Fortnight For Freedom - Diocese of Springfield in Illinois

Monday, July 1, 2013Monday, 13th Week in Ordinary Time; Optional Memorial of Bl. Junipero Serra, Priest• The compassion of Abraham for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah leads him to be persistentin entreating the Lord, but it never leads him to question or challenge the Lord in his judgments.This is Jesus’ attitude in the garden of Gethsemane when he asks his Father to let the chalice ofsuffering pass him by, but adds “not my will, but yours be done.”• Jesus is clear on the costs of discipleship. There are some things we must give up. Acceptinghis vision of discipleship, however, does not lead to neglect of anyone or anything essential, butit does put them in their proper order. There are good things in our secular society, but they mustbe rightly ordered to be perceived!• The fight for religious liberty is a great reminder that we must obey God rather than men;indeed, our service to our neighbor is informed by our obedience to God. We must be persistentin seeking the Lord’s will, and firm in carrying it out.Tuesday, July 2, 2013Tuesday, 13 th Week in Ordinary Time• Lot, it seems, has lived among the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah for so long that hisown hope in the goodness of life has gone. He has become unable to save himself and seemsresigned to die. The Lord alone saves him. One of the problems in contemporary society forChristians is how near can we live with sin before becoming affected ourselves?• If we are rooted in Christ, the storms of this life will never overturn us. The outside may rage,but a profound calm will characterize us within. By ourselves, however, we cannot find thatcalm. Christ’s calm is not indifference; it comes from faith. It is reminiscent of God’s words tothe Israelites: The Lord will fight for you; you have only to keep still. (Ex. 14:14)• Some of the decisions which infringe our religious liberty are testing the boundaries of howclose we can come to evil and be comfortable, but if we are not careful, the boundaries willcontinue to shrink until the evil is upon us entirely. At some point, we need to wake up thesleeping Christ and reassert our faith, lest we lose it altogether.Wednesday, July 3, 2013Feast of St. Thomas, apostle• Christians live in this world always holding to the vision and promise of the next. Our faith inheaven affects how we live on earth. And every action and decision we make builds up or tearsdown our preparedness, our openness, to the heavenly kingdom. This vision and promise isrooted in the witness of the Apostles.• Perhaps Thomas was afraid to believe again. Perhaps he had put so much hope in Jesus—orrather in an earthly kingdom of Jesus—that he was hesitant to hope in anything again. And yet,he changed suddenly and became a fearless preacher of the Gospel all the way to martyrdom.The Church holds that this change was due to a real encounter with the risen Christ, who showedhim how the earthly is but a foreshadowing of the heavenly.• Christians cannot live according to the logic of this world. Our logic, our reason, is alwaysinformed by our faithful understanding of the preaching of the Apostles. The Church has an openhorizon directed to the heavenly kingdom, and our work on earth is always performed in the