Interior Freedom by Jacques Philippe

“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” – St. Paul

We possess within ourselves a space of freedom that nobody can take away, b/c God is its source and guarantee. We gain possession of our interior freedom in exact proportion to our growth in faith, hope, & love. We have a great thirst for freedom b/c our most fundamental aspiration is for happiness; and we sense that there is no happiness without love, and no love without freedom.

The love of God sets the soul free. No circumstance in the world can ever present us from believing in God, from placing all our trust in him, from loving him with our whole heart, or from loving our neighbor.

Jesus said, “apart from me, you can do nothing.”

The world has turned its back on Christianity with its dogmas and commandments, on that ground that it is a religion of guilt. Yet there has never been a time when people were so weighed down with guilt as they are today.

“This slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” – St. Paul

We can really forgive people only b/c Christ rose from the dead; his Resurrection is the guarantee that God can cure every wrong and every hurt. Whatever happens, whatever mistakes and faults are committed by this person or that, it robs us of exactly nothing. If the sins of those around us lead us to become upset or discouraged, we are helping to spread the evil more rapidly.

It does more good to seek to reform our hearts than to reform the world or the Church. “What ruins our souls is not what happens outside, but the echo that it awakes within us.”

We must put a stop to attitudes or thoughts that keep us from living trustingly in the present moment. I want to have no regrets, and I resolve today to begin from zero, with exactly the same trust as if my past history were made up of nothing but faithfulness and holiness. The best way to prepare for the future is to put our hearts into the present.

The commandments, prayer, sacraments, and all the graces that come from God have just one purpose: to increase our faith, hope, and love.

If our treasure is in God, no one can take it from us.  When you no longer believe in what you can do for God, continue believing in what God can do for you.