Homily for the Fourth of July, 2022. Reading: Galatians 5:1, 13-18. Theme: Becoming Truly Free From the Inside Out!
The gift of freedom, both as individuals and as a people, is at the heart of our identity as Americans. It is enshrined in our Constitution under the famous three-part declaration that we have our God-given - not government given - rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This is what we celebrate every year on July 4 as we remember the struggle for independence, acclaim our national identity and celebrate what has been called the “American Experiment” with food, parties and awesome displays of fireworks.
But you know, freedom is a tricky and much misunderstood word. Many would define it as the right to do whatever I want as long as no one gets hurt by my choices. But in the New Testament, St. Paul reminds us that in Christ we have been given freedom, not so that we can do whatever we please, but so that we can choose to do what is good and true, what is loving and life-giving. He warns us that if we misuse this gift we will end up becoming enslaved in a way that is much worse than the political oppression that our forefathers revolted against.
Sadly, according to psychologists, therapists and ministers this is precisely what has happened to a majority of us who live in this Land of the Free. They say that we who enjoy American independence are actually among the highest in the world to suffer emotional and spiritual imprisonment and slavery. The reason? Because by and large we refuse to forgive. Their experience counseling people has shown them that holding onto old wounds and nursing resentment is the #1 cause for such things as: anger, broken relationships and fractured families as well as many forms of depression and addiction. These are all ways in which we abuse the gift of freedom and fall back into into the slavery that St. Paul cautions us to avoid.
Dr. Robert Enright, is a devout practicing Catholic and an internationally acclaimed psychologist, whom Time magazine has called the “Trailblazer of Forgiveness". He travels the world as part of the International Forgiveness Institute, dedicating the past 25 years of his life to helping people achieve and experience real and full inner freedom in their lives. Here is how he describes forgiveness, a definition that could have been written by St. Paul himself:
When you forgive someone who has deeply hurt you, you let go of resentment and the urge to seek revenge, no matter how deserving of these things the wrongdoer may be. You choose to give the great gifts of acceptance, generosity and love.
Forgiving is an act of mercy toward an offender, someone who does not necessarily deserve our mercy but you don’t let that stand in your way. Rather, you give because you have chosen to have a merciful heart, a heart with the power to free yourself so you can live a better life.
Dr. Enright tells us that forgiveness does not always mean reconciliation with the person who has offended us. That may never come about but it doesn’t have to in order for forgiveness to be genuine. Most of the time we will really struggle to forgive and will have to wrestle with the negativity that arises each time the memory of the hurt arises in our minds.
But if we surrender ourselves to the Holy Spirit, then we will find a power greater than ourselves that will enable us to meet these memories with the intentional decision to forgive. Forgiveness does not mean that what a person said or did to us was okay. But it does mean that we will do our best to let go of it. We will make the decision to leave the reckoning to God who alone knows what is in the heart.
Eventually, if we are sincere and ask God to accompany us on this forgiveness journey, we will reach a place of peace and serenity. We will be able to truly let go of the hurts and experience what it means to blessed with a life rooted in liberty and truly open to the pursuit of happiness. We will finally and truly be free from the inside out.
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