A CLOKE OF MALICIOUSNESS

A MESSAGE FOR THE 3RD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER

We have in today’s Epistle a friendly little reminder from St. John the Apostle that life is, and yet at the same time, is not all about “freedom.”  Freedom, or liberty, is a fine old word that makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside, especially on the Fourth of July, but which in reality is very much a two-edged sword. For freedom is something that must be distinguished.  We learn in our childhood, that while we may be “free” to choose any action we want, that freedom comes with the accompanying duty to choose what Godwants.  So are we free or aren’t we?  Yes, we canchoose to do evil.  But no, we maynot choose to do evil.  Our free will is a gift fromGod, but we have the obligation and duty to use that free will correctly.

So when St. John reminds us that we must not use our liberty as a cloke of maliciousness, he is in fact alerting us to the danger of misunderstanding the true nature of that liberty.  The godless people of the world fall so very easily into this trap, making freedom one of the semi-divine members of their false Trinity of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.  Even before the French Revolution, this country adopted a Bill of Rights that canonized the so-called rights of its citizens—freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and so on. Every blue-blooded American cherishes these rights, and is justly upset when they are trampled on by the lunatic left. And yet, we should hesitate to embrace so completely a concept of freedom that was never intended by our Creator. When we read our copy of the Declaration of Independence in our right hand, we should make sure that our left hand is holding today’s Epistle.  For how can we as true Christians “hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness?” We can certainly believe in these rights, but it must be a belief founded on our knowledge of and faith in God.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?  What do the progressives mean by the Right to life, when they clamor for an ever-greater number of abortions?  And by the right to liberty, you can be sure they don’t mean the freedom to act according to the will of God, but rather the freedom to do whatever they want.  As for the Right to Pursue Happiness, they will seek out that happiness in every nook and cranny of their desires, except where it is truly to be found—in the grace and peace of God.   These people claim to be “liberals”, but are, in reality, anything but, using the word as a “cloke of maliciousness”, pursuing liberty as an end in itself, and refusing their role as “servants of God.”  Try teaching them the true nature of liberty, and you’ll find out how “liberal” they are!  

Like most “liberal” documents, our cherished Declaration of Independence bears a correct interpretation. We must take care to know what that interpretation is, so that, as St. John tell us, “with well doing we may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.”