20231230 THE TENSION BETWEEN LIVING IN THE WORLD AND LIVING FOR GOD
30 December 2023, Saturday, 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.
THE TENSION BETWEEN LIVING IN THE WORLD AND LIVING FOR GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 John 2:12-17; Ps 96:7-10; Luke 2:36-40]
We are into the sixth day of the Octave of Christmas. The liturgy continues to draw the implications of Christ’s birth for humanity. We are called to be like Mary who treasured everything in her heart. We too must continue with our contemplation of the incarnation so that the full message of Christ’s birth is appreciated and received.
With the incarnation and the birth of Christ, God has assumed our humanity in Christ. The separation between God and man has been bridged by the one Mediator, Jesus Christ, who is truly God and yet truly man. Consequently, the world is not to be seen as something evil or negative. The psalmist enjoins us all when he shouted, “Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.” In the gospel of John, Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” (Jn 3:16f) In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord recognized the beauty of creation. “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” (Mt 6:28f) So we must, right from the outset, state in no uncertain terms that the world is beautiful. In the book of Genesis, after each day of creation, the author remarked, “And God saw that it was good.” (Gn 1:10,12,18,21,25,31).
So the world and creation are beautiful in the eyes of God. We are called to appreciate and enjoy the beauty of creation. The book of Daniel sings praises to God’s creation. The three servants of the Lord with one voice praised and glorified God whilst in the furnace, and blessed Him for the works of creation. (cf. Dn 3:28-68) The Holy Father, Pope Francis issued an important encyclical, “Laudato Si'” on the need to protect creation, our common home and show mercy for creation during this year of Jubilee. In view of the incarnation, we Christians are therefore called to marvel at the beauty of this world and make use of them for our growth and happiness. Consequently, those who destroy God’s creation, plants, animals and pollute the environment will also destroy humanity as well because we are inter-dependent. The lack of care for creation is all because of selfishness and greed.
This explains why today’s scripture readings seem to say the world is evil. St John in the first reading wrote, “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.” Indeed, the Word of God seems to condemn the world or at least have a disdain for the world.
This explains why we have two extreme forms of spirituality in the Church. There is one group that veers towards Jansenism, a heretical movement that over-emphasizes the depravity of human nature to the extent that the world is evil. Such a form of spirituality sees the world as evil, creation as bad. And so they take to extreme forms of penance, fasting, abstinence from food and all forms of pleasure which they see as threats and obstacles to a life of holiness. The irony of the Jansenists is that in seeking to combat moral decadence and laxity through an austere life of penance, the denial of God’s mercy and freewill led many to moral despair that they would not be forgiven or be saved. As a consequence, many ended up living a carefree, immoral and frivolous lifestyle because, as the saying goes, if you cannot win them, then you join them.
On the other hand, we have the other group that “worships” creation. They are slaves of the material world. This is what St John is condemning when he wrote that the world is transient and evil. He is not saying that creation or the world is bad per se but it is how we look at the world. When the world becomes our master, then it has a hold over us. We become slaves to the world. And the truth is that because we are not pure spirit but made of matter, we are inclined towards the things of this world. Our body enjoys sensual pleasures, comfort, food, drinks, and sex. This is where the real problem begins because, attracted by the sensual needs of the world, we lose sight of our spiritual calling. We become a slave to lust, food, alcohol and all the pleasures of this world. The reality is that the devil knows that we are weak and find the world irresistible; he comes to tempt us through our senses. All temptations come through the faculty of touch, taste, sight and hearing. As he puts succinctly, “the sensual body, the lustful eye, pride in possessions.” Because of our love for the world, we become lustful, greedy and possessive.
So what must we do to resolve this conundrum? We are not to despise the world. We can legitimately enjoy the gifts of creation as God’s blessings for us. God wants us to be happy and to enjoy His gifts. He wants us to appreciate His creation as it demonstrates the glory, splendour and beauty of God Himself. But what we must not do is to fall into the sin of “pride in possessions.” That is to say, we must not cling to all these transient things of the earth. As St John reminds us, “the world, with all it craves for, is coming to an end; but anyone who does the will of God remains forever.”
We are called in other words, to sanctify the world, not to have a disdain for it. The things of this world in themselves are neutral and as we have said, “God found it to be good.” It is the way we use them and how we see things of this world. So we must never treat the world as something evil. It becomes evil only when we behave in a worldly way, seeking to reduce ourselves to the level of matter through a life of debauchery, sensualism and attachments to the pleasures of life. When we misuse and abuse the things of creation, we hurt ourselves, our health, our loved ones, and also destroy creation. What we should be doing is to use everything we have for the glory of God, for the service of our fellowmen, for the service of love, compassion, generosity, bringing joy, comfort and love to others. They are not meant to be hoarded or used only for ourselves and for our self-indulgence, but we are to use them for the glory of God. This is what the psalmist is inviting us, “Give the Lord, you families of peoples, give the Lord glory and power; give the Lord the glory of his name.”
How do we do this? St John says, we must first recover our dignity, calling and what the Lord has done for us. If we are conscious of who we are, that is, children of God, and what God has done for us in sending us His only Son for our salvation by dying to sin and death, then we too will know that the things of this world are passing. Only charity, love and peace will last.
Grateful for who we are, and realizing that our calling is to be with God, sharing in His love and life, we see the things of this world as means to an end, and instead of using them to satisfy our own pleasures alone, we seek to employ them for the good of others and for the glory of God. We choose this way only because God has shown us how to love and how to serve in His becoming man. He became poor for our sake, sharing His riches with us, living and dying for others. Like Him, we too must be grateful for the gifts of creation and use them well to bring happiness to others and to ourselves. What we need besides food and pleasure is true love and giving.
In order that we remain focused at all times and not allow the Devil to deceive us or tempt us in our weakness, there is no other way except through prayer and fasting. Jesus has taught us the great example at the beginning and at the end of His ministry. After His baptism, He fasted 40 days before the Devil came to tempt Him. Before He went ahead with the passion, He spent the whole night in agony and in prayer at the Garden of Gethsemane.
It is obvious, therefore, that if we are to preserve ourselves from being contaminated by the world, we need to make time for prayer and fasting, and spending time with the Lord and being with the Church in worship and in fellowship. We cannot sanctify the world without the assistance and support of the Church. To be without the Church is to be without Christ, for He is the head of the Church and we are His body. So it behoves us that if we truly want to sanctify the world and use them for the glory of God and for our happiness, we must make time for prayer, worship and fellowship. Indeed, this is what the psalmist invites us, “Bring an offering and enter his courts, worship the Lord in his temple. O earth, tremble before him. Proclaim to the nations: ‘God is king.’ The world he made firm in its place; he will judge the peoples in fairness.”
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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