Thursday 31 December 2020

NEWNESS OF THE NEW YEAR IS THAT WE ARE A NEW CREATION

20210101 NEWNESS OF THE NEW YEAR IS THAT WE ARE A NEW CREATION

01 January, 2021, Friday, Mary, Mother of God

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: White.

First reading

Numbers 6:22-27 ©

They are to call down my name on the sons of Israel, and I will bless them

The Lord spoke to Moses and said, ‘Say this to Aaron and his sons: “This is how you are to bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you.

May the Lord uncover his face to you and bring you peace.”

This is how they are to call down my name on the sons of Israel, and I will bless them.’

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 66(67):2-3,5,6,8 ©

O God, be gracious and bless us.

O God, be gracious and bless us

and let your face shed its light upon us.

So will your ways be known upon earth

and all nations learn your saving help.

O God, be gracious and bless us.

Let the nations be glad and exult

for you rule the world with justice.

With fairness you rule the peoples,

you guide the nations on earth.

O God, be gracious and bless us.

Let the peoples praise you, O God;

let all the peoples praise you.

May God still give us his blessing

till the ends of the earth revere him.

O God, be gracious and bless us.

Second reading

Galatians 4:4-7 ©

God sent his Son, born of a woman

When the appointed time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born a subject of the Law, to redeem the subjects of the Law and to enable us to be adopted as sons. The proof that you are sons is that God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts: the Spirit that cries, ‘Abba, Father’, and it is this that makes you a son, you are not a slave any more; and if God has made you son, then he has made you heir.

Gospel Acclamation

Heb1:1-2

Alleluia, alleluia!

At various times in the past

and in various different ways,

God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets;

but in our own time, the last days,

he has spoken to us through his Son.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 2:16-21 ©

The shepherds hurried to Bethlehem and found the baby lying in the manger

The shepherds hurried away to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw the child they repeated what they had been told about him, and everyone who heard it was astonished at what the shepherds had to say. As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen; it was exactly as they had been told.

When the eighth day came and the child was to be circumcised, they gave him the name Jesus, the name the angel had given him before his conception.

NEWNESS OF THE NEW YEAR IS THAT WE ARE A NEW CREATION

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [NUMBERS 6:22-27; GALATIANS 4:4-7; LUKE 2:16-21]

We are celebrating the beginning of the New Year with the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God. The first day of the year is also celebrated by the Church as the World Day of Peace. How do we bring these three events together? The first is merely a secular event of commemorating the first day of the calendar year, the second is a liturgical event and the third is both secular and also deeply spiritual since peace is desired by every human person and every nation. These three celebrations can be brought under the theme of Newness.

What is so new about the New Year? It is new insofar as it is a new day at the beginning of another year, as established by the Gregorian Calendar, even though the world gives it a secular name of “Common Era”, as secularists seek to dissociate anything that smacks of religious affiliation. Yet, the truth remains that the so-called Common Era is historically linked to the Christian Year which we call, B.C “Before Christ” which the world now called BCE “Before Common Era and AD, “After Christ”. Whether, we like it or not, the truth remains that with the coming of Christ, the world has been radically transformed and re-oriented. Clearly, there is a distinction before Christ and after Christ.

This is what St Paul meant when he wrote, “when the appointed time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born a subject of the Law, to redeem the subjects of the Law and to enable us to be adopted as sons.” This appointed time refers to the incarnation, birth, passion and death of our Lord. Christ’s coming has made the world new and creation is once again given a new direction after losing its way because of sin. Indeed, before the coming of Christ, after the sin of Adam and Eve, the world started to lose its purpose and direction in life. Sin has resulted in disorder, killing and immorality. Adam belonged to the old creation. He failed to observe the law of God and brought about the Fall. Since then, humanity has degenerated in moral values. There is no peace but division.

