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January 21, 2017“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.” Is. 8
The purpose our life is to prepare for eternal life with God. In order to prepare for eternal life, we have to learn how to use the freedom that God gave us in a responsible manner. If we just follow our natural inclinations or our unquestioned desires, we will end up as slaves to something that is not God. Christ requires a change of heart, a conversion. To convert to Christ, we have to orient our action and thoughts towards him. It is impossible, without God’s grace. So, if we want to be good, to acquire virtue, to be like Christ, we are going to have to fake it for a while before it can come from the heart.
The readings today are about human freedom. Zebulon and Naphtali were two regions in the very north of Israel. Those tribes and the regions they controlled broke away from Ancient Israel soon after the death of King David. Soon thereafter, both of those regions were overrun and conquered by the Assyrians in the 8th Century. (2 Kings 15:29; 1 Chronicles 5:26) Isaiah was referring to the enslavement of these tribes by the Assyrians. He claimed that the redemption of Israel would begin in the very place that it began to fall apart. Zebulon and Naphtali were part of Jesus’ Galilee. The gospel of Matthew tells us that after the death of John the Baptist, Jesus retired to Zebulon and Naphtali. It is in those very lands that Jesus’ ministry of healing, exorcising demons and teaching began. The mission of the Messiah began in the place where the twelve tribes were first scattered. So Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled, “the people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light.”
The Messiah had a mission, to gather the lost tribes of Israel. When Jesus called people to repent, he literally meant that they must turn around and change direction toward God. He sent the apostles into the world to call people to the “freedom of the children of God.” Romans 8:21. We are saved by the grace of God. But in order to exercise our freedom, we have to respond to God. Life in Christ is our responsible practice of freedom. Without freedom, moral responsibility is meaningless. Human freedom is more than the capacity to choose. Instead, human freedom is the God-given gift to cooperate with our Creator in becoming who he made us to be. God gave us understanding and the capacity to act freely. Human freedom lies in our free decision to say “yes” to God.
To exercise human freedom, we must develop habits of virtue. To develop the virtue of piety, we ought to have a habit of devotion. Devotions like the rosary, Our Lady of Perpetual Help on Tuesday evenings, or the Chaplet of Divine Mercy are important ways to develop the daily habit of prayer. The liturgy on Sunday helps us in this regard, but we also need to take the habit of prayer into daily life.
Teaching children virtue is an important part of parenting. The habit of eating meals together that begin with grace requires young people to put down the cell phones and concentrate on other people that are actually in the same room. Chores teach the importance of work. Saving money teaches the habit of prudent planning for the future. As you examine the rituals of marriage and family consider the lessons being taught and the habits that you intend to form.
On Friday our nation swore in a successor to Lincoln. This weekend, the pro-life movement and the pro-choice movement conducted their marches. At issue is the reality of human freedom. True freedom starts with turning our backs on those behaviors and attitudes which undermine our freedom to be who God made us to be. Sins against human life like racism and abortion undermine our freedom and the freedom of others. States can undermine and oppose what only God can give, they can’t take freedom to serve God away. Israel was enslaved by idolatry long before they were enslaved by the Assyrians. The liberation of Israel began not as an armed revolt against Roman rule, but as a call to turn back to God.
