Vacation time has arrived! You are free, for the time being, from your studies.
But what do you think? Would it be good to be free of studies from now on? Of course not, you are not ready to enjoy the fruits of those studies. The purpose of your studies is to improve your live and those of your families. With an education you will have more opportunities for employment and other advantages.
At times studies are fun. There is pleasure in learning something new, in finishing an assignment with a good grade. Other times studying is just hard work.
In today's text, St. Paul talks of the liberty to serve and the liberty to sin. What does this mean? If we are free from sin, we will be servants of righteousness, but if we are free from righteousness, we are slaves to sin.
We devote ourselves to study based on the hope of a better life. In Jesus Christ, we also have the hope of new life now and in heaven. Therefore, at times we will experience in our life here on earth moments of joy and inner peace. But other times we will experience conflict, persecution and difficulties for the sake of Christ.
On the other hand, often it seems that life apart from Christ is much more comfortable, easy and fun. We do not have to think about what's right or about the needs of our neighbor. We only have to think of our needs and pleasures.
Thanks be to our merciful Lord, we have the Holy Spirit as our Defender and Counselor. The Spirit of God gives us the strength that we do not have in our sinful human nature. Jesus suffered and died on the cross to pay the price for our sins of omission and comission and for original sin, our legacy from Adam and Eve. And when He rose on the third day, He won resurrection and eternal life for us as well.
Later Christ returned to God the Father to send the Holy Spirit to His church. Christ entrusted the church with the mission of proclaiming the Good News of salvation in Christ to all nations until His Second Coming in glory. Nowadays the Spirit works through the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments.
First, in the preaching of the Word, the Spirit touches the hearts of people and moves them to repent. The light of the Word shows them their condition, that is, slavery to sin, the devil and death. But repentance in itself is not sufficient. When we receive adoption as children of God in baptism, we have the hope that transforms our lives. And by the power of the Holy Spirit we may overcome all the challenges , all the difficulties and, in the end, pass the test of life in this world. This is spiritual liberty.
However, there are only two roads. We will not have hope and faith if we continue in our sins. The destination of one road is eternal life, the destination of the other is eternal damnation. So with the support of the Holy Spirit we should remain alert, avoid the traps of the devil and continue on the road to heaven. Therefore we should keep on listtening to the preaching of the Word and receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper to feed our faith.
Thanks be to God for these gifts and the hope of living in the discipline and liberty of the Spirit. Amen.
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