It’s All About the Freedom to Choose

by Edmond Lo
2016-12-04
Second Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 11:1-10


Romans 15:4-9


Matthew 3:1-12


"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" shouted John the Baptist (Mt. 3:1-2), the voice crying out in the desert that Isaiah had predicted would prepare the way of the Lord (cf. Isaiah 40:2). Repent because human history was on the threshold of its final days. Christ would come to "gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire" (Mt. 3:12).

Repent and to the Lord's barn we go, harden our hearts and to the unquenchable fire we are thrown. It's all about a very important choice.

Unlike the current world order in which man and nature have been at odds with each other ever since our first parents fell into a state of sin (cf. Gen 3:17-19; CCC 378-9), "the Lord's barn" as envisioned by Isaiah is a new world order that brings perfect harmony: "Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid…the lion shall eat hay like the ox. The baby shall play by the cobra's den, and the child lay his hand on the adder's lair" (Isaiah 11:6-8). How can we live in this amazing and beautiful world? Make good use of our freedom to choose to repent and accept Jesus' salvific grace.

In the Scriptures, man's freedom to choose was something so precious and highly esteemed that God would do anything to protect it, even if it meant exacting a heavy price. Saul, who became Paul after conversion, was allowed to persecute the early Church; Peter to deny Jesus; Judas to hand over God's only Son. To free Israel from the slavery of Egypt, God parted the Red Sea. To free us from the slavery of sin, His only Son suffered and died for us on the cross.

Every time when the integrity of man's freedom was at stake, God would go to the wall for him - every time, it never failed. For deprived of freedom, what is man? Made on the 6th day in God's image, man was top of the hierarchy of creatures (CCC342), the summit of the Creator's work (CCC 343), and destined for the glory of God (CCC353). He was given the dominance and the freedom to govern all creatures (Genesis 1:26). In fact, all creatures, including heavens and earth, were created for the good of man (CCC 358). So, what is man if deprived of his freedom to take care of God's creation, the freedom to rise above the 6th day to join God on the Sabbath - the 7th day, the Lord's day, the day of perfection and holiness – through the transforming power of the 8th day – the day of Christ's Resurrection, the day of the New Creation (CCC 349)?

No matter what human ideals we strive for, what communities and societies we build, what leaders and governing regimes we support, what religious faiths we believe in, if human freedom is suppressed, they are just accomplices of the powers of darkness that have been lurking in the undercurrents of history, always eager to pounce on the Creator whose plan is to make us free. They strike at the heart of the Scriptures. As such, they must be seen as nemeses against everything that is good, an affront to Jesus work of redemption, and thus unworthy of their power and authority.

Just last week on November 22, 2016, in the Presidential Medal of Freedom Ceremony at the White House, special recognition was given to 21 luminaries that included Michael Jordan, Dianna Ross, Robert Redford, Bill Gates (philanthropy), Margaret Hamilton (scientist), Maya Lin (art and architecture), Lorne Michaels (producer of Saturday Night Live), Newt Minow (law), and Eduardo Padron (education), just to name a few.

I watched with intense interest as each recipient walked on stage to receive his/her medal from President Obama. Many of them looked old and physically frail for their golden and productive years were well gone - gone but not wasted because their contributions to America and to the world, made possible by the freedom that they enjoyed, had helped make every one of us a better person and the world a freer order. I was captivated by the whole ceremony from the beginning to the end. I watched and I cried like a puppy, out of thankfulness to the recipients and to God who has been adamant in defending human freedom.

Disclaimer: The author's outpouring of emotions for the Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients must not be perceived as an endorsement of their personal ways of living, moral values, and political aspirations.

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