As we recognize the great gift of freedom that we enjoy, we also know that we have the responsibility to use it properly and well.

Indeed, the choices we make in the use of our freedom are fundamental to achieving our life's mission: we choose to tap into the opportunities open to us; we choose to expand the options available to us; and we choose the initiatives which enable us to pursue effectively the options we had selected. In all these choices, we do not lose sight of what we are living and working for; we keep our focus on our personal mission. This calls for a deep sense of responsibility:

First and foremost to our father, God, whom we profess to love. With our whole heart and mind, we make the choices that please him, i.e. those choices that conform to what he wants us to do. We take note of his laws and decrees, his commandments and instructions, starting with those he has revealed to us and including those he teaches us through the institution he left behind with the authority to teach and preach in his behalf. Moreover, those duties that our station in life imposes on us are a clear indication of what we must do, following his (God's) will.

Second, to ourselves. This may come as a surprise, but we do have a serious responsibility to take good care of ourselves. This responsibility urges us to use all of our talents and to sharpen them so we can expand our capacity to be of service to God and to all others. Indeed, this responsibility is for the proper use of our freedom: to work well and study hard, continuously and all throughout our life; to expand our horizons and broaden our heart and mind; to ensure that we have a sound mind in a sound body; and therefore to make decisions and take action well within the moral and legal norms we are called upon to observe.

Third, to others, starting with those who are closest to us, e.g. our family and those others we work and live with. As the good book instructs us, we have to love the others as much as we love ourselves. On the basis of such love and care, we are in a continuous search for ways and means by which to serve others: to give them what they need; to provide for whatever may make their life a bit more pleasant and comfortable; and above all, to show our love and concern for them through many details of affection and due consideration that we can shower upon them.

With responsibility come transparency and accountability.

Transparency is openness: from God we never hide anything; and we openly go to him for everything. When we are wounded, we go to him for healing; when in need, we go to him for help; and when in receipt of favours and blessings, we get back to him with deep thanks. And always, we offer the adoration that is due to him.

Moreover, we try to be honest and objective about ourselves: even as we keep trying to strengthen ourselves, we also recognize that we are weak in many respects. And with others, we are always sincere: no double face, but ever sensitive to, and accommodating of, their preferences, and even their whims and occasional caprices.

Accountability is commitment to a level of performance in line with expectations. Our word is our bond; and once given, we try to live up to it. We do our level best to keep the faith and trust of others, in part because we deliver what we had promised, and we act by what we had said. We take the consequences of our failure; and we give to everyone what we owe them, and when possible, even more than what we owed.

In sum, since responsibility always comes with freedom, we pursue our life's mission in freedom, knowing that it is not license.

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Freedom, responsibility