God and Human Freedom

GOD AND HUMAN FREEDOM

CL. MARIO D’COUTO SDB

            The Gospel account of St. Luke (7:11-17) speaks about how Jesus raises the widow’s son. What is striking about this incident in the life of Our Lord is that he Himself goes out to heal the widow’s son. Surprising isn’t it! If we go to examine the various miracles that were worked by our Lord, we see that it was the people who wanted to be cured that came to Jesus; He did not go to them. There are a number of examples that can be given in this regard like the healing of Jarius’ daughter, the curing of the blind man, the woman who suffered from a blood hemorrhage for several years and so on. There are very few occasions where our Lord directly intervened by Himself.
            Another example that comes to my mind is the Canaanite woman. In this incident, it seems as though our Lord did not even give a second look at her, even though she was pleading for a long time. This is clearly understood when He says, “It isn’t right to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs” (Mt 15:26). This reaction of Jesus can be interpreted in several ways. Some may want to think that Jesus was partial or that He did not care about anybody else but the Israelites while it could also be interpreted in a way where Jesus was testing the faith of the Canaanite woman.
            Looking at the incident as a whole, we can truly say the, Our Lord was not partial in the least; He was testing her faith. And how can we be sure of this? If He was partial in any way, then He would have probably ignored her despite her persistence. But the Gospels tell us that Our Lord did cure her daughter. In fact He was taken up by her persistent effort and her deep faith in him.
            Further reflecting on this Gospel passage, I sometimes begin to wonder as to why God could not make us all good, that is to say, free from sin. It would have certainly saved us a lot of problems. However, if that were to happen, instead of creating more order and peace in the world, it would only disrupt everything. One of the reasons for this is that if God had made us all good, then we would be no better than puppets. God has blessed each and everyone with a mind of his or her own. Consequently, each of us is endowed with free will. We have the freedom to make a choice and this is something which God will not interfere for as it is rightly said that to respond with convictions is a lot better than being told what to do.

           Every day, our Lord offers His grace to us, but do we respond to Him? This is something we need to look at in our lives. He will not force His way into our lives but it is up to us to allow Him to come in and dwell within us.

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