A familiar parable, one we have heard many times. As with all parables, there are many ways to read it. – Focus on the father and how he not only welcomes his son back – but is waiting and watching for him – rushing out to meet him if only he will return – or look at the older son – returning from the field and refuses to join the celebration for the return of his brother.
But what of the younger brother – why does he ask for his inheritance early? What is his motivation? – asking for his inheritance is exceptionally offensive; it is the equivalent of telling his father, “I wish you were dead!” – what is he desiring that would lead him to do this?
At the center is the desire for autonomy – The younger son wants freedom FROM his father - he wants to go his own way – do things how he wants – pursue what he wants – set his own priorities in life. But he wants to be an individual – go his own way – his own goals - Freedom FROM authority, influence, and cooperation.
This is not unusual - we see it all the time – Think of children at around the age of two –the terrible twos. The child has a new sense of his power and autonomy – pouring milking on cereal in the morning? - “I will do it myself” – Say no – the tantrum is coming – say yes – you now have a lot of milk to clean up.
Not just children – students heading for college – leaving home for the first time – longing to be out from under their parents’ rules, able to live how they want, go where they want, do what they want. Freedom from authority – autonomy in different ways – food, class attendance, bedtime, even what bed – all because it is about individual wants.
Yet something is lacking, no matter how many choices – sexual assault is up on college campuses – there is a mental health crisis in most universities – students sometimes seem aimless – attempting to provide personal reproductive autonomy has only made the problems worse – each person trying to define for themselves what life is about – what the purpose of relationships are –many are miserable, trapped, not knowing what they are to do. – All autonomy – yet there seems to be no freedom – everything seems to be arbitrary - What is it FOR?
Individual autonomy, decisions of what to do – pursue whatever one wants – define meaning the purpose and meaning of life– it sounds excellent – yet this leads to misery - the prodigal son is miserable – in a field wishing he could eat the pig’s food – the two-year-old cannot achieve the task – the college student does not know where to turn - autonomy alone did not bring happiness, just destitute, depression, and a toddler tantrum. Even with all limitations removed.
Everything we hear is about freedom FROM something – such as “personal reproductive autonomy” – freedom from meaning outside ourselves – “I define” – yet we do not have that power – freedom is not just freedom FROM – it is freedom FOR something – Freedom for Excellence, for virtue – For the good and true
The Catechism defines freedom as “the power to act or not to act, and so to perform deliberate acts of one’s own. Freedom attains perfection in its acts when directed toward God, the sovereign Good.”
Freedom is to pursue and do the good, We cannot do that without the ability to act or not act. Yet, autonomy, the mere ability to make choices, does not make anyone free.
For the college students, it is impossible to act toward the good and true if one does not know the good and true. If they understand the good and the true – which is only possible in faith - Only then does freedom become possible - that is what freedom is FOR
Knowing is still not enough. Someone might choose to begin using an addictive substance – but once addicted, the freedom to quit might be lost, the addict cannot choose to stop with his own power. Help is needed – to know the good and the true – and to have the ability to do it.
That two-year old child does not have freedom as an autonomous individual; the milk will end up everywhere – but if Mom helps – suddenly, the child gets the freedom to pour the milk. The child is freer – able to act toward the good, to pour the milk, … if he works with Mom.
Yet how does one actually act towards the good – it is hard – it seems impossible – and often it is – the two-year-old could not pour the milk by himself – but he did not have to – Mom was there – the prodigal son could not restore his own freedom that he lost in squalor – his father did that for him. All the son had to do was come and admit his sin. His father was ready to give him everything – restoring him to the family.
Freedom is given by God’s grace – it is restored by God’s grace. This grace gave the martyrs the freedom to choose the good and true, staying firm in the faith, even when facing death. This grace reconciles us to God, restoring our freedom even when lost, in the sacrament of confession, when we come and ask for mercy – and the door to that sacrament is always open. It is God’s grace that enables freedom, not mere autonomy.
Autonomy does not bring freedom – in fact, it can destroy it – for freedom is not just freedom from something – it is freedom for something – it is for the good, and it is by freedom that we might find ourselves with God himself.