Over the history of humanity, God sought to keep His people in grace by giving them chance after chance, by giving them a new beginning. This began with the Covenant with Noah and then Abraham and finally with Moses. With Moses, the Old Covenant was established with Israel being the Chosen People of God, destined to lead the world back to God. “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (Isa 49:6) But on hindsight, God was actually preparing Israel who behaved like a child to full maturity in Christ. (cf Gal 4:1-3)

What did Christ’s coming do to transform humanity and the world? We have become a New Creation. He made us sharers of God’s divine nature and life, without us becoming God. The term St Paul used is adoption as God’s children. In Christ, we are no longer just creatures of God or even just the sons of Israel, but we are God’s children in Christ. Christ established a new order which overwrote the old order in Adam. Jesus is the Son of God whereas Adam was only God’s creation. Jesus did not come from Adam but from the New Eve, unlike the Old Eve who came from the side of Adam. Eve was responsible for the Fall because of her disobedience to God. The New Eve, Mary, made it possible for Christ’s coming to save us because of her obedience to God and to the Law.

So we are now God’s adopted sons and daughters. We have regained our dignity as God’s children, which Adam lost because of sin. The incarnation and the birth of our Lord prepared the world to be recreated in Christ so that we can realize the original plan that God had for us. In Christ’s birth and His assumption of our humanity, He made it possible for us to be raised to share in His divine life. Indeed, God became man in Jesus so that we can become God’s children in Him. And this privilege is given to all who are baptized in Christ Jesus. It is no longer, as in the Old Covenant, confined to a particular race, the Jews. This is because in Christ, we are no longer subjects under the law but in Christ.

How is this possible? How did Jesus free us from the Old Law and make us all, Jews and Gentiles alike, adopted children of God? Firstly, by assuming our humanity, He elevated us to share in His divinity. This is why today the Church commemorates the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. In this dogma declared in the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD, Jesus is called the “theotokos” the “God-bearer”. Jesus is one person, God and man at the same time. Jesus was truly the Son of God and the Son of Mary. We are speaking of the same person who had both divine and human natures. Hence, as God, Jesus was not bound by the Law. He was not a subject of the Law as He belonged to God. By sharing in the life of Christ, we too are freed from being subjects of the Law. We are not slaves of the Law because we share in the life of Christ.

Secondly, unlike Jesus, we all stand condemned because of our sins. We all live under the curse of the Law because we cannot keep the Law perfectly. Jesus showed us how to keep the Law because He lived the Law perfectly in His life. But He did not obey the Law so that He could earn His salvation. Rather, His obedience to the Law was an expression of His love for His Father. Even though Jesus could keep the Law perfectly, He carried within Himself the conditions of sinful humanity. He was subjected to the same temptations, suffering, loneliness, betrayal and disappointments. Although divine, He was fully human, sharing in our humanity and struggles so that He can lead us to overcome our sins, lest we say that we cannot overcome temptations because we are not divine like Him. The truth is that He did God’s divine will by using His human will in response to His Father’s love.

Indeed, the great thing about Jesus was that He fulfilled the Law perfectly whilst carrying our human weaknesses in Him. This is why St Paul said, He redeemed those under the Law so that we can receive our full adoption as God’s sons and daughters. As God, Jesus gave us His Spirit of sonship. As man, He was able to represent us all and redeem humanity. And we know that we are set free from the Law because of His Spirit living in us. St Paul wrote, “The proof that you are sons is that God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts: the Spirit that cries, ‘Abba, Father’, and it is this that makes you a son, you are not a slave anymore; and if God has made you son, then he has made you heir.” It is the bestowal of God’s Spirit that makes us His adopted sons and daughters. This is what makes New Year really new! We are a new creation in Christ chosen for God. (cf Eph 2:10) This is the “hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints.” (Eph 1:18)

Consequently, we are now required to live as God’s sons and daughters. The gospel gives us a picture of how Christ the Son of God chose to be born in poverty.The King of Kings was not born in the palace but in a manger, resting on a feeding-trough for cattle as there was no place for Him in the inn. Unlike Matthew, in Luke’s gospel, He was stripped of every comfort and was without any gifts. God wants to be identified with us in our humanity so that He can teach us the true meaning of sonship, which is to live in solidarity with our brothers and sisters, those who are poor and suffering. We are called to be like Jesus living for others, sharing in the lives of others, lifting up their suffering and helping them to find their true identity in Christ so that they too can truly live a dignified life in Christ and be set free from sin and slavery to the world. Clear of our calling to share in God’s life and love, we live with purpose, direction and also with the power that comes from the Spirit of Christ, empowering us to live out our sonship so that we bring true peace and justice in this world.

