.\u00a0 Freedom is good.\u00a0 In Gaudium et Spes<\/em> we read, \u201cIt is, however, only in freedom that man can turn himself towards what is good\u201d (17).<\/p>\n God gives us free will (freedom) but what is authentic freedom, meaning good use of our freedom?<\/p>\n To answer this, I will use the quote from St. John Paul II on the front of tonight\u2019s program, \u201cFREEDOM consist not in doing we LIKE, but in having the RIGHT to do what we OUGHT.\u201d<\/p>\n In love, we can choose to do what God asks of us.\u00a0 What is God asking of you?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Homily for July 2018 Holy Hour Jeremiah 29:8-14 Psalm 123:1-2, 2, 3-4 Phil 2:5-11 John 15:9-17 Two weeks ago, we celebrated the Fourth of July as our national holiday.\u00a0 As far as I know, we are the only country that celebrates July 4th as a holiday. That\u2019s because of its significance to us.\u00a0 Of course, …<\/p>\n