True freedom-of-choice is allowing oneself to be a God-choice
Reflection for All-Saints Day
By Fr. Maximilian Buonocore, OSB
There was a U.S. senator who was a staunch defender of freedom of choice, and defended this position until the day he died. When he died, he stood before the Pearly Gates. Peter greeted him and said, “You have been chosen by God to enter into heavenly bliss.” “Chosen?” exclaimed the senator with dismay, “I have always been a staunch defender of freedom of choice, and I think that this choice should extend to this life as well.” I feel like I should be able to make a well informed choice between heaven and hell. I propose that the Lord allow me to spend a few days in heaven to see how that is, and then a few days in hell to see how that is. Then I can make an informed choice.” “That is highly irregular,” replied Peter, “but I will go and see what the Lord has to say.” Peter went in and spoke to the Lord, then he came out and said to the senator, “Okay, the Lord said that he will allow you to exercise your freedom of choice at this vital juncture. You can come into heaven for a few days, and then you can then spend a few days in hell to see how that is.” Delighted by the Lord’s acceding to him his freedom of choice, he entered through the Pearly Gates, spending a few days in heaven. He found the blissful contemplation of the glory of God to be quite satisfactory, but he was still anxious to see what it was like in hell. After a few days, St. Peter came to him and said, “Okay, senator, it is time for your sojourn in hell.” Satan was delighted to hear that the senator was coming for a stay. Satan came personally to escort him in a grand limousine. “Senator, it is so wonderful to finally meet you in person. I have been supporting you and your freedom of choice position for so long. I am so pleased that you have stuck with your freedom of choice position and defended it to the end. I am sure that you will find our life down here very comfortable and I encourage you to exercise your freedom of choice position and choose our life here.” When they arrived in hell, there was a red carpet for the senator. He was welcomed into a mansion where there were many servants. The senator was served his favorite foods; he had the company of beautiful women; there was a large swimming pool in the back and a Jacuzzi. He had his own golf course, and was able to engage in stimulating conversations with many other intellectuals there, and was invited to give speeches to much applause. When his several days were over, he was escorted by Satan in the limousine back to the Pearly Gates. St. Peter came out and, greeting him, asked him, “Now that you had the opportunity to make an informed choice, what is your choice?” “Well,” replied the pro-choice senator, “Heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell. I exercise my freedom of choice right and choose hell.” “Alright,” said St. Peter, and escorting him to an elevator, tells him to step in, and he goes rapidly down, down, and further down. When the elevator stops the doors open and there he is, in the middle of a barren land where it is very hot. There is no red carpet to welcome him, and the land is covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his people that he met on his previous stay dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls to the ground. The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulders, and says, “My dear Senator, I am so glad you exercised your freedom of choice right, and chose hell.” "I don't understand," stammers the Senator. "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?" “Well,” replied the devil, “yesterday we were campaigning. Today, you voted.” What is so striking about this story is that the senator chose to exercise his freedom of choice to defy/reject his status as chosen by God for eternal happiness. So often, our exercise of our freedom is for the purpose of pursuing our self-interest in acquiring material comforts and attaining to achievements that will improve our status and reputation; and this is so often done without regard for our chosen status as children of God, without reference to our being chosen by God to be united in love with one another and to God in the bond of eternal loving mercy. The comforts and status that we achieve in this way are temporary and fleeting, and often illusory. The freedom that we are exercising is actually not true freedom. It is the compulsion of self-interest, and it gives us no rest, no lasting comfort, and, in fact, causes us much anxiety and stress most of the time. True freedom is allowing ourselves to simply be what God has chosen us to be: a child of God. True freedom is allowing ourselves to be chosen – to be God’s choice. True freedom of choice is allowing ourselves to be a free choice by God – allowing ourselves to be a God-choice. That is what a saint is: a person who has exercised his or her true human freedom to allow him or herself to be God’s choice. So many of our choices in this life that are made with the intention of exercising our freedom of choice may be informed by very well devised and thought-out reasoning, and may seem perfectly acceptable because they give us the opportunity to exercise our rights and freedoms, but, if our choices are not informed by the most important factor – the Love of the Holy Spirit – then our choices may not be heavenward-directed choices. Heavenward-directed choices are directed by faith and powered by love. This is what makes a person a saint: they exercise their God-given freedom of choice to make decisions which are informed by faith and powered by the Spirit of Love, rather than being informed merely by reason and powered by self-interest. The choices that they make are made with the true freedom of choice of a child of God. They allow themselves to be what they are called to be: a God-choice, and filled with God’s Spirit of love. Every choice that they make becomes a God-choice because it flows from love. True freedom is love. True freedom of choice is allowing ourselves to be a God-choice from which flow divine choices that are imbued with the infinite and eternal choice of loving mercy. True freedom of choice is found in the infinite and eternal Choice of divine life, into which we are all chosen to be bonded together in the freedom of God’s love. We are all called to true freedom of choice because of the fact that we are all chosen. We are called to be bonded in the mystical communion of saints: the mystical communion of God’s chosen ones, the mystical communion of the infinite and eternal Choice of divine life.
All for Jesus,
Fr. Max
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