“Porque me da la gana!” In his book Friends of God, St. Josemaría writes, “I opt for God because I want to, freely, without compulsion of any kind.” But how can we teach our children to use their freedom for the good in this whole-hearted way? For that matter, how can we as adults orient our wills toward the same?

In this episode of HeightsCast, Headmaster Alvaro de Vicente explores the delicate relationship between obedience and freedom. He provides us with a framework to think about man’s condition of freedom, and how we as parents can transition our children forward from obedience to the rest of the virtues.

Chapters:

• 3:03 The universe as a playground of freedom
• 5:49 Our parenting goal of becoming dispensable
• 7:34 External freedom: liberties granted by external forces
• 19:37 Internal freedom: purposeful self-determination
• 26:00 Obedience as a temporary training ground for internal freedom
• 29:57 Avoiding parent perfectionism
• 32:07 The apostolate of imperfect dinners
• 33:02 Being models for our children
• 34:47 The importance of predictability
• 36:51 “Porque me da la gana”: because I deeply want to
• 42:12 Parenting is an art, not a science

Links:

• Introduction to Christianity by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict)
• Pastoral Letter from February 10, 2024 by Fernando Ocáriz, Prelate of Opus Dei

Also on the Forum:

• Freedom in the Upper School by Rich Moss
• Why Boys Need to Be Given Freedom by Andrew Reed
• Moral Imagination, part I with Alvaro de Vicente
• Moral Imagination, part II with Alvaro de Vicente