Freedom

Our Independence Day is almost over. It is a good time to think a little bit about the gift of freedom. I have talked about it during the homilies but it is always good to remind ourselves what freedom is about. When I grew up under Communism many things were forbidden. At the primary school we were taught how wonderful socialism is and how blessed we are that we can live in this fake paradise. The same time we knew that many people had tried to escape to the western part of Europe for a better life. For nineteen years of my life I had to watch my parents worry about us, how to feed us, where to get clothes for us, etc. I still remember the first free election in 1991 when many people with hope in their hearts elected a new government. We were so happy and full of hope. We were free. Now almost thirty years later everything seems to be upside down again. I am not in Poland any more but things look so similar as I saw them over thirty years ago. Socialism is coming back using different slogans. Some people again want to erase history, they want to change facts and opinions. Some groups destroy the properties of others because they are upset and the victims have to accept it. Political correctness is more important than truth and the dignity of the other person. I am tempted to say: Welcome to USSR in 20's last century. What happened? We lost the value of being free. We became prisoners of things that we think we deserve. There is nothing that we have to fight for, everything has to be give to us. I am so sorry for our young generation because they do not know what it means to pay the price for being free. They do not know that we do not deserve freedom, it is not a free gift. It requires a very high price, I would even say the highest price - human lives. Freedom is sealed by the blood of soldiers, martyrs, heroes. Our independence was paid for by the life of others, that never said "I deserve this and that". Recently I discovered that I have a white priviledge. Seriously? How many of these young protesters had to wait for food five or six hours and after that go to school. How many of those young people have done anything for free to help others. How many of them have given up what they deserve and gone to be with the suffering, forgotten, dying. Now who is going to clean the city centers, fix the destroyed stores and other private properties? This is not a freedom. This is a violence. This is what Hitlerjugend groups were doing in Germany in the beginning of the 30's last century. This was a way to persecute Jews, Gypsies, and other nationalities. Is this the way our independence is going to end? I am thinking about our free will we received from God. One day we will have to pay a price for what we did with it. We will have to give a statement to God about how we used it. Edith Stain, known as St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, said: "Do not accept anything as the truth if it lacks love. And do not accept anything as love which lacks truth! One without the other becomes a destructive lie." This is the meaning of freedom, when love and truth come together. There is no other recipe for independence. It is sad that our ancestors understood this better than we do now. We have to look at ourselves and make deep reflections on what we did with our freedom.