Freedom and responsibility

THESE are inseparable twins, like the two sides of a coin.

One cannot be without the other. To be truly free, one has to be

responsible. And to be truly responsible, one has to be free.

            And the more freedom one enjoys, the more responsibility

he should also exercise. And the new forms of freedom, especially

brought about now by our new technologies, should also be matched by

new forms of responsibility. We have to be more sensitive to this

issue.

            But we have to know what is involved in this unbreakable

relationship between freedom and responsibility. This is now a very

challenging task, since many people today are having all sorts of

ideas about what freedom is. And regarding responsibility, hardly any

attention is given to it, especially among the young.

            Very often, what we see is a kind of freedom that is

simply at the mercy of one’s likes and dislikes, or one’s moods and

physical, emotional and psychological condition, or the social,

political or cultural trends around, or merely man-made ideologies.

            We have to reiterate to everyone, in season and out of

season, the true nature and purpose of freedom and why it goes always

with responsibility. We cannot deny that there are now many forms of

what may be deemed as fake freedom and pseudo-responsibility.

            First, we need to understand that our freedom is not just

something that we generate ourselves. We have not created freedom. It

is given to us by our Creator who is definitely other than ourselves.

And it is subject to a law that is also given to it by our Creator. We

are never its lawgiver.

            With that in mind, we can readily understand why it is

said in the gospel that “man does not live by bread alone, but by

every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

            Christ echoed the same idea when he said: “If you remain

in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the

truth, and the truth will set you free.” (Jn 8,31)

            In short, God is the source of our freedom and the sense

of responsibility that corresponds to that freedom. Not only is he the

source. He is also its pattern, as personified in Christ and put into

effect in the Holy Spirit. He is also its purpose.

            Freedom is not just about the ability to do what we want

to do. Rather it is the power to do what we ought to do, as inscribed

in the will of God. It is this character of its “ought-ness” that

gives rise to the sense of responsibility that should always accompany

the exercise of true freedom.

            If we understand this, we will obviously realize how

important it is to know God’s will and ways, as expressed and shown in

the gospel, and the many other instrumentalities in the Church that

are meant to explain and transmit the living word of God.

            May we then realize and take to heart the duty to read and

meditate on the gospel and on the word of God, wherever it is found!

We have to encourage everyone, especially those close to us, to

develop the habit of gospel-reading and of continually studying the

doctrine of our faith, steadily incarnating the truths of our faith in

our lives.

            Of special and urgent interest today are the new forms of

freedom that we are afforded by the new technologies, and how these

new forms should be matched by new ways with which our responsibility

should be exercised.

            Otherwise, we cannot avoid from getting into the very

deceiving ways of fake freedom and pseudo-responsibility.