One of the most important concepts to us culturally here in America is freedom. The problem is how we define it. Many would define it as the ability to do whatever I want.
The first reading today reminds us "that through death he(Jesus) might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the Devil, and free those who through fear of death had been subject to slavery all their life."
True freedom from the Christian perspective is something more than other people letting me do what I want, but a freedom that is rooted at the core of our being. Freedom from those fears that lead us to do things we know are wrong, the fears that reach their pentacle in fear of death.
The Letter to the Hebrews understands that some of our worst choices have been and are those choices that we make in moments of fear. When we are afraid we can tend to push our Christianity to the back of our mind, and react from our most primitive instincts.
Today we are reminded that by his death Christ has freed us. Let us not give into our fears and make ourselves slaves again.
