The Exercise of Freedom

For those of us who live in democratic societies where we find ourselves able to express our beliefs in relative safety, our freedom allows us together with others of like mind to demonstrate those beliefs. Following is a portion of and opinion piece published in the Boston Pilot by Fr. Jose Medina. Go to the link FATHER JOSÉ MEDINA for the entire text.

In the wake of the recent Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriages, in which we gather more signs of a society repudiating an orthodox Christian mindset, we call into question how we stand before a turning tide. How do we react now, in the forthcoming legislation, and in this challenging climate? ...

...The power of the Christian announcement is something capable of renewing man and allowing him to rediscover a fullness of life, independent of favorable or adverse circumstances. 

...  The legalization of same sex marriage by the Supreme Court shouldn't be misunderstood as a call to action in defense of Christian values, but a call to conversion, a call to rediscover the method by which Christ conquers the human heart and carries the historically proven capacity to build civilizations.

The Christian proposal has neither lost its appeal or its capacity to deliver fullness of life. ...

The legalization of same-sex marriage by the Supreme Court should not provoke the militant defense of Christian values. We are not called to bolster the remnants of a society that was once rooted in the Christian experience, but to live it again, and in time, rebuild. Telling people what values to espouse is neither lovable, nor effective. Instead, we are called to live and share a fullness of life openly with everyone, within any circumstance -- whether they are welcoming or not. For this reason, a call to conversion is not a retreat from a hostile environment. In fact, it implies quite the opposite. While some would deem the public witnesses of our brothers and sisters ineffective or naÏve, this is the function of the Church in human history: to continuously testify that the fullness of life can only be achieved in total dependence on the Mystery. After all, as Christians we are not called to defend the Truth as a set of values, but to incarnate it.

Father José Medina has devoted much of his professional career to the world of education first as teacher of Math and Science and as Principal in Washington DC and Boston. He is a native of Spain and a member of the Priestly Fraternity of the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo. He received his civil engineering degree from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, a Bachelors of Sacred Theology from the Pontificia Università Lateranense in Rome, Italy and a Master in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Currently, Father Medina is the national leader of the Catholic ecclesial movement Communion and Liberation.

 Reprinted from the Boston Pilot, Tuesday, July 07, 2015

Freedom - Where Art Thou?

“What kind of world are we going to be living in?” A question posed by a college student to her father, a good friend. The question is indicative of a deep seated longing held for millenia. The longing is a desire to live out of deeply held beliefs, not just in the privacy of our own lives, but in a community of like believers; believers with the same social and moral values we personally hold. A community of believers that can provide support and affirmation and strength when the beliefs we hold are tested and we need the strength to hold firm to them.

There was a time when the world was small and societies developed in isolation from other cultures and their commonly held beliefs and ways of living were able to function and flourish and support the people who lived in them. Their fellow citizens supported them in their endeavor to live with integrity. But, the earth grew larger and societies began an intersection and interaction with each other. In this interaction conflict was brought on by differing, deeply held beliefs and values. Old Testament history is replete with stories of the Hebrew people and their attempt to live the ways of their God while intermingling with foreign peoples.  

Modern societies have grown and widely divergent cultures overlap. We can see in modern day nationalism a desire for countries to hold firm to their identities, identities that are composed of the deeply held beliefs and mores of their culture. Yet, our modern governments, especially the United States, strive to eliminate the differences between peoples of variously formed cultural identities. The ideal has become a homogeneous society in which cultural differences are discouraged and eliminated. People can no longer establish and nurture a community in which one can find support and affirmation in their beliefs and the free exercise of their values. Such communities, when adhering to values that are not widely accepted, find themselves belittled and labeled as bigoted and intolerant.

I hope I have not given an impression that I have suggestions to offer that would remedy this dilemma. The tendency for modern democracies to strive for equality in all things for all is gradually pulling communities apart. The desire people have to live with like-minded others in communities that are supportive of values held in common is gradually being denied. Here in the United States the founders thought that the system of a confederation of states, each with its own way of life, bound together by a few fundamental beliefs was the perfect answer. Yet, the homogenization of our culture by a Federal authority is relentlessly in progress; all for the sake of freedom to live the way such authority deems we should live.