20211230 CHRIST SAVES THE WORLD FROM WORLDLINESS
30 December, 2021, Thursday, 6th Day Within the Octave of Christmas
First reading | 1 John 2:12-17 © |
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 |
Psalm 95(96):7-10 © |
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 | Luke 2:36-40 © |
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.
CHRIST SAVES THE WORLD FROM WORLDLINESS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 John 2:12-17; Ps 96:7-10; Luke 2:36-40]
We are still in the Octave of Christmas and drawing out the implications of the incarnation. In Christ’s birth, God has assumed the world into Himself by sharing in our humanity through His Son, who is truly God and truly man. It means that the world is sanctified and sacred in the eyes of God. This is what 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.” (Jn 3:16) Indeed, God loves His creation, the universe and all creatures with human beings as the summit of His creation. He intended the world to reflect His beauty. Even Jesus Himself admired creation. “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.” (Mt 6:28f) Hence, St John in his fight against Docetism and Gnosticism, where matter is considered evil and only the spirit or the soul is good, and therefore Jesus was not considered to be truly man, he had to underscore the reality of the incarnation and insist that matter is good and sanctified.
However, in life, there is always the danger of going to the extreme. On one hand, we should not disdain the created world; but on the other hand, we cannot go to the extreme by being so part of the world, so attached to it that we lose our autonomy and independence. In other words, we fall into worldliness. We are possessed by the world. We are so enticed by the world that instead of dominating the world and being good stewards of God’s gifts in creation, we become slaves of the world. This is the theme of today’s scripture reading, that our love for God’s creation should not lead us to worldliness.
When St John said that God so loved the world, what he meant was that God loves His creation but in St John’s writing the world could also mean the inordinate spirit towards the world. In other words, the world in its material sense is neutral. It can be used for good or it can be used for evil. In truth, after each day of creation, the author remarked, “God saw it was good.” (Gn 1:10,12,18,21). He concluded the creation account by saying, “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.” (Gn 1:31) God also gave the authority to man as well to be His stewards, “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)
So what makes creation bad is man’s attitude towards creation. We have been enticed by creation. This is what St John warned us, “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.” When we begin to possess the world, we become slaves to the world. We are possessed by what we seek to possess. To love the world is not wrong in itself but to let the world, its beauty and pleasure get our full attention would be to see the world in a wrong perspective. The truth, as St John reminds us, is that that this world is passing. The pleasures, the achievements, the glory that we attain in this life will end with our death. Nothing in this world can give us full satisfaction.
This is why the Lord warns us. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Mt 6:19-21) Hence, the stark truth is this, “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” (Mt 6:24) Worldliness is when we make the world our gods and we worship the world instead of using the world to glorify God and serve His people.
Consequently, we must avoid the three sources of temptation that would lead us astray from our focus in life. Firstly, we must not succumb to the flesh, the desires of the sensual body. This is not simply a question of the sin of sexual lust, promiscuity and pornography. It refers to the desires of the human body for all kinds of pleasure, comfort, food, drinks, drugs and enjoyment. These desires do not last and the moment they are satisfied, the joy of the pleasure is over. What is even more dangerous is that excessive indulgence in such sensual pleasure will make us slaves to them through addiction. It can lead to the destruction of our physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual health. Often, it leads us to manipulate people for our own pleasures as well. If we do not discipline the body, we will become a slave of our body’s sensual desire.
Secondly, St John warns us of the lustful eye, that is, the attraction to beauty, accomplishments, wealth and things of the world. The lustful eye is that eye of envy, the desire to possess leading to greed, envy and resentment. All sins begin with the lustful eye. What we see, we desire to have. When we cannot have it, we will become ambitious and use every possible way including unscrupulous means to attain them. When we cannot get it, we will resort to cheating, gambling, engaging in immoral activities and illegal trades. Again, St John made it clear that beauty and things of this world cannot last and cannot make us happy. External beauty will give way to interior beauty. If our eyes can see only the external beauty, then we will always be frustrated because such things cannot bring us real happiness.
Thirdly, St John tells us that worldliness is the outcome of taking pride in possessions. Pride is always the downfall of those who think too highly of themselves, because of their position in society, their wealth, their power and influence. They think they are gods in control of people and the world. They do not need God and even if they worship God, it is just for people to see, but they pay lip service to God. They do not pray and they do not refer everything to God and examine whether they are using their gifts to serve God and their fellowmen selflessly and humbly. Those who become so arrogant because of their worldly success will one day have the biggest fall when they meet with tragedy, a terminal illness, broken relationships and collapse of their business, loss of reputation or even death.
Hence, St John exhorts us to stay focused by remembering three things. Firstly, we must know that God is the author of all that is good. He is the creator and “the one who has existed since the beginning.” He is the reference point of everything in life. Secondly, we must remember that God is not just the creator but He is our Father. He treats us as individuals and cares for our growth and sanctification. We are His children, as St John wrote, “I have written to you, children, because you already know the Father” and our “sins have already been forgiven through his name.” Confident of His love and grateful for His mercy, we want to continue to live as His true children in Christ. And finally, we must overcome the Evil One by remaining strong through God’s word finding a home in us. The Lord did say, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” (Jn 14:23)
The prophetess Anna is an example of what it takes to remain faithful to God. She was a widow after just seven years into the marriage. She was now eighty-four years old. But she did not live a life of regret or resentment for being a widow. She did not blame God or fall into depression. She was detached from the world and able to let go of her deceased husband. This was because she clung to God. Since her husband’s death, she “never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer.” She found her true home in God’s house where she lived a life of simplicity, discipline, contemplation and prayer. She was at peace with herself. She found a larger community to support her in her aloneness. It was her prayerful disposition and her worship with her fellow Jews at the temple that gave us such peace, joy and love. She knew where her destiny lay and so when “she came by just at that moment and began to praise God; … she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.” She never lost hope in God’s deliverance and promise.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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