"Freedom in the service of the good," freedom that allowed "itself to be led by the Spirit of God."

Too much autonomy was as likely to yield despotism as the hideous statist projects of the last century. True freedom, Benedict [XVI] taught, was something else. It was "freedom in the service of the good," freedom that allowed "itself to be led by the Spirit of God." To know what God wants and to bring oneself into conformity with the transcendent order of the universe, then, was freedom. That was the essence of Israel's joy, what set it apart from the pagans with their idols and god-emperors. The Christian, however, had the added joy of knowing the "face" of the law: self-sacrificial love. The road to fullest freedom ran through the Cross.

Sohab Amari; From Fire, By Water