How to measure your inner freedom
Jesus gives us the opportunity to evaluate our authenticity.
Today’s readings can be found here. Read Fr. Epicoco’s brief reflections on the daily readings from Monday to Saturday here. Commentary by Fr. Rytel-Andrianik on Sunday Mass, see here.
There is a way to measure how much inner freedom we have and how much authenticity is in our hearts. Jesus describes it to us in these words:
“Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the rooftops.”
Basically, he is telling us that our lives should consist of things that would not embarrass or condemn us if they became public knowledge. Whenever you do something, ask yourself what would become of you if what you were doing was done in daylight and in front of everyone. This criterion would expose many things that we wouldn’t otherwise call “wrong,” although that’s the correct word for it.
But we also gain inner freedom by overcoming the greatest fear we carry within us, namely the fear of death:
“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body but can do nothing after that. I’ll show you who to fear. Fear the one who, after killing, has the power to throw himself into Gehenna; Yes, I tell you, fear it.”
Overcoming the fear of death gives us an unimaginable freedom, which is why this victory is one of the ripest fruits of faith.
However, it is not conquered simply by telling uplifting stories about life after death. We need to take seriously the one thing that can lead us to come face to face with death, and that is God’s love:
“Won’t five sparrows be sold for two small coins? Yet none of them escaped the attention of God. Even the hairs on your head have all been counted. Dont be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.”
We are loved and never forgotten; that gives us the strength to cross even the darkness of death.
~
Father Luigi Maria Epicoco is a priest of the diocese of Aquila and teaches philosophy at the Pontifical Lateran University and at the ISSR “Fides et ratio”, Aquila. He devotes himself to preaching, especially to the formation of lay people and religious, giving conferences, retreats and days of reflection. He has authored numerous books and articles. Since 2021 he has been working as an ecclesiastical assistant in the Vatican Dicastery for Communication and as a columnist for the Vatican daily newspaper L’Osservatore Romano.