Article from last week follows:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This July 4th weekend, we celebrate the great freedom that we enjoy in this country. It is a time to give thanks for the many blessings that we have and the wealth of opportunity that we have here. We value our freedom, and rightly so, but it’s important to understand what true freedom is. The Catechism of our Church says, “the right to the exercise of freedom, especially in religious and moral matters, is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of man. But the exercise of freedom does not entail the right to say or do anything.”

Moral theologians speak of two types of freedom. One is what they call the freedom of indifference - which is the freedom that says, “I can do whatever I want.” The other freedom spoken of is what is called the “freedom for excellence” - this is the freedom to pursue the good, to pursue the moral excellence for which we were made. Again, The Catechism says, “Freedom attains its proper perfection when it is directed toward God, the highest good… The choice of evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to the slavery of sin.”

With the gift of freedom that we experience, comes great responsibility to use our freedom for the glory of God and for the benefit of our neighbor. May God give us the grace to never use our freedom for evil but only for the good.

On July 9th, we are welcoming Fr. Nick Froehle back to the Parish to celebrate his Mass of Thanksgiving. Fr. Nick has spent the last four years assigned to our Parish. It has been an honor to work with him and he is going to be a great gift to the Church as a priest. Fr. Nick has been assigned to St. Ambrose Parish in Woodbury. Coincidentally, that is the parish where Fr. Stan Mader is Pastor. Let’s pray that God blesses Fr. Nick as he begins his priestly ministry.

God bless, Fr. Tony