Because God is Love (1 Jn 4:8, 16) and love must be freely given, God made us free. Freedom is a corollary to love. When the human race sinned, it severely curtailed its freedom and therefore its capacity to love. When Jesus redeemed us, our freedom was restored. We now have the freedom to give our lives to the Lord and to love Him with all our hearts.

We can love in this freedom and have greater freedom by being Jesus' disciples and abiding in His word (Jn 8:31). The word of truth is the word of freedom. We can abide in His word by:

• praying the Mass daily,
• referring to the Catechism often,
• reading the Bible daily,
• praying the rosary daily,
• praying the "Angelus" three times a day,
• blessing our meals through God's word and prayer (1 Tm 4:4),
• praying God's word with our spouses and families,
• sharing God's word and our faith as often as possible, especially with our families,
• using God's word to examine our consciences, especially before going to Confession,
• listening to Christian programs on the Scriptures and reading Christian Bible-based publications, and
• praying the Liturgy of the Hours.

If we do many of these, we will be in God's word many times a day. We will abide in God's word. Only in this way will we be fully free to love (see I Will Give You Pastors, Pope John Paul II, 26).

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, August 18, 2001

Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, August 25, 2001