Beth Zanotelli – Page 3 – Joy of the Family

Dare to be Different

*Author: Beth Zanotelli, Diocese of Palm Beach Coordinator of Family Life*

“Freedom’s goal is to lead us to flourish not to fail. Freedom’s goal is Truth, Beauty and Goodness.” These words from the September Joy of the Family Blog, are still ringing the bells of conscience and still ringing the bells in the pursuit of excellence. God has given us the gift of Free Will! Essentially, God is Pro-Choice! That’s right God is Pro-Choice! The difference is that God desires us to choose what is good and true so we can truly flourish as human beings. God gives us the ability to choose, however, He also gives us the 10 Commandments and the Beatitudes for us to form and live in good conscience. It is the good choices we make that set us apart and give us strength to love one another and serve one another. When we make worldly choices, we are only thinking about ourselves and most often we fall into sinful choices. G. K. Chesterton said, “A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.” Dare to be different and make Good Choices! Dare to swim against the stream of our culture.

So how do we choose what is Good? How do we pursue excellence, that is, Truth, Beauty, and Goodness? In today’s world how do we make choices and act in ways that are faithful and honor God? Again, remembering the Beatitudes and the 10 Commandments, the Catechism gives us the wisdom we need for good choices. First, we must be sure that the action of our choice is Good. Even if the intention is for the best…the action itself must be Good. Second, our actions must be with good intention. We should always have in our thoughts helping and serving others, not our own selfish intentions, or the intention to hurt or wrong someone. An example would be to befriend someone only to get ahead or to benefit in some way. The third way to make sure our choice is good is to be sure that no matter what the circumstances of your action, if it is a sinful action, it is not good, period. Pope Benedict XVI said, “Truth is not determined by a majority vote.” How can you dare to be different? How can you show that Christian freedom is different than how our culture views “freedom” today?

Here’s what the Scriptures and our Catholic faith have to say…

Galatians 5: 1 – For Freedom Christ set us free; so, stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.

1 John 3:19-20 – We will know by this that we are of the truth and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.

Galatians 5: 13– For you were called for freedom, brothers. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love.

CCC 1742 – Freedom and Grace. The grace of Christ is not in the slightest way a rival of our freedom when this freedom accords with the sense of the true and the good that God has put in the human heart. On the contrary, as Christian experience attests especially in prayer, the more docile we are to the promptings of grace, the more we grow in inner freedom and confidence during trials, such as those we face in the pressures and constraints of the outer world. By the working of grace, the Holy Spirit educates us in spiritual freedom to make us free collaborators in his work in the Church and in the world.

Proverbs 16:9 – The mind of the man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

Freedom For Excellence

In the Baltimore Catechism, we learn in the very first lesson that “God made us to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in Heaven”. Our Heavenly Father desires the very best for us, that is to be with Him forever. Ultimately, that is our hearts desire as well, we desire good, we desire God. We are meant to return to Him! Freedom is the catalyst that prepares us for heaven.

God is the giver of the gift of freedom. In the Catechism, it says, “Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility. By free will one shapes one’s own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains it’s perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude.” (CCC 1731 emphasis added) But why does He give us this gift? What is it that God wants for us? Our Father in Heaven gives us this freedom to allow us to pursue or NOT pursue His will for our lives. He gives us the choice and responsibility to pursue excellence. He gives us the Freedom for Excellence.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus teaches, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…and blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God”. (Matthew 5: 3, 8). Jesus is giving us the keys to “happiness” in the Beatitudes. He is showing us how to achieve Freedom for Excellence. He is teaching us how to be saints. When we reflect on what is good and true, we change! We become something more. Freedom is the choices we make that lead us to what is good and true.

Freedom’s goal is to lead us to flourish not to fail. Freedom’s goal is Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. Freedom, like love is not a feeling, it is a choice or better, a decision. With freedom comes great responsibility. The choices we make should be virtuous to lead us to heaven, not sinful choices that lead us to anger and shame. The Catechism teaches, “A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions.” (CCC 1803 emphasis added)

We are blessed by the saints in heaven who show us freedom’s goal. The saints were able to overcome the evils of the world and choose excellence. They used God’s gift of freedom so they could “be happy with Him forever in heaven”. Take time to learn about saints who overcame the evils of the world and discerned God’s will for their lives. How can you use the freedom for excellence to pursue the good and choose it in your concrete actions?

Here’s what the Scriptures have to say…

Isaiah 61: 1-3 – The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God, to comfort all who mourn; to place on those who mourn in Zion a diadem instead of ashes, to give them oil of gladness in place of mourning, a glorious mantle instead of a listless spirit. They will be called oaks of justice, planted by the Lord to show his glory.

John 8: 31-36 – Jesus then said to those Jews who believed in him, “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.” They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains. So, if a son frees you, then you will truly be free.

Galatians 5:13 – For you were called for freedom, brothers. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely “You shall love you neighbor as yourself.”

Your Body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit

There are countless scriptures telling us that our body is good, that God created us, male and female. God proclaims we are very good, and that we are a temple of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians, Paul teaches each of us to avoid sin against our body. In verses 19 – 20 he says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.” God tells us through His Word how much He loves us. He knew us before we were born. “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I dedicated you…” (Jeremiah 1:5). We are not a mistake and God created each of us out of love, for love! God does not make mistakes, and He certainly doesn’t make junk. When we alter, or harm our bodies, we reject the gift God has given us. Even when we reject the gift God has given us, He still loves us.

It is vital that we each reflect on God’s abundant love for us. Our body is to be respected in all ways. We should be cautious about what we put in our body, what we put on our body, and how we change our body. Anything we do to and with our body should honor God! In Romans 12:1, we learn in fact, our body is made to worship God.

When you are having a bad day, you may look in the mirror and see a distorted view of yourself, but in God’s eyes you are always beautiful, perfect, and good. Your view is distorted if you think that God somehow made a mistake. Always remember, “He formed you in your mother’s womb” (Psalm 139: 13). If you are seeking perpetual youth, has this become an idol in your life? If you are unhappy with certain parts of your body or unhappy you are made male or female, remember God created you perfect, without flaw. If you wake up in the morning and think God made a mistake…think again, He did not! He made you to reflect His glory in your own special way. Glorify God with your body because you are unique and beautiful! You are indispensable, irreplaceable, and unrepeatable! There is only one YOU.

Here is what the scriptures and our catholic faith have to say…

Psalm 139: 14-15 – I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you knew; my bones were not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret…

1 Corinthians 10:31 – So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.

Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2288) Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God. We must take reasonable care of them, taking into account the needs of others and the common good.

CCC 2293 – Basic scientific research, as well as applied research, is a significant expression of man’s dominion over creation. Science and technology are precious resources when placed at the service of man and promote his integral development for the benefit of all. By themselves however they cannot disclose the meaning of existence and of human progress. Science and technology are ordered to man, from whom they take their origin and development; hence they find in the person and in his moral values both evidence of their purpose and awareness of their limits.

Theology of the Body 19:4 – The central thesis of St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, is that “the body, and it alone, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine.