"Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s"

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Few things are quite so difficult as being a truly moral person. Why is that? The essence of morality is love. The difficulty comes in the fact doing this is anomalous to the culture, to our tendencies born of our selfishness, and to some of the spiritual realities we encounter. Love is often misdefined, but essential is acting and hoping toward the good of others independent of what it means for ourselves. Morality is not principle the avoidance of what is worst, nor even of bad, but acting for best. Happiness flows from being truly free to do what is right and doing it often. Thus it is not an end but a means. There is nothing more you need than what you have to be happy. What keeps us from it? Since love is the greatest possible definition of morality, it presupposes freedom.

Detachment is a prerequisite to the moral life, once attained only imperfection impedes a relationship with God, and it “shines forth” for and becomes attractive to others. Morality flows from freedom.[1] In fact, without the freedom to choose or not to choose, neither love, morality, nor virtue is a relevant topic of discussion. It is through freedom that morality gains a purpose.[2] Likewise, it is through morality and love that freedom reaps its highest reward and ultimate end, eternal life.[3] Thus, at the attainment of this freedom/detachment we are free to do what is just, and beyond that, what is loving.[4] If we can love then we are free to act as God would have us act, which is always love (cf. Luke 9:23).[5] Therefore, a lack of freedom due to attachment can no longer restrain us from becoming “a living sacrifice” for God (Romans 12:1).[6] We are no longer held back in our ability to love God as we are called. Thus, our only hindrance is our lack of perfection in doing so. Insofar as the latter is true, the effort to become detached/free from sin and/or earthly realities/goods is at least fundamentally obligatory in terms of both morality and the two greatest commandments (cf. Matthew 22:39-40). The life lived unreservedly for God is one that “shine(s) before men”(Matthew 5:14).[7] Through those who live out of this vocation, they bear in themselves at least a part of the vocation of the Church, the Lumen Gentium(light to the nations/peoples). “Christ is the Light of nations...the Holy Spirit eagerly desires, by proclaiming the Gospel to every creature, to bring the light of Christ to all men…the present-day conditions of the world add greater urgency to this work of the Church” [8] Since Christians are obliged to give “an account for the hope that is in you”(cf. 1 Peter 3:15-20, cf. Acts of the Apostles 18:9), it is necessary for the salvation of those in our closest proximity, that we authentically live this joy which comes from the faith, hope, and love we are given by God. Therefore, morality requires detachment, it disproportionately helps one’s relationship with God, and the salvation of one’s friends may easily be helped by one’s life of detachment.

In conclusion, detachment is often disparaged due to the effort it may demand. However, it should be accomplished with God’s grace, love, and the joy that comes from freedom for the radical possibility of love. Morality cannot be accomplished without detachment from the fleeting and vain things of sense. Attachment to such is frequently felt to be normal, yet there are clear instances of attachment such as addiction. Detachment may be required for entrance into heaven, yet what is necessary for heaven, becomes light and easy with God’s love. It is in and for that relationship with God that detachment/freedom finds the height of its expression. Living authentically in a loving relationship with God, His love, His gifts, and the joy that it precipitates is incongruous to the present day. Joy, with such a source, confounds a culture the insists upon the indulgence of the senses far beyond temperance in the attainment of happiness. Yet, the difference remains, blessed detachment, brings joy as a means and not just as an end as the culture’s recommendation does.

  1. Carter, Alan. “Morality and Freedom.” The Philosophical Quarterly 53, no. 211 (April 2003), 161.
  2. CCC, 1731-2
  3. Carter, Alan. “Morality and Freedom.” The Philosophical Quarterly 53, no. 211 (April 2003), 162..; CCC, 1749, 1730.
  4. CCC, 1717
  5. CCC, 1828
  6. CCC, 2031
  7. Cf. CCC, 1243
  8. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium (21 November 1964), 1.

I am a created entity, not a person.

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