There can be no true freedom without freedom from the dictatorship of sin, and that means surrendering the sovereignty and independence of one’s soul to Our Blessed Lord. For we can achieve this freedom, not when we are constantly at the beck and call of every wrong desire and unworthy impulse, but when we shake ourselves clear of all that and obey the will of God by thinking and saying and doing only what is pleasing to him.

Only by complete submission to him can we gain complete liberty. His service is perfect freedom, or, to put that truth in its original form, “to serve him is to reign as kings”; and that, not only in this life, but also in the life to come. As Our Blessed Lord has said, “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour” (NRSV, John 12:26, our emphasis).