Growth in Freedom = Love

Stephen Covey wrote”The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” One of the habits he

discusses there is “Being Proactive” He says that one way of thinking about our inner life is

through the following diagram:

We experience a stimulus, and we respond. However, this is a very basic, almost animalistic way of responding. If our dog is hungry, it will eat; if another dog barks, our dog will bark back. However, he suggests that humans have a tremendous capacity to choose our response. That means that between the stimulus that we constantly receive and our response, we can create a space. This space between our stimulus and our response is called our inner freedom. This is one of the muscles we work out when we relate to God in prayer, because God calls us to fullness of life, and freedom is part of that. Prayer is only one of the Lenten practices, but each of those Lenten practices helps us work out this muscle. When we fast, we become aware that we can say no to a piece of meat on Friday or to a full meal on Ash Wednesday. These things are good, they are good for our bodies, but we decide not to take them, and this awakens us to the fact that we are free to choose, and this works out this inner freedom muscle. Something similar happens with almsgiving. I deprive myself of something as I share it with someone else.

Why can’t I see the goodness in people and relish my time with them instead of go looking for their faults and ways in which they should change? Why can’t I praise the people I love? Perhaps because I need a bit more inner freedom. Why can’t I reverence the people I love? I try to control them and tell them how they should live their lives, knowing that they are adults. Why can’t I respect our differences? Perhaps because I need a bit more inner freedom. Why can’t I serve the people around me? Instead, seem to give an inordinate amount of thought to what I need, lack, or the ways in which I’m not treated fairly. Perhaps I need a bit more inner freedom.

If you recognize this need: Congratulations! The first step is noticing. And guess what? You are in luck. We happen to be running a free program where we work on that very muscle. It’s free. It will just take some effort. Welcome to the training camp. It’s called Lent.

Fr. Pepe Ruiz, SJ

For a full video on this topic you may visit: https://youtu.be/d0btR2jlHk8d