bound and free

galatians 4:22-5:1; Psalm 113 Blessed be the name of the Lord forever; Luke 11:29-32

St. Paul speaks that famous passage that our society loves to hear but fails to understand, "For freedom Christ set us free..."

Usually people will stop at this point and relish the idea of freedom spoken in light of the sacrifice of Christ. If Christ set us free then who can tell us what to do, they say, we say, all say? How dare we go against the sacrifce of christ! Should we not embrace the gift of freedom that comes at such a price?


Yet, if you keep reading St. Paul warns and exhorst us continually to understand freedom, the very freedom we have recieved in the shedding of the blood of Christ, "stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery."


Freedom is not about having options or keeping our options open, but rather it is about choosing that which is good according to God's plan for us, "do not submit to the yolk of slavery."

Freedom is meant to keep us free but in order to truly live that freedom we must first choose to be bound to the new Jerusalem, our mother. Only in being bound to Goodness itself can we truly be free to live.

As JEsus tells us in the gospel, repentance is necessary for freedom to reign. We must recognize that which hinders our freedom in orderAn to enter more fully into freedom. An unbinding of our hands from the yolk is necessary so that we me freely bind our hands to the cross, as St. Paul speaks again, I am crucified in Christ."

If you want to know what true freedom looks like study the saints who have recieved the gift of the stigmata. THey bear in their flesh the binding of love and the beauty of freedom lived.
*******************************************************
Today we celebrate the birthday of Eleanor Roosevelt. Elenor Roosevelt once said, " "A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water."

Just thought this was a unique perspective on the feminine reality from the point of view of a woman herself.