LESSON 2 WE ARE CALLED TO BE FREE

Path 5 Levels of Freedom

CONTEXT
ICON Based on your understanding of the previous topic on
the meaning of freedom, write around the web, a word
or phrase that would describe it.

FREEDOM

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 ICON –
EXPOSITION

SACRED SCRIPTURE: Ezekiel 18:21

But if the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed,
if he does all my statutes and does what is right and just, he shall surely
live, he shall not die.

Clearly, in this passage, God states that if a man chooses to do what is morally
good and chooses what is right and just, he is promised life (Ez 18:21). On the contrary,
if he chooses to do evil, he will surely die and his death is because of his own doing, a
choice he makes of his life.
We are persons formed gradually by our habitual acts—the ways we freely choose
to act. Our life is marked by the choices we make. What we become is gradually shaped
by our daily choices in our lives. Church teaching further supports this truth as it presents
to us two levels of the individual person’s “freedom for”: Freedom of choice and fundamental
freedom of my very self. Let us study these two levels.

CHURCH TEACHING: Catechism for the Filipino Catholics 697

Two levels of the individual person’s “freedom for” stand out, 1) the freedom
of choice by which I direct moral acts, and 2) the fundamental freedom of my very self.

FREEDOM OF CHOICE
Man’s gift of freedom refers to our capacity to make choices. Without freedom,
man cannot even make a choice of what is morally good or morally evil. I can choose to
love my parents, my family because I am free. If I can choose, I can love. If I am not free
to choose, it is impossible even to love. To be free means that I have the capacity to
choose, the power to choose from many things. The choice in itself is free and the chosen
act (e.g. eating, talking, etc.).
We are confronted with many choices every day. We have the freedom to choose
how to act, to act this way or that way, to do good or evil. Unlike animals which are led
by instincts, we act through conscious choices, ruled by reason. We are not merely
physical beings; we are embodied spirits with intellect and will. Having intellect, I see
different possible choices therefore I choose this or the other. Our consistent choices will
gradually form us.

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 FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOM
Who we are today and will be in the future is based
mostly on our free acts. Our being who we are, is a result of
our choosing. Our daily moral choices and our habitual way
Human of acting gradually form us into a distinctive unique person.
Person There is no other way of developing ourselves except
through our free choices. We can be a loving person or a
self-centered individual wrapped in pride. For example, if
you constantly choose to obey the guidance of your parents,
then you become an obedient and responsible son/daughter.
But if you choose to disobey them always, you will make
Free Acts yourself an irresponsible person. Therefore, holding on
firmly to what is good, and consciously choosing to do
what is good, in spite of obstacles, will make you achieve
towards that for which we are all striving:
Becoming morally good loving
Fundamental persons. But if our choices oppose
that which is good, we fail to move
Freedom
on in the direction that we ought to
go. We fail to become the persons
God wants us to be.

ICON –
INTEGRATION Morals:
We are called to choose the good and thus to share in the very life of Christ.

“LIFE IS WHAT WE MAKE IT”

The choices which we make every day greatly affect our self-
becoming. What do you want to become? Illustrate your answer
through a drawing and explain.

Doctrine:
Jesus Christ is the truth, the basis of graced freedom (doing the good).

What is the greatest single obstacle to our authentic exercise of

freedom? How does this hinder your self-becoming?

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Worship:
Prayer leads us to Christ therefore enabling us to use our freedom authentically.

Read Psalm 8 reflectively and prayerfully. “Divine Majesty and Human Dignity”
What is the Lord telling you in this passage?

SUMMARY VOCABULARY

Each of us has a vocation to freedom. We Vocation – comes from the Latin

therefore need to free ourselves from anything and word “vocare” which means “to
everything that may hinder our vocation to become the call.” It is a call to become e.g. a
person we are called to be. Sin is the greatest single responsible student or a
obstacle to freedom. We need to direct ourselves toward son/daughter, and as member of
that which is good so that we may grow as full persons the community.
and children of God sharing the divine life of Christ
through the Spirit.

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