“Human Freedom and Responsible Freedom”

The question whether we human beings are free or not is not a new issue anymore. Even the great thinkers in the past dwell regarding this matter. Some philosophers say that we are free while others say we are not. But what is the stand of the Church with regard to freedom? How does the Catholic Church define human freedom? The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 1730) says that “God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions. God willed that man should left in the hand of his own counsel, so that he might of his own accord seek his Creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him.” It is very clear here especially in the second sentence that God endowed us with free will, therefore, we are the master of our own actions. The next point of the book is its specific definition of freedom. It says that, “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 its perfection when directed toward good, our beatitude” (CCC 1731). Here it mentioned man’s free will wherein through it, we form or build our own life. So which of the following is true? Are we human beings free or not? In my own understanding, I can say that we are not absolutely free. Yes, we are free but not totally. It is because there are many things in our lives that we cannot do away with no matter what we do. These are our own race, our family background, our gender, our physical appearances, etc. We are not free to choose to be an American or Korean because we are born here in the Philippines. We also are not free to select the time or place where we were born. We were not free to choose that I want to be born in a hospital. Unquestionably, we are not free to choose who will be our parents or our grandparents. And with regard to our gender, we are not free also to choose that I want to become a male or a female. And as regards to our physical appearance, we cannot to choose to look like Piolo Pascual or Jericho Rosales. We cannot choose the color of our eyes, the position or size of our nose, the blood type we have, etc. With these things mentioned, we cannot deny the fact that we are not absolutely free. That is the reason why we have to accept freely and joyfully whatever we have right now. I can say that what we have or what we are now is a gift from God. If we are born this way or that way, we have accept it. As much as we can, we shouldn’t change what God gives us because if we will alter it, for sure God would not be happy. There is nothing else for us to do but to accept and to love what is given to us by God. 

Now, another topic for us to ponder is about “responsible freedom.” This so called “responsible freedom” is what we practice here in the Seminario Mayor de San Carlos. But, do we really understand what is it? Do we know how to practice it? I think we have different understanding with regard to practicing “responsible freedom.” Some of us may think that because of this “responsible freedom,” we can do whatever we want. For example, it is our freedom of choice not to attend morning prayers & Holy Mass together with the community; or it is our choice not to attend the regular class hours; or we are free to go out in the seminary anytime and come back anytime. If this is our understanding, I think we need to discern more time with regard to our chosen vocation. It is because my personal understanding about “responsible freedom” is dissimilar to what I mentioned earlier. I think the purpose of having a “responsible freedom” is for us seminarians to learn how to discipline ourselves. We have to form our own self because we ourselves are the primary agent of formation. I think the priest formators are pre-supposing that we seminarians here in the Seminario Mayor de San Carlos have embedded in our system the trainings during our college formation. So, regarding the waking up early in the morning and attending the Holy Mass, we ourselves should realized how important the Holy Eucharist is. It is expected from us to know that having a prayerful life is very essential especially for us who are aspiring to become priests. The next example is about the choice not to attend classes. In this case, a matured seminarian should also know how important the aspect of academic formation is. We have to identify that we need to study because sooner or later we will become ministers of the Church. How can we preach if we do not learn many things especially the doctrines of the Church? How could we answer questions regarding Church issues if we don’t have the knowledge about them in the first place? In this regard, we should be responsible to our own actions because we know for sure what will happen in the future. The last example is about the freedom in going out and in going back to the seminary. Here in the Seminario Mayor de San Carlos, most of us if not all are already in their mature age. So, we are expected to know and to understand already the schedule of the seminary. Yes we cannot do away the fact that there are times wherein we really need to go to somewhere because of some important things or business. But we have to make sure that upon going out, we cannot affect another schedule. And in going back to the seminary, be sure to go back in time especially if ever there is a community schedule. If we have plans to go out in the seminary, we should have the responsibility to know and to remember the seminary schedule of that day. 

If I connect human freedom and responsible freedom, I can say that they are somewhat the same. Both of them would tell us that freedom is not absolute. As discussed in the first paragraph, we are not absolutely free because there are things about us that we do not choose to have. Also in responsible freedom, there are things that we have to set aside. We have to set limits in everything we do especially here in the seminary wherein we are under formation. And since it is a fact that there are things that are happening in us which we do not chosen, all we have to do is to accept and to love them because they are precious gifts from God.