Freedom! We celebrate it on August 15—freedom from colonial rule, and Mary’s complete freedom from sin and death. Let’s have a look at what it means in the Gospel.
Freedom is often misunderstood—as a license to do what we want and as we want. This is not freedom, but slavery—slavery to our wants and desires. Authentic freedom includes responsible action for one’s own growth and the well-being of others. We see this in the call of the disciples by Jesus.
The Call of the Disciples
The Biblical text that throws light on the freedom of consecrated persons is the call of the first four disciples in the Gospel of Mark (1:16-20). The story is preceded by Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom (1:14-15) and is followed by the ministry of Jesus (1:21-45). The setting thus brings out the purpose and significance of the call and discipleship.
This story focuses on three things: the context of the call, the call proper and the response of the first four disciples. (1) The context: Jesus calls the disciples when they were busy with their daily work. Simon and his brother Andrew were casting their nets; James and his brother John were mending their nets. Human situations are presented as the starting point of our religious experiences. God encounters us where we are and as we are. (2) The call: It consists of a command or an invitation: “follow me” and a promise: “I will make you become fishers of human beings” (v. 17). Following Jesus refers to our participation in the mission of Jesus. Jesus promises his disciples that he would make them free to be engaged in his missionary activity. If they are ready to follow Jesus, then they will be empowered and made free by Jesus to share in his mission. (3) The commitment: They left their nets; they left their father; and they followed Jesus. In this story, we have a radical command without any dialogue or explanation, and an unconditional response without any question or condition. The response of the first disciples is thus unconditional, and it expresses their inner freedom.
Our Call
As for consecrated persons, these three aspects of following Jesus are institutionalized in our religious vows, which are manifestations of our inner freedom. Leaving their jobs – freedom from material security (poverty), leaving their Father – freedom to transcend family relationships (chastity) and following Jesus – freedom to leave aside their own will, likes and dislikes for the mission (obedience). Leaving their wealth and family are prior to the following of Jesus. For example, the rich young man in the Gospel story could not follow Jesus, since he lacked the freedom to abandon his wealth and family (Mk 10:21-22). Following Jesus reveals the freedom to abandon one’s will for the sake of the mission. The root of our freedom as consecrated persons is the absoluteness of God. God is the center of our life; participation in God’s work is our mission.
This simple story gives us a paradigm of the freedom of the disciples of Jesus in general and consecrated persons in particular. From this short narrative of the call of the disciples, we learn at least three things about the freedom of a consecrated person. In what follows, I shall explain these three aspects of freedom.
Freedom and Joy as Fruits of a God-Experience
The freedom of consecrated women and men comes from an experience of God—an experience that leads them to believe that they are loved, chosen, called, consecrated and sent by God to continue God’s work. What happens to persons when they are touched by an experience of God? It makes them aware of their own littleness, smallness, limitations and shortness of life, as well as of God’s greatness and graciousness.
It makes them dependent on God, a God in whom they have full trust. Depending on God means: to realize that life is a gift from God, and that our life is safe in God’s loving hands. It leaves us completely free from worries on the one hand, and, on the other, enables us to face life with freedom and responsibility.
It is this freedom or experience of God that makes consecrated persons humble and confident at the same time. It gives us an inner freedom which leads to happiness. In fact, we can say that the distinguishing marks of a consecrated person are humility, confidence and joy.
Humility is not negating what we have or who we are. Just the opposite. Authentic humility helps us accept ourselves as we are and remain open to change and growth, without pretending or wanting to be somebody else. It promotes growth, and brings us joy and meaning. God is the centre of our life, and we depend on God for everything. This awakening makes one free to make right choices at the right time in collaboration with God. Such a free person will be secure; a secure person will be humble; and a humble person will be confident.
Freedom from Attachments
Freedom is always freedom from something and freedom for something. As we have seen in the call story of the disciples in Mark’s Gospel, the freedom of consecrated persons is very closely connected to their vows.
The vow of poverty presupposes a radical freedom—a process of freeing ourselves from our attachment to wealth and comfort. It is an experience of not being controlled by the pull of material wealth; on the contrary, we control them and use them according to our real need, not according to our greed.
The vow of chastity is a process of becoming free from our attachment to family ties and relationships, and going beyond our ego. It manifests itself in a liberating love for all human beings. Persons are not used to meet our emotional needs. It is a call to universal love, to work for the welfare of all, without being unduly attached to anyone. It leads to an experience of loving everybody and possessing nobody. The danger here is that we may remain immature in our relationships—possessive, unloving, cold and indifferent.
The vow of obedience challenges us to transcend our own likes and dislikes. It is a call to become free from our own opinions, desires, plans and will. If we try to live out the vow of obedience without inner freedom, we can become rebellious or conformist. Responsible obedience is difficult to achieve, since it presupposes authentic freedom from within. For a free person, obedience is an adventure and a grace—a life-enhancing experience of being led by God’s wishes rather than by one’s selfish plans.
Freedom for Mission
The freedom of consecrated persons, stemming from God-experience, is joyful and energizing. It is always for mission (of doing good, increasing love and goodness in the world, as Jesus did). This freedom is an expression of one’s profound openness to God’s project for humanity in general and for our personal life in particular. The vows make consecrated persons free to participate in the prophetic mission of Jesus—bringing God’s healing, compassionate love to people. It makes us free to be engaged in establishing a better society than the one in which we live today by overthrowing all enslaving structures of exploitation, corruption, domination and inequality.
The mission of consecrated persons is to participate in the liberating activity of God in the creation of a new human society. The consecrated life then becomes a sign of God’s reign. It is for a radical sharing of things, of love and of mission. Only a free person can initiate a process of making others free. The freer we are, the more generous and merciful we will become. It is a dynamic process of moving away from self-centredness and fear to inner freedom and love.
One of the main challenges of religious life today is to be a discerning person: to discern with freedom and detachment what is true, good and life-giving in this fast-changing world. A difficult task is to listen to one’s inner voice during the fight within oneself between good and evil. This authentic freedom, rooted in an experience of God’s love, empowers consecrated persons to leave the comfort zones of life in search of God’s plans and in collaboration with God’s plans for the world today.
Rekha Chennattu, RA
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