1. Levels of Freedom

2. Objectives: Think: Understand the deeper meaning of the level of freedom Intuit: Predict man’s behavior in identifying the level of freedom Feel: Believe that man can develop higher level of freedom with the help of the Holy Spirit Do: Strive and actualize the higher level of freedom in daily activities

3. Communicate: Express in oral and written forms in striving to practice the higher level of freedom Lead: Organize an activity in striving to do the higher level of freedom Be: Prudent Christian in the pursuit of higher level of freedom

4. Sacred Scripture: The Temptation and the Fall Now the serpent was more shrewd than any of the wild animalsthat the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that God said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.’”

5. The serpent said to the woman, “Surely you will not die, for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

6. What did the serpent do to the woman? What does the serpent’s act symbolizes? Did the woman and man sin when they did not give in to the serpent’s invitation? Did the woman use her freedom? Why? Why not? Explain your answer. Dyad

7. Two levels of Freedom FREEDOM Freedom of Choice Fundamental Freedom

8. Freedom of Choice This freedom is echoed in the book of Sirach: “When God, in the beginning, created man, he made him subject to his own free choice. If you choose you can keep the commandments; it is loyalty to do his will. There are set before you fire and water; to whatever you choose, stretch forth your hand. Before man are life and death, whichever he chooses shall be given him” –Sir 15:14-17

9. Everyday of our lives, we are constantly making free choices. This capacity to choose from many different options will undoubtedly always be our primary experience of freedom Without freedom, man cannot even make a choice of what is morally good or evil To be free means that we have the capacity to choose, the power to choose from many things

10. This is the freedom “I am or I become” because of the moral choices that we make. Who we are today and will be in the future is based mostly on our free acts Our daily moral choices gradually form us into a unique person There is no other way of developing ourselves except through our free choices Fundamental Freedom

11. Example: If we always obey what our parents is telling us, then we become an obedient and responsible sons/daughters

12. The choices which we make everyday greatly affect our self-becoming. Summary:

13. Cut out two articles/reports from newspapers and magazines which deal with abuse of human freedom. Paste these on a short bond paper. For each clipping, write a caption which briefly describes the event. You us these guide questions to write your own reflection and comments about each event. How is freedom abused in this particular event or situation? In order to correct the situation, how should one exercise moral responsibility? Assignment

14. The Freedom Meter 1. The freedom meter should assess the degree of freedom of individuals and communities in a fairly consistent manner. This means that your invention needs a set of definite criteria to evaluate one’s degree of freedom. The criteria should include conditions that are present or absent in individuals and communities in order to become genuinely free. Based on your experiences and understanding of freedom, fill out the chart below with specific, definite criteria for evaluating the level of freedom of individuals and communities.

16. 2. Put your freedom meter on a test run by trying it on yourself. Reflect on and evaluate your own experience of freedom. In the given lines, explain why you think you have a high or low degree of freedom. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

17. 3. Try using the freedom meter to assess the degree of freedom of our country in general. Predict the machine’s evaluation of the degree of freedom in our nation. In the lines provided, explain the reasons why the machine might indicate a high or low degree of freedom in our country. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.