Finding Freedom

Blessed John Paul II said, “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” As Christians, we have the Church to guide us in knowing what is right and wrong—in knowing what we ought to do. Our Encounter with Christ directly through prayer and the sacraments, or indirectly through other people certainly sets us free.  Today's Gospel of the possessed man in the land of the Gerasenes illustrates what this Encounter can do when Jesus takes up for us. Grace abounds where Jesus is, and evil, or doubt, frustration of anxiety dissipate and we are truly free.
So it was on the Marist Youth Encounter Christ, when 56 young people found freedom in the grace, love and security their encounter with.Christ in the form of people, prayer and sacraments.  It was, as always, a joy to see shy people unleashed from their shyness, and the not-so-shy become even more loving and outgoing. They all found freedom. 
The three young men who committed themselves to study and live the Marist life as novice brothers, in closing certain doors during these  next two years, found a freedom that enabled their hearts and faces to radiate with joy.
And even today, we were given liberation from diseases of the throat through the intercession of St. Blaise. We seek freedom and God is always finding ways to give it to us.Nothing is too insignificant for him.
Bro. Rene