Men's Rosary

Would you ever want to give away your freedom? I hope the answer will be no! Freedom is something that is valued and cherished above all things. We hear people lament that money is not worth their freedom to do as they want. People are engrossed in freedom to do as they want. However, freedom is not the ability to do as you want, but rather the ability to do the right thing, to choose to do good in keeping with God’s will. The false freedom of today’s world has laid a trap for us causing us to give up something far more valuable – our peace.

When we were created, we were given the gift of real freedom, our free will, the ability to do good or choosing to do wrong. Jesus gave us the gift of true peace, the greatest gift of all. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give it to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27) When we mistake our free will with the freedom of the world we risk and indeed lose our peace. When we have bad things happen, when there are difficult people to deal with, when we are mistreated or abused, when we face illness and when we are in financial strife; we can let ourselves become toxic and lash out, destroying the peace given to us. We take the greatest gift we have and throw it away! We are blessed to have a merciful God who we can go to with a contrite heart, confessing our transgression and have that peace restored. But would it not be better to keep that peace and not have need for its restoration? I think so and there are things we can do.

Isaiah tells us of the importance of trust in, and mindfulness, of God. “You keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” (Isaiah 26:3) Regardless of what we are doing or what is happening we are in the presence of God. We should act appropriately and use our freedom to do the right thing and maintain our peace. Life will deal us with some heavy blows, and we should not expect anything less.  But when that happens, we must remember who it is that has our back. Becoming anxious and owning that anxiety will cause a loss of the peace Christ gave us and make us miserable. “Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you. Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 57-8) The temptation is to become worried, taking matters to ourselves, thinking we are in control. We, in fact, are not in control and as we realize this, we can succumb to anger. We can fall into the “why me” way of thinking, this all being quite the opposite of the peace Christ gave us; but just what the devil likes to see. In these times it is important to know that God is in control and with us, using the situation as an opportunity to turn to him in trust, growing, and persevering in our faith. “Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4)

Then there are the people in our daily life. The unfriendly person, the rude person, the disagreeable person, the bad or aggressive driver, those who undermine what we think is important. Even our spouses and children can be at odds with us. Do we use our freedom to lash out, discarding our peace or do we act in a way to keep our peace and sow peace to others? “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Romans 12:18) This can be a challenge, but it is important to our spiritual health and well-being. Impatience and anger are a perfect combination of the destruction of our peace, and more tragically, the peace and well-being of others.  Our actions, while they can be detrimental to us, go beyond us and affect others. We will be held accountable for that. We must be careful of what we sow. “A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.” (Proverbs 15:18) When we have something nice, a good gift, we often like to share it with others. We should be doing the same with the gift of Christ’s peace.

I have learned that we create our own problems out of our reaction to events.  Things we see as “problems” are just things that happen. Our response is usually the problem. Remembering what I am created for and who it is that I am accountable to helps me not to fall into the quagmire of pride, making everything about me. It is true that we are human and not perfect but a realization of the order of things helps us to act better and keep the peace Christ so lovingly gave us. “Know this, my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19-20)

If we do have the baggage of resentment or ill-will toward someone for a transgression against us, let us not hold on to it too long. Cast it off and pray for the transgressor.  Cast it off and pray in thanksgiving for the growth the trial has given you. Even though others have done us wrong, we have our individual amount of wrong to own up to. Forgive and move on. “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” (Mark 11:25) To love is to will the good of others. We will not be able to do this if we are in a state of spiritual hunger – if we have lost our peace. We must love ourselves enough to protect us from the evil in the world and the temptation to make all things about us; to pause before we act and act in a way that lifts up us and those around us; to love. “And over all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” (Colossians 3:14)

“Blessed is the crisis that made you grow, the fall that made you look to heaven, the problem that made you seek God.”  (St. Padre Pio)