“God never violates our free will. It is up to us whether we want to receive
God’s grace or not. It is up to us whether we will co-operate
with it or waste it” (Faustina Diary, 1107).
Today many try to deny that we are free, that we have a will that can be developed and strengthened by the choices that we actually make…and in our choices we ‘become’. In that becoming, in our free choices, we grow into something beautiful or monstrous, which can bring on some terror when contemplated. People would like to be able to live a life that will simply end with death….yet if it does not, then our lives take on a different hue altogether. We face God every moment; we are loved and given light and grace, what we do with this life falls on each of us. We are not victims of our past, though the past can weigh on us. Each day is a new beginning, each failure a chance to once again to give our ‘yes’ to graces promptings. There is never a need for despair but only for hope in the mercy and love of God. Grace is not bound by any human categories. The Fire of the Holy Spirit is totally wild in regard to us, it blows where it will. We need to embrace unknowing in our tendency to judge others and instead love and support them. Which can mean to challenge in a caring a loving manner…which goes both ways, we need encouragement as well as to be challenged.
The problem with love that is real is that it does allow us to go whichever way that we want if the choice is truly free. It takes time to grow into mature free will which is why our everyday struggles are important….they are the beginnings of our growth into freedom.
Br. Mark Dohle, OCSO
Holy Spirit Monastery
