Question on Free Will

Free will is an indispensable component in any ethical discussion. Had man possessed no free will, he would not have been held responsible for any wrong he did. Nor would any of his good deeds have merited any praise and honour. If a person is doing something over which he has no control, say he is only a front-end ATM terminal, dispensing bank-notes to needy earthquake victims in  Sichuan, what merit does he gain? Similarly, if a person is carrying out orders from somebody higher above to butcher the prisoners of war, what moral responsibility can we hold him?
This probably explains why God allows evils and sufferings to occur without intervening. God respects the free-will of human beings. He does not want to infringe on our freedom. He wants us to respond to His love freely. It is meaningless to force somebody to love you. This love cannot be true. There is no respect, no knowledge, no growth and no freedom. Had God created robots instead of free human being, the world would have been a perfect world without pains and evils. But I suspect that it would be a very boring world. It would not be challenging enough for God and His creatures. God wants us to be mature and responsible.
In the gospel reading today, Fr. John Kwan pointed out this simple fact about God. God respects our free-will.
The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son,
and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come.
Again he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have made ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.'
But they made light of it and went off, one to his farm, another to his business,
while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.
The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city (Matthew 22:2-7).
God invites us to join His heavenly banquet. But He respects our freedom. One of us will go off to his farm, another to his business. In the end, God did not punish them. He only sent troops to destroyed the murderers of his prophets and burned their city. As for the others, they have the freedom to reject God's invitation at their own expense.
In view of the recent global financial meltdown, Fr. John Kwan was very capable of relating the current issues with the Biblical text. He made use of St. Paul's epistle to the Philippians to encourage us the face this meltdown.
I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want.
I can do all things in him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:12-13).
He advised us to make good use of the spare time we gain in this meltdown with our family members, the kids and the aged. When the economy prospers, we are too busy making money and ignore the kids and the aged. Nowadays, it is a golden opportunity to mend fences, to cement our bonds.

My dear Advocate, very often, we abuse the freedom You gave us and consequently hurt ourselves. Knowing the truth is not enough. Allow us to love the truth and eager to live up the truth. Amen.