‘Even if others want to deprive you of your external freedom, no one can ever take away your inner freedom’ (Inner Word).
These words should serve as comfort when our faith is under pressure or even suffers specific persecution. Many Christians have already experienced this situation, and many will still have to live through it. ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it’ says the Gospel according to St John (Jn 1:5). And the darkness not only refused to receive the light, but often fought against it with active hostility.
But even for such situations, our Father has left us a way open, for in the midst of tribulations and persecutions we can always enter our ‘inner temple,’ where the Holy Trinity has established its dwelling place. This inner sanctuary of the soul cannot be accessed by enemy powers, whether they be evil spirits or people in the service of darkness.
It is wise to familiarise ourselves now with this inner space of our soul, where freedom cannot be restricted from outside. This inner temple is formed through prayer and intimate contact with our Heavenly Father. The more at home we feel in this sanctuary, the easier it will be for us to perceive any attempt to restrict our freedom and to counter it appropriately.
Certainly, restrictions on freedom are not only imposed from outside, but can also manifest themselves in fear of man, in unjustified expectations placed on us, in various forms of disordered attachment to certain things or people, etc.
But even these deficiencies of personal freedom can be dissolved and overcome through inner dialogue with our Heavenly Father, in whom all sources of true freedom are contained. If we adhere to our beloved Father in everything, what Jesus assured us will become reality: “if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (Jn 8:36).