ot long ago I happened to be engaged in an interesting conversation with some young adults, and the subject of our exchange was the idea of freedom: a term so widely used, but seemingly not easy to define.

very person wants to be free, and such fundamental right is proclaimed in every declaration of basic rights adopted by national and international legislation: slavery, for instance, is (at least officially!) universally condemned. But also when one is not held in bondage, that person wants to be free to think, to speak and to act according to his or her choice.

wo elements surfaced at this point in the conversation: first the presence of restrictions and limitation on one's ability to choose at one's will; and then the realization that while "freedom" is an innate right of the human beings, it is also a process that grows with the individual: one is "born free", but also one "becomes free". An infant has already in itself the fundamental right to freedom, but the exercise of its freedom will be gradual and conditioned by its development; likewise a nation may have gained freedom from external domination, but it still has duty to become a truly free society where every person is emancipated.

" here can be all sorts of restrictions imposed on a person (slavery is not the only one). Situations of injustice, of oppression, of misery, of sickness, of lack of education, are still holding today many people in a kind of bondage and urgently demand action to correct them. But there are also many laws, such as civil legislations, societal customs, religious prescriptions that control, and even prevent, the exercise of a person's ability to choose at one's will. They are the result, in most cases, of the centuries-long experience of all social groups in seeking and protecting the common good, with a view to prevent that the choices made by individuals will harm or deny the freedom and well-being of others. In the vast majority these are very wise and useful rules that tell us to make good choices and it would be foolhardy to dismiss them, unless they were proven to contradict their own purpose.

s our conversation continued, it moved to examine the concept of "free choice", still regarded as essential to the idea and exercise of freedom, but also somehow tricky. Is, by itself, the "ability to choose" a sufficient reason for the choice one makes? Does not the "quality of the choice" determine its value? We are always faced with choices, some rather insignificant, others of great importance. If, for instance, a person irritates me, I am able to choose to reason with him or to strike him with violence: would not the first choice be the better one and worthy of a genuinely free person? If someone is drowning at sea and I am a good swimmer, should my choice be to ignore him or to go his rescue? would not the second choice be better?

t came back to mind the definition that Thomas Aquinas gave of human freedom: "the ability to make the best choice"; not simply "choice", but the "best of choices" possible. Another question then arose: how do I determine which of my choices is the best or better? The immediate judge of that is one's conscience (and that is where freedom really lies and grows), but conscience needs to be formed and educated. Parents, teachers, the community and society where one lives, are all agents of such education. And the one who can really form and judge my conscience is God himself.

reedom involves two distinctive and interconnected levels: the need and right of each person to be FREED FROM whatever or whomever holds him in bondage in order to be FREE FOR what one can and wants to choose. In the first of these two moments the individual is the recipient of a sort of "liberation": a slave is ransomed, a prisoner is released, a sick person is cured, a baby grows into a mature adult, an uninformed is educated, etc. As a consequence of and in the measure in which this first phase is achieved, the person comes to the second stage and becomes "free for" his choices, able "to make the best choices". At this point the individual becomes the principal agent of the process: it is his precious privilege and his awesome duty to maintain and exercise his freedom.

here is, in this regard, a most instructive passage in the Gospel. «Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him: "If you live according to my teaching, you are truly my disciples: then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free". They answered him: "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves to anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" Jesus replied: "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed"» (John 8: 31-36).