Wednesday 30 December 2020

OVERCOMING THE ANTI-CHRISTS BY WALKING WITH THE CHURCH

20201231 OVERCOMING THE ANTI-CHRISTS BY WALKING WITH THE CHURCH

31 December, 2020, Thursday, 7th Day Within the Octave of Christmas

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: White.

First reading

1 John 2:18-21 ©

You have been anointed by the Holy One

Children, these are the last days;

you were told that an Antichrist must come,

and now several antichrists have already appeared;

we know from this that these are the last days.

Those rivals of Christ came out of our own number, but they had never really belonged;

if they had belonged, they would have stayed with us;

but they left us, to prove that not one of them

ever belonged to us.

But you have been anointed by the Holy One,

and have all received the knowledge.

It is not because you do not know the truth that I am writing to you

but rather because you know it already

and know that no lie can come from the truth.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 95(96):1-2,11-13 ©

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.

O sing a new song to the Lord,

sing to the Lord all the earth.

O sing to the Lord, bless his name.

Proclaim his help day by day,

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad,

let the sea and all within it thunder praise,

let the land and all it bears rejoice,

all the trees of the wood shout for joy

at the presence of the Lord for he comes,

he comes to rule the earth.

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.

With justice he will rule the world,

he will judge the peoples with his truth.

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia!

A hallowed day has dawned upon us.

Come, you nations, worship the Lord,

for today a great light has shone down upon the earth.

Alleluia!

Or:

Jn1:14,12

Alleluia, alleluia!

The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.

To all who received him he gave power to become children of God.

Alleluia!

Gospel

John 1:1-18 ©

The Word was made flesh, and lived among us

In the beginning was the Word:

and the Word was with God

and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning.

Through him all things came to be,

not one thing had its being but through him.

All that came to be had life in him

and that life was the light of men,

a light that shines in the dark,

a light that darkness could not overpower.

A man came, sent by God.

His name was John.

He came as a witness,

as a witness to speak for the light,

so that everyone might believe through him.

He was not the light,

only a witness to speak for the light.

The Word was the true light

that enlightens all men;

and he was coming into the world.

He was in the world

that had its being through him,

and the world did not know him.

He came to his own domain

and his own people did not accept him.

But to all who did accept him

he gave power to become children of God,

to all who believe in the name of him

who was born not out of human stock

or urge of the flesh

or will of man

but of God himself.

The Word was made flesh,

he lived among us,

and we saw his glory,

the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father,

full of grace and truth.

John appears as his witness. He proclaims:

‘This is the one of whom I said:

He who comes after me ranks before me

because he existed before me.’

Indeed, from his fullness we have, all of us, received –

yes, grace in return for grace,

since, though the Law was given through Moses,

grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever seen God;

it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart,

who has made him known.

OVERCOMING THE ANTI-CHRISTS BY WALKING WITH THE CHURCH

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 JOHN 2:18-21; JOHN 1:1-18]

“Children, these are the last days; you were told that an Antichrist must come, and now several antichrists have already appeared; we know from this that these are the last days.” When St John wrote about the last days, it was in expectation of the second coming of Christ. In the early Church, there was this belief that Christ was coming any time soon. But at the same time, writing towards the end of the first century, St John, like St Paul, most likely came to realize that the Second Coming of Christ may not be so soon. Nevertheless, they were clearly cognizant that from the First Coming of Christ at His incarnation until the Second Coming of Christ in His glory, these would be the last days when the Anti-Christ would appear.

Indeed, right from the outset, the attempt to safeguard the unity of the Church was a great challenge as it is for us today, perhaps even more daunting than ever. Breaking the unity of the Church would go against the very plea and prayer of Jesus before He returned to the Father. He said, “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (Jn 17:20-23) So we can imagine the heartbreaking struggles of the early Church when John wrote, “Those rivals of Christ came out of our own number, but they had never really belonged; if they had belonged, they would have stayed with us; but they left us, to prove that not one of them ever belonged to us.”

