I was at the mall this weekend, and I saw a sweat jacket with these words:

“Freedom is the ability to do what I wish.”

And it occurred to me that although many people would define freedom this way, it isn’t so. Rather, freedom is the ability to do what I ought to do. This is a notion that causes most of us to recoil in horror. What I want to do and what I ought to do often seem all too firmly opposed. So let’s look at that.

First, what ought I to do? Per Aristotle, I ought to do that which will make me truly happy. I ought to pursue the Good, the True, and the Beautiful in all of their fullness, rather than chasing after the apparently good, the apparently true, and the apparently beautiful. Should I have a double-size hot-fudge sundae right before I go to bed tonight? Sounds good…but (in my case, at least) it’s not a good idea.

So what prevents me from pursuing the Good, the True, and the Beautiful, from doing what I ought? Two things: lack of knowledge, and concupiscence. First, I don’t know what I ought to do; and second, when I do know what I ought to do my sinful nature leads me astray. As a fallen man, I am manifestly not free to pursue my ultimate happiness.

In Christ, however, there is true freedom. For God is the summit of all that Good, True, and Beautiful, and Christ Jesus is God’s most perfect revelation of Himself to us. And in Christ, and through His sacrifice, I receive the grace to follow Him, to avoid sin, to grow in virtue, and, in short, to pursue the Good He shows me. And that is freedom.