Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Contra Gentiles regarding the effects of the Holy Spirit on creatures:
[scg.bk.4.ch.20.par.1.sent.1] Hence the Holy Ghost is the cause of the creation: and this is indicated (Ps. ciii. 30): Send forth thy Spirit and they shall be created.
[scg.bk.4.ch.20.par.1.sent.1] Also, seeing that the Holy Ghost proceeds by way of love, and that love is an impelling and moving force, any movement that God causes in things is rightly appropriated to the Holy Ghost.
CHILDREN BORN INTO FREEDOM
As Aquinas brings to our attention that it is the Holy Spirit that makes possible creation, which means that at every instant in whcih we 'reside' in creation we are his debtors. In every possible phase of our life it is the Creator Spirit that calls us out of nothingness into being, that ratifies our existence and our existence among other in human society and among all God's creation.
As we look at the many kinds of freedom that are available to God's creatures we see more deeply into the working of the Holy Spirit in giving us a 'choice' among the many good things that come to us daily. Freedom in America has always been understood as the ability to make one's dream come true, speaking simply as a national dream come true, but there are also more deep considerations in the word freedom which we have been given: the freedom to pursue happiness, the pursuit of religious freedom, the freedom of speech. Each one of these freedoms has also some responsibilities to them. But the essential consideration is: what is the source of our freedom? Where does it come from? Does our freedom in America have at its root a different source than freeodm of the European peoples, the African people's, the Asian people's, etc? It doesn't seem reasonable that someone would consider that human freedom is absolutely equal to American freedom. At the same time, there must be essential differences between human freedom as it is in itself, availabel to every man and woman and American freedom available to only Americans.
I PLACE BEFORE YOU LIFE AND DEATH, CHOOSE LIFE
In the Bible God tells his Chosen people, I place before you today life and death, choose life. So we know where the WORD of GOD stands in reference to the use of our freedom, he stands for life. In the passage above, we have St. Thomas advocating the God of life who being the principle of life moves each and every human to life not death. Someone may want to understand more clearly what this life is in which God speaks about. On the other hand, it cannto be a life that it devoid of reason or is discordant to reason otherwise the God of life who is the exemplar of every good and who places the desire of these good things in mankind would be working against himself, which is impossible. God is truth. Therefore, the God of Life who advocates life not death must be in accordance with the demans of reason and not irrational desires.
Furthermore, life means growth and change. The God of life and freedom would advocate growth and change in the human good which is also in accord with reason; that is, where we see the possibility of choosing the grades of life over death God would have to be present. For example, for a child with learning disabilities to have the freedom in school to change form one curriculm to another more challenging one according to his potential to learn would be a reasonable desire uphelp by God's laws and the freedom of an American student with learning disabilities.
Take for another example the rights every American citizen has to pursue his own education. A personn has a choice to make. He can choose between different universities, different places according to his likes or expenses; today there are online universities where a person can learn form the comfort of their home or at a local trade school, 2 or 4 year college. Lastly, a person can pursue graduate adn post graduate degrees in many fields. All of these possibilities are within the 'choices' of an American citizen. Do these choices bring one freedom? Can any one of these choices bring a person to that true freedom which is available to every person, regardless of age, race or color; that is, anyone who may be or become a citizen of the United States?
In this respect I think that Thomas Aquinas gives to us something which we have to consider here; that is, that the essence of and the substance of our very freedom apart from the Constitutions come form a higher power altogether. Furthermore, that this very power which granted to the United States founding fathers was of this same power; that is, the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the reason for quoting at the beginning of our reflecitons here that our essential cause for being a citizen in the United States is the Holy Spirit. As Aquinas clearly presents:
[scg.bk.4.ch.20.par.1.sent.1] Also, seeing that the Holy Ghost proceeds by way of love, and that love is an impelling and moving force, any movement that God causes in things is rightly appropriated to the Holy Ghost.
I mean that the love which moved the founding fathers of this country to start what they considered a land of freedom and democracy was itself a derivative of the freedom of choice that is given to every human being. What Aquinas calls an essential charater of love as an 'impelling and moving force' must be looked at more carefully in order to establish what teh Holy Spirit was accomplishing in the early founding of America. Then perhaps other questions could be faced: Is America in conjunction with the original freedom of choice which the founding Fathers experienced and understood and judged and took responsibility for when they established this democratic society we call the United States of America?
I do not say that I have an answer for this altogether. What I do say is that without the Holy Spirit, according to the teaching of the CatholicChurch and the Fathers of the Church there cannot be true freedom nor a true expression of it. On the other hand, how does someone know when he is making a free choice that is in accord with the Holy Spirit? the Apostles had this problem. After Jesus died and was not yet revealed as arisen from the dead the Apostles decided to return fishing. It seems that they had the use of natural reason, but perhaps they could not see further than this. There was some significant event that took place, which is detailed in the Acts of the Apostles which is reltated to as Pentecost. There was a profound change in the Apostles and followers fo Jesus at this time and it was something that, according to the promise of Jesus, would take place. But there was a period of preparation, of gestation.
Is it right to ask, has America had its Pentecost? Some say it has? Surely the gift of giving birth to a nation that is as poweful as America is today, as such a world power cannot go unnoticed. In other words, something very powerful gave the power to each of the founding fathers, 'impelled them and move them,' again using the words of Aquinas, to produce in their minds and hearts for the future generation in which they were doing this to circumvent and outline in advance such a nation as they conceived it to be and to become. There must be admitted that this force was greater than anyone of them and all together. But what they created was not opposed to human reason nor the fond hearts of every person pursuing the good of life; that is, they sought what every man would naturally seek. On the other hand it does not seem to fit within the category of reasonableness to consider some of the things that America has produced within itself to fall within this boundary of the overall human good, though 'some' may call these events happiness or freedom.
Perhaps the judiciary system comes into play in this consideration; that is, there is a dialectic that take splace in the interaction of human freedoms; that is individuals who have a common freedom but desire to ecxpress it in different ways. We cann ot imagine that the founding Fathers had in mind every possible freedom that would ever be expressed in America adn all that this would mean. I believe that this brings into play the very significant role of religion in America. That elements which cannot be fully explained by human reason alone, but yet is at work in our freedom.
Of course this is the age-old question which has been asked hundreds of years before America was born. The Europeans, Asians, Meditteranean peoples all have always asked this question.
IP CRL
2:21:14 PM.