Who are the anti-Christs today? Firstly, they refer to those Christians who are dividing the Christian community by their erroneous teaching of Christ. As happened during the time of St John, they caused much confusion to the flock of Christ and resulted in the division of the community. This is still happening today. In fact, doctrinal disunity and disagreement would always be a source of tension in the Church. This has resulted in the proliferation of so many Christian denominations in the world today. Whenever someone disagrees with the Church’s teaching, they would set up their own church. Today, not only do we have division among Christian churches but also within the Catholic Church. There are always attempts to break away from the Church simply because some people cannot accept the teaching of the magisterium. Doctrinal and moral disagreements caused the Church to be divided. Yet, it is difficult for us today to label those who disagree with the Church’s teaching as anti-Christ unless they go against the common Nicene creed of the Council of Nicea promulgated in 325 AD. Indeed, all those who break away from the Mother church do so believing that they are in possession of the truth. Regardless, in so far as we fail to seek dialogue in humility, we work against Christ because division contradicts and weakens the credibility of the gospel.

Secondly, more insidious are the anti-Christs of the secular world that is hostile to the Christian Faith and the gospel we proclaim. It is one thing to reject Jesus because one has yet to arrive in faith, but another thing to reject the gospel, the message of salvation, of truth and of love. The world is not just rejecting the gospel message but it is hostile to the Christian message of truth and love. The world is distorting the truth of love by promoting marriages that contradict the plan of God for humanity, building families without a foundation in strong and loving marriages, promoting the culture of death through war, armament race, abortion, euthanasia and destruction of embryos through experimentation. The world promotes an individualism based on self-interest without regard for the common good.

Most of all, the greatest anti-Christ is the promotion of satanism and legitimacy in slandering Christ and the Christian Faith and values. They are not just indifferent but hostile to the Faith. They are out to destroy, silence and threaten the spread of the gospel. In the name of freedom of expression, the entertainment world, through concerts, films and music mock Catholic and Christian beliefs in Christ, showing utter disregard for sacred signs and symbols belonging to the Christian Faith. Christianity is being ridiculed by radicals.

What do we do in the light of these anti-Christs around us? We need to be rooted in the Word of God. This is what St John wrote in the Gospel. “In the beginning was the Word: and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things came to be, not one thing had its being but through him. All that came to be had life in him and that life was the light of men, a light that shines in the dark, a light that darkness could not overpower.” Jesus is that true light of men and women. He is the “true light that enlightens all men.”

Although some religions also believe that God is Light and Truth, for us Christians, this Light has come in person in Jesus. “The Word was made flesh, he lived among us, and we saw his glory, the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.” In Jesus, we see the love and righteousness of God. For us, therefore, it means that we are to walk in truth and love to find life. This was what John wrote, “He was in the world that had its being through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own domain and his own people did not accept him. But to all who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to all who believe in the name of him who was born not out of human stock or urge of the flesh or will of man but of God himself.”

How, then, can we be sure that we are walking in truth and in love? St John says that truth and love have been given to the Christian Community. Jesus, before His departure from this world, said “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mt 28:20) He does this by sending us the Holy Spirit, for He said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” (Jn 16:13) This made St John say this of the Christians, “But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and have all received the knowledge. It is not because you do not know the truth that I am writing to you but rather because you know it already and know that no lie can come from the truth.”

Indeed, Vatican II teaches that this truth is preserved by “the entire body of the faithful, anointed as they are by the Holy One.” She “cannot err in matters of belief. They manifest this special property by means of the whole peoples’ supernatural discernment in matters of faith when ‘from the Bishops down to the last of the lay faithful’ they show universal agreement in matters of faith and morals.” This means that preservation of the truth also requires that we walk in perfect communion with the rest of the Church under the guidance of the magisterium. “That discernment in matters of faith is aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth. It is exercised under the guidance of the sacred teaching authority, in faithful and respectful obedience to which the people of God accepts that which is not just the word of men but truly the word of God. Through it, the people of God adheres unwaveringly to the faith given once and for all to the saints, penetrates it more deeply with right thinking, and applies it more fully in its life.” (Constitution of the Church, 12)

Secondly, it means walking in love and fellowship with fellow Christians as well. Without Christian fellowship, walking together in love by sharing our faith and the sacraments, we cannot remain in true fellowship with Christ and with each other. So to ensure that we walk in truth and love, the fundamental key is to be in unity with the Church, the Body of Christ. We cannot walk alone or without the guidance of the Church. Both the hierarchy of the Church and the common priesthood of the faithful must support each other in this journey of faith, all seeking for the fullness of truth in Christ and walking in charity.

