Freedom in Catholic Families

Freedom is my birthright and I will have it.

  I saw a TV show about travelling challenges. There all were young people were from London. A young lady of age 18 was introducing herself. She said the show was a big opportunity for her because she was born and brought up in a Christian Household and hence didn't have any "Freedom". And this was her opportunity to do what she wanted and live freely.  To me it seemed as if she was saying that her Christian had choked her up and didn't give her any freedom.

Catholic Family at birthday

 Does Christian families don't give freedom to their children? To answer that question we must know what is “freedom” after all?

  “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” -Victor



Freedom is a power to choose what is right and what I want. I believe parents should not hold their children back from expressing themselves and doing what they think is right. But only sometimes they have to intervene to protect their children’s freedom. For example if a child may be led to drug addiction then the parents must intervene because drug addiction ultimately takes the freedom of choice. The person feels compelled to take drugs and do stuff that he does not want to do.


Whenever parents want to correct their children they must ask explanation from the child and give explanations for their own decisions only then teenagers could see some sense in rules else they will always be rebellious. The fruit of discipline is not what a person does under supervision but doing the right thing on his own without any supervision. So the real test for parents are not when their kids are with them but what they do when they grow up and not under any parental control.


Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better. -Albert Camus

John Henry Newman, a free confessor of faith.