Daily Reflections

Reflection:

Today’s readings contrast Spirit-guided freedom with an obedience that is law-focused.

At first glance, St Paul’s declaration in today’s first reading that “If you are guided by the Spirit you are not under the law,” might seem like permission to become the arbiters of our own actions without reference to either God’s commandments or the Church’s teachings.

This self-centred notion of freedom largely ignores the place of, and our responsibility to, the ‘other’.

Anticipating that reaction, Paul quickly adds that his approach doesn’t mean licence to do-as-we-will. He reinforces this with a lengthy and salacious list of “works of the flesh”.

Rather, the crux of Paul’s message is that true freedom is discernible by the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. In other words, true freedom is other-focussed.

I find it interesting that Paul speaks of the “fruits” of the Spirit rather than describing these attributes as ‘gifts’. What are we to make of that?

I recall one of my lecturers and mentors, Rev Vincent Hunt, saying that rather than ‘thinking our way into new ways of acting and being’, we primarily ‘act ourselves into new ways of thinking and being’.

In other words, we become more loving by intentionally practising acts of love, sometimes, perhaps, not just because of our feelings but despite how we might be feeling. Similarly, we become more joyful by practising joy in our demeanour to others, and more generous by practising acts of generosity, etc.

It goes without saying that laws have an important place in sign-posting the pathway towards the good. But to shape our behaviours solely according to laws – perhaps out of a fear of punishment or a desire for reward – is a form of compulsion rather than freedom and, potentially, a “burden”, as the Gospel notes.

The spiritual journey is ultimately about becoming free to choose the good for others. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “Being free means ‘being free for the other,’ because the other has bound me to him. Only in relationship with the other am I free.”

John Kleinsman lives in Wellington. He is married to Kerry and works in the field of bioethics. His involvement with the Passionists goes back to 1992, nurtured through an ongoing involvement with Passionist Family Groups in New Zealand. He is a lay member of the Passionist Formation Commission.