Tuesday 29 December 2020

LOVING THE WORLD AS GOD LOVES THE WORLD

20201230 LOVING THE WORLD AS GOD LOVES THE WORLD

30 December, 2020, Wednesday, 6th Day Within the Octave of Christmas

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: White.

First reading

Observance of the will of God

I am writing to you, my own children,

whose sins have already been forgiven through his name;

I am writing to you, fathers,

who have come to know the one

who has existed since the beginning;

I am writing to you, young men,

who have already overcome the Evil One;

I have written to you, children,

because you already know the Father;

I have written to you, fathers,

because you have come to know the one

who has existed since the beginning;

I have written to you, young men,

because you are strong and God’s word has made its home in you,

and you have overcome the Evil One.

You must not love this passing world

or anything that is in the world.

The love of the Father cannot be

in any man who loves the world,

because nothing the world has to offer

– the sensual body,

the lustful eye,

pride in possessions –

could ever come from the Father

but only from the world;

and the world, with all it craves for,

is coming to an end;

but anyone who does the will of God

remains for ever.

Responsorial Psalm

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.

Give the Lord, you families of peoples,

give the Lord glory and power;

give the Lord the glory of his name.

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.

Bring an offering and enter his courts,

worship the Lord in his temple.

O earth, tremble before him.

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.

Proclaim to the nations: ‘God is king.’

The world he made firm in its place;

he will judge the peoples in fairness.

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.

Gospel Acclamation

Heb1:1-2

Alleluia, alleluia!

At various times in the past

and in various different ways,

God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets;

but in our own time, the last days,

he has spoken to us through his Son.

Alleluia!

Or:

Alleluia, alleluia!

A hallowed day has dawned upon us.

Come, you nations, worship the Lord,

for today a great light has shone down upon the earth.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Anna speaks of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem

There was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.

When they had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. Meanwhile the child grew to maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God’s favour was with him.

LOVING THE WORLD AS GOD LOVES THE WORLD

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 John 2:12-17; Ps 96:7-10; Luke 2:36-40]

In the gospel, St John wrote, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (Jn 3:16f) Christmas celebrates God’s love for the world and His desire to sanctify this world by making the world part of Himself. Indeed, it is God’s plan that creation and humanity reflect the beauty and the goodness of God’s love and wisdom. As the refrain in our responsorial psalm says, “Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.”

However, the world must be loved according to the way God loves the world and Christ loves us. Only then can this world be rightly appreciated and be used in a way that benefits humanity and the entire creation. We are called to be stewards of God’s creation, to be “fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” (Gn 1:28) Unfortunately, instead of being stewards, many of us have become slaves of the world. As a consequence, instead of using the world to glorify God, serve humanity and the common good, the world has become a source of temptation, distraction and destruction for us.

This is what St John is warning us in the first reading. Whilst on one hand, he underscored that Jesus the Son of God had come in the flesh, he was equally concerned about going to the other extreme of living only in the flesh. Hence, he wrote, “You must not love this passing world or anything that is in the world.” Thus, we must distinguish the use of the term “world.” It can be used in a positive sense to refer to the beauty of God’s creation, or in a negative sense as in allowing ourselves to be seduced by the world to satisfy our selfish and self-centered desires manifested, as St John said, in “the sensual body, the lustful eye, pride in possessions.”

Indeed, because we are constituted of matter, human beings desire comfort and sensual pleasures. We enjoy sex, food and drink, all the comforts of life. Many find difficulty in detachment from such pleasures and are often addicted to them. They are easily tempted to sex even outside marriage, excessive eating and drinking. The present generation is not interested so much in forming beautiful and lasting relationships but in physical love. This is why many relationships do not last because the emphasis is on pleasure, not sacrificial love. We are afraid of physical pain and discomfort. This is why we are so insecure that we do not have enough money to last us through our retirement because we cannot tolerate a life without the comforts of this world.

