In today’s General Audience, and continuing his catechesis on the Letter to the Galatians, Pope Francis dealt with “Christian freedom”.

Newsroom (07/10/2021 16:30, Gaudium Press) In the text, the Apostle Paul “invites Christians to remain steadfast in the freedom they have received through baptism, without allowing themselves to be put back under the ‘yoke of slavery'” (Gal 5:1).

“St Paul’s teaching on freedom is above all positive,” says the Bishop of Rome. “The appeal consists in remaining in Jesus, the source of the truth that sets us free. Christian freedom, therefore, is based on two fundamental pillars: first, the grace of the Lord Jesus; second, the truth that Christ reveals to us and which is himself,” the Pontiff stated.

Freedom in Christ is that in which “the fruits of new life spring forth according to the Spirit,” the Pope said, and then stated: “We are freed from the slavery of sin through the Cross of Christ. Precisely in it, where Jesus let himself be preached, made himself a slave, God placed the source of man’s liberation.”

“Jesus achieves his full freedom by giving himself up to death; he knows that only in this way can he obtain life for all,” Francis insists.

The truth that sets us free

To be free, we must take up Christ and his truth, and this we must do throughout our existence: “The path of truth and freedom is tiring and lasts a lifetime. It is difficult to remain free, it is hard; but it is not impossible.

Pope Francis encouraged the faithful to continue “let’s go forward, it will do us good. It is a path on which we are guided and supported by the Love that comes from the Cross: the Love that reveals the truth and gives us freedom. And this is the way to happiness. Freedom makes us free, makes us joyful, makes us happy”.

With information from Vatican News