"Freedom and the following of Christ": this is the "fascinating subject" proposed by the Biblical readings of last Sunday’s Mass, as explained yesterday morning by Benedict XVI as he introduced the Angelus prayer from Saint Peter’s Square. In particular, the Pope spoke of "Christ’s freedom" in "firmly" going to Jerusalem, where "death on the cross awaits Him", but, "in obedience to the will of the Father, He gives Himself up, out of love". "It is in His obedience to His Father explained the Holy Father that Jesus accomplished His own freedom as a deliberate choice justified by love". Actually, even if He is the Almighty one, "He did not experience His own freedom as a will or a rule. He experienced it as a service". Thus, added Benedict XVI, "he ‘filled’ with contents the freedom which would otherwise remain an ‘empty’ option of doing or not doing something. Like man’s life, freedom takes meaning from love". And, asked the Pope, who "is freer? He who keeps all options open for fear of missing them, or he who ‘firmly’ devotes himself to service, and thus finds himself full of life, out of the love he has given and received?". For the Apostle Paul, recalled the Pontiff, freedom must not become "a pretext to live according to the flesh". (continued)
