God’s gift of Freedom

February 10, Friday, 5th Week in Ordinary Time
Genesis 3: 1-8; Mark 7:31-37

Man stands superior to all of God’s creation because man alone has reason. Man’s likeness to God is particularly manifested in the precious gift “FREEDOM” given to man. Man alone knows the will of God. Man alone has the conscience and the freedom to obey or disobey God’s will. And man, clearly knows that there are consequences for disobedience.

There is great beauty in the freedom God gave to man. But there was equally great danger in it as well. Through this primordial trial of man God wanted to know whether man would exercise his freedom well in choosing to follow God’s command or, also in freedom, choose to disobey.  Adam and Eve failed the test.

So often too, like Adam and Eve, we use our gift of freedom in the wrong way. We choose to disobey God’s will. Our conscience shout to us telling us “Do not do evil! Do good! Immediately, our conscience accuses us of sin when we have not followed its promptings. Like Adam and Eve, who immediately saw that they were naked, we too, know, in the depths of our being, when we have sinned. Before God we cannot hide; before God, like Adam and Eve, we stand naked.

We are reminded today to be attentive to our conscience, that place in our depths where God speaks to us and reveals to us His Divine will.  We know that we are subject to temptations always, and so we must always pray “Father, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen”