Scripture Reflection and Prayer : Journeying together: December 2024

Tuesday, 31 December 2024

EEING THE FACE OF GOD IN MAN IS THE WAY TO PEACE

20250101 SEEING THE FACE OF GOD IN MAN IS THE WAY TO PEACE

01 January 2025, Wednesday, Mary, Mother of God

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.

SEEING THE FACE OF GOD IN MAN IS THE WAY TO PEACE

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

We all seek peace in the world but instead there are so many wars and divisions, not just among countries, but also within the same society and community. This is because we do not recognise our identity as God’s children; that God is the Father of us all. We see ourselves as different because of nationality, race, language and even religions. We fail to recognise that we all share the same humanity, the same aspirations for peace, for freedom, for love and for our needs. Human beings are not different from each other. We share the same nature and the same aspirations like everyone else. We need love, comfort, food, proper accommodation; we want unity, harmony and peace.

The root cause of division is that we have lost our sense of identity of who we truly are. We forget that every family takes its name from God who is the Father of us all. The Lord commanded Moses to bless the people saying, “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.” If we know our identity, we will come to know the face of God. Unless we see the face of God, we will not know who we truly are. But if we see the face of God, we will come to realize that we are one humanity in God, with the same calling. We will not despise others who are different from us. We will see ourselves as one people so closely inter-connected that one’s happiness is dependent on the happiness of others.

To bring peace to humanity, we must safeguard not just our interests but the interests of everyone. Inward-looking and overly-nationalistic countries that care only for their own citizens, without social and global responsibility to others’ suffering because of poverty, wars, economic hardships, will realise – as we did during the pandemic – that their peace, prosperity and security would also be jeopardized. This is why globalization is the way to ensure that every nation and all peoples have the opportunity to enjoy the gifts of creation. The wealth of this earth does not belong to 10% of the richest people of this world whilst the other 90% suffer privation.

Hence, on the first day of the New Year, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Mother of God and also World Day of Peace. These two events are celebrated together because they are very closely connected. There cannot be world peace if we are a disparate humanity. To help us recognize that we share a common humanity and calling, the celebration of the Solemnity of the Mother of God, reminds us that we are partakers of Christ’s sonship. Christ the Second Person of the Holy Trinity became Man so that He could show us the face of God, the face of His Father. In the gospel of John, Jesus told Philip, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” (Jn 14:9) The corollary of this statement means that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. “No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (Jn 14:6f)

By His life, His teaching and His works, especially His passion, death and resurrection, Jesus shows us the face of His Father. In Him, we see the Father’s mercy and compassion. This is why in and through Jesus, no one can say that he or she has not seen God. Seeing God, as the Lord told Moses, means to receive His blessings. Anyone who sees God will be able to see the face of His fellowmen. St John tells us in his letter, “Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.” (1 Jn 4:20) So if we have seen God’s face, we will be able to truly love our brothers and sisters. This is why John insisted in his letter, “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 Jn 4:8f)

The only way to know God through man is to know Jesus. This love is revealed to us through Christ. St John wrote, “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.” (1 Jn 4:10-12) The Church prays in the responsorial psalm, “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. 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.” In Jesus, we see the face of God and are blessed.

Today’s Solemnity of the Mary the Mother of God celebrates Jesus who is truly God and truly man. Jesus, who is the Second Divine Person of the Holy Trinity, took upon human flesh in Mary and assumed our humanity. In the dogma of the Mary the Mother of God, the Church affirms that Jesus is one person with two natures – human and divine. He is the Son of God and also the Son of Mary. Thus, it is possible to speak of Mary as the Mother of God, since Jesus is the divine person who put on human nature. Indeed, it is Mary who made it possible by cooperating with the grace of God. St Paul 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.”

In and through Christ, therefore, we come to share in Christ’s sonship. St Paul says, “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.” We are all one in Christ. As St Paul wrote to the Galatians, “in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.” (Gal 3:26-29)

Truly, if we come to realize that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, we will treat even those who do not know Him with respect and dignity, compassion and with justice. If we turn to Mary the Mother of God on this day of the World Day of Peace, it is because Mary is so close to God. The Bible says of Moses, “the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” (Ex 33:11) Mary, too, was intimate with the Lord. She was greeted with the words “full of grace” by the angel Gabriel. Mary was calm and never unsettled because anyone who sees the face of God has peace and joy in his or her heart. Mary’s special relationship with her son shows us the way to be inclusive in our relationship. This is why Mary is not just the Mother of God but the mother of the Church as well. Having seen the face of her child, she radiates the love and compassion of God. Jesus, having gazed upon the face of His mother, saw in her peace and love in her relationship with His Father and others. We must learn from Mary and our Lord who is portrayed as mother and Son gazing at each other. Let us be like Mary who “treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Meditating on the mystery of the Face of God in the human face is the way to peace, regardless of our nationality, language or religion. Recognising others as our brothers and sisters, we, too, love God in them.

PSEUDO-CATHOLICS

20241231 PSEUDO-CATHOLICS

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.

31 December 2024, Tuesday, 7th Day Within the Octave of Christmas

PSEUDO-CATHOLICS

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

One of the ironies of the Catholic Church is that we boast of 1.3 billion Catholics in the world. In Singapore, on statistics, we have 383,000 Catholics. But how many are really Catholic? How many practice the faith fervently? How many attend Church services regularly and receive the sacraments? How many are active in church? How many subscribe to the teachings of the gospel and the Church? There are Catholics, and there are Catholics. Not all Catholics are truly Catholic. This was so at the onset of the Church.

In the first reading from St John’s letter, he warned of the days of the Antichrist. “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.” The greatest threat to the Church is not from without but from within. The strategy of Satan is to divide the household. This was what Jesus said during His ministry. “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” (Mk 3:24f) This was why in His last testament, He prayed for unity in the Church. “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you 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.” (Jn 17:20f)

There are three kinds of pseudo-Catholics. Firstly, there are those who call themselves Catholic but never practise the faith. They hardly pray and attend Church services. They live a life contrary to the gospel and the teachings of the Church. Those who belong to this group start by simply being indifferent or complacent to the faith. However, this negligence soon leads to hostility because they cannot accept the teachings of the Church that do not agree with their lifestyle. From being indifferent, they graduate to attacking the Church’s teachings, often publicly, whilst calling themselves Catholic.

Secondly, there are those who are selective of the biblical and Church teachings. They pick and choose what they like and ignore what they do not like. They make the Bible accommodate their preferences. St Augustine warns such people, “If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.” Indeed, either the entire bible is the Word of God and therefore infallible, or it is not the Word of God because we do not know which word is true.

Thirdly, there are those who twist and turn the teachings of the bible and the Church to fit their lifestyle. They use scripture texts selectively and interpret them in their favour or thinking. Because of greed, they preach the prosperity gospel based on certain texts of the Bible. Because they favour divorce or same-sex union, they will select those texts that they could interpret to show that homosexuality or divorce is the accepted truth. When we adapt the Bible and reduce it to our standards of judgment, then the Bible is no longer the objective norm of truth but we have become the judge. If we want to know the truth, we need to examine a truth not based on selected scripture verses but what the entire Bible says and what the Church has taught for centuries.

However, why is there deviation in the way we interpret the scriptures, even among Christians? John says, “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.” Indeed, even though they might be Catholic, many of them are just nominal Catholics. They do not share our faith in Christ and our faith in the teachings of Christ and His Church. They are only Catholic in name but not in fact. This is understandable because they do not know Jesus. “He was in the world that had its being through him, and the world did not know him.” There are of course those who know Jesus but because of self-interests, they are not ready to accept Jesus as His teachings contradict their lifestyle. They reject Jesus for the world. St John wrote, “He came to his own domain and his own people did not accept him.”

If we want to be true Catholic Christians, we must first and foremost accept Jesus as the Word of God in person. “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.” Only when we believe that Jesus is the Word of God from the beginning, that