“Some people barricade themselves behind their freedom. ‘My freedom! My freedom!’ they cry. They have their freedom, but they don't use it. They look at it, they set it up, a clay idol for their petty minds to worship. Is this freedom? What use is this treasure to them, if there is no commitment guiding their whole life?
“They are left aimless, with no clear path to guide their footsteps on this earth. You and I have met such people. They then let themselves be carried away by childish vanity, by selfish conceit, by sensuality.
“Their freedom turns out to be barren, or produces fruits which even humanly speaking are ridiculous. A person who does not choose, with complete freedom, an upright code of conduct, sooner or later ends up being manipulated by others. He will lead a lazy, parasitic existence, at the mercy of what others decide. He will let himself be blown to and fro by any wind whatsoever, and it will always be others who make up his mind for him.
“These are waterless clouds, carried hither and thither by the winds, autumn trees that bear no fruit, doubly dead and rootless, even though they may try to disguise their lack of character, courage, and honesty behind a smokescreen of constant chatter and excuses.” St Josemaría
We give more glory to God by offering him our best talents as a holocaust, than by making vain use of them. As with the sacrifice of Abel, God is pleased when we offer him the best that we have, what we value most. Nothing is too great to give him.
Since our will is the most personal of our possessions, we ask the Holy Spirit to teach us to put our will totally at God's disposal. This is the best way of exercising our freedom. Our Lord, because he was the Son of God, did not think it beneath him to take the form of a slave; and we too will try to give ourselves unconditionally into the hands of our Father God.