When I was in middle school, there was a very popular book series with the format, ‘Choose your own adventure.’ As you read the story, different options appeared, allowing you to skip ahead to the page number of whichever option you selected, and thus change the story.
This was actually a very intense type of book to read, because your own actions could change the outcome, and you wanted the book to have a happy ending. It was temping to want to skip to the end and find out which path led to that ending, but it was more fun to wait and let the story play out.
Celebrating Freedom and Liberty
This week, we in the United States will celebrate our ability to ‘choose our own adventure.’ We will celebrate the principles of freedom and liberty and the country that was created to enshrine those principles into law.
Freedom in Our Catholic Faith
In our Catholic faith, we will join in that celebration, as freedom is indeed a wonderful gift from God. It is also a gift that must be cultivated in order for it to flourish to its greatest state. We find that the greatest freedom is found in Christ.
“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” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1742).
When freedom is seen as simply a choice to do anything, that choice can become the ‘freedom’ to be enslaved by sin, which actually restricts our freedom. As Pope John Paul II said,
“Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”
Cultivating Good Habits for Greater Freedom
When we seek to do good in small ways, when we chose our own adventure in the path of serving God and serving others, it helps to cultivate habits that will allow us to choose to do good in big ways. The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu spoke about this process:
“Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.”
True Freedom in Christ
Christ through his Church has given us all we need to cultivate our freedom. It is when we continue to seek him in prayer, in the sacraments, in our community, that our ‘choose your own adventure’ can be our greatest story yet!
Daniel Quintero is a stand-up comedian currently attending Mary, Mother of the Church Catholic Parish. His favorite motto: “Awkwardness does not exist.”
Answering Christ’s call, Pilgrim Center of Hope guides people to encounter Him so as to live in hope, as pilgrims in daily life. See what’s happening & let us journey with you! Visit PilgrimCenterOfHope.org.
