Jan 21, 2008
“If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation.”
-Pope Benedict XVI
I understand how it feels. The feeling that we have no control over what we do. Someone is always telling us what to do: where to go, when to get up, when to be home, what to wear (or what not to wear for that matter) - the list is endless. The reality check of growing up is coming to understand that a lot of other people make our decisions for us. For now, we have to live with it because that is what it means to be young. Most of us are not ready to have a job, pay the bills and live in that fast paced grown-up world. So what do we do now? Be upset at the world because we seem to have no freedom? We could, but would that be the best use of our time and truly lead us to be happy? I think you know the answer…
The above mentality is the same when it comes to our spiritual lives. Young people today have a chip on their shoulder because we feel burdened by rules and a Church that seems to be concerned about telling us the fun things that we can’t do. We claim our freedom is once again being taken from us so we make choices to sit around and be bitter, and yell about the injustices that are happening against us. I write this with a smile on my face because not only was I there, but I have a feeling that most of you know exactly what I am talking about.
The truth is that some of you will sit around with this outlook on life and are absolutely miserable. When we live in a reality where we are the victim and everyone else is out to limit our freedom, power, and fun, life just becomes a journey that is, in the end, binding and not freeing at all. Don’t be surprised if life just becomes a continuous cycle of yearning for freedom and never actually feeling free.