But physical pleasure is not sufficient to keep us satisfied. We are also tempted by the “lustful eye.” Our eyes make us desire things in life. Not only things, but also fame, wealth, power and glory. Seeing is the first step to conceiving something in our minds and in our hearts, which then gives birth to an action. Greed comes because of the lustful eyes which contaminate the mind. The eyes cause us to feel envious of others who have more. Eve was tempted in this manner. “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.” (Gn 3:6) This is how the Devil tempts us, by planting such desires in our minds.

But most of all, we are tempted by pride, which comes in the form of possessions. This is the main cause of pride. Possessions, not just in terms of material wealth but intellectual knowledge, power and glory. When we think we are self-sufficient, we become very proud of ourselves. We deceive ourselves into believing that we have full control over our lives and the lives of others. We listen to no one and trust only in ourselves. Pride is the greatest of all sins and the downfall of humanity. Pride leads to relativism, individualism and atheism. The world has become arrogant because we think we know what to do and we do not need God to rule our lives. We only know what is best for us and we know no laws. We rely on no one but ourselves and our power and knowledge.

Indeed, St John warns us, “The love of the Father cannot be in any man who loves the world, because nothing the world has to offercould ever come from the Father but only from the world; and the world, with all it craves for, is coming to an end; but anyone who does the will of God remains forever.” The truth is that this world is transitory. What this world offers cannot last. For those who seek after pleasure, the moment they are satisfied, the joy is over. There is emptiness after the euphoria. Only those who serve God and is true to His divine plan for creation and humanity will find true fulfillment and happiness. Those who seek the world will ultimately perish because the things of this world cannot last.

What, then, must we do to overcome the world and how can we use the world for the good of everyone? St John gives us three guidelines. Firstly, we need to encounter the Father’s love through forgiveness in Jesus. St John wrote, “I am writing to you, my own children, whose sins have already been forgiven through his name; I have written to you, children, because you already know the Father.” The birth of Christ is God’s gift to the world. Through Christ, His life, passion, death and resurrection will reveal to us the mercy of God. Therefore, we must begin by acknowledging our inadequacies and sinfulness. We do not have to be morally perfect because we are all sinners. But we can turn to Him knowing that He is there to guide us and lead us, and forgive us whenever we fall into sin. Humility in recognizing one’s inadequacy and dependence on God for His mercy and forgiveness is the beginning of a conversion experience. When we encounter His love and mercy, we are “children” in faith. This is just the beginning of the journey of faith.

Secondly, from encountering God’s love and mercy in Christ, we are called to make progress in our faith. This is the stage of youthfulness or adolescence when we grow in maturity in our knowledge of God and our Lord Jesus Christ. St John wrote, “I am writing to you, young men, who have already overcome the Evil One.” And how did they do it? St John said, “because you are strong and God’s word has made its home in you.” Finding foundation in God’s word is where we can safeguard ourselves. The Word of God remains for us our armor against the deceptions of the Evil One. “Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph 6:17)

Thirdly, our ultimate foundation is in God alone who is the source of all light, truth and good. Twice, St John wrote, “I am writing to you, fathers, who have come to know the one who has existed since the beginning.” When we come to realize that God is the source of life and therefore our goal as well, then we will not cling on to this world. We will accept creation as a gift from God and use it for His glory, reflecting His love and His goodness to us and the rest of humanity. We remain humble even when we are blessed with His gifts. In this way, we will never be attached to them as if they are the ultimate in life. At the end of the day, only God counts.

This is what the prophetess Anna is teaching us by her life. “She had been married for seven years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer.” She found solace and comfort in serving God for the rest of her life instead of lamenting the loss of her husband. She did not cling even to her husband. She was willing to let go and move on with her life. She knew where her true future and destiny lay. So when Jesus was presented at the temple, “she came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.” So let us learn from the Holy Family where Joseph and Mary walked the light by being faithful to the Laws, and Jesus who took time to grow in age and maturity, guided by His parents’ and with God’s favour upon Him.