So recently I have had a lot of conversations with some teens about mermaids. We have debated extensively on their existence and why they are a really cool creature, regardless of their actual existence. We also got into the topic of the movie the Little Mermaid and how it wasn’t a really good representation of mermaids in general. To which I disagreed with this teen because I absolutely adored the movie growing up. However after some recent conversations about consequences and listening to some wise words from Fr. Mike Schmitz, I am coming around to the idea that I really don’t care for the Little Mermaid as much as I thought I did.

The premise of the Little Mermaid if you haven’t already seen it is that Ariel is the daughter of Triton, the King of the Sea, and she as the princess can have whatever she wants except her father asks that she not visit the surface which she does anyways. Angry at her father for reprimanding her for her collection of thing-a-ma-bobs Ariel goes and makes a deal with Ursula, gets legs but cannot speak, and tries to woo prince Eric, after many obstacles she ends up winning the prince and the closing scene of the movie is King Triton and family waving goodbye and wishing Ariel and Eric well in their new married life together. A true happily ever after if I did see one.

While at first glance nothing seems wrong with this fairytale ending, I cannot help but recognize that Ariel truly lives in a fairytale world; a world with absolutely no consequences to her actions. Ariel disobeyed the one thing her father asked of her, not to go to the surface, and in the end she got rewarded for that action, she got a prince and a happily ever after (at least in Disney’s version that is).

As I reflect on this idea I cannot help but question, what happens when we disobey? When we use our “freedom” as license to do whatever we please? St. John Paul the Great once said, “Freedom is not the ability to do anything we want, whenever we want. Rather freedom is the ability to live responsibly the truth of our relationship with God and with one another” True freedom is the right to do what we ought.

Unlike Ariel, we do not live in a world without consequences. Our freedom is rooted in responsibility. As much as freedom gives us the ability to choose our actions, it does not give us the ability to choose the consequences of those actions. When we understand this freedom, we must recognize that it points to one very important truth, you matter, and the choices that you make matter. Yet our world tells us that our actions do not affect other people, that they only affect us and that is completely UNTRUE. Our actions, no matter how small they might seem, have an effect on other people. By our Baptism we have been invited into the Body of Christ, when one part of the body is hurting the whole body is hurting, when one part rejoices the whole body rejoices (1 Corinthians 12). My challenge to all of us is: Are we willing to live as part of something bigger than ourselves? To live as a part of the Body of Christ? Are we willing to recognize our responsibility to lead lives exerting our freedom, recognizing that our actions matter. This is no small task, but if we truly start to see all of our choices in light of the authentic freedom that God gives us. If we start to wield that freedom for good and not for our own self-gain, we will start to see a world transformed from a decidedly selfish stance to one of selflessness. Imagine what a world transformed by the gift of authentic freedom in Christ would look like. I am convinced that with each step we take towards living as the Body of Christ, that we will start to see a world living in true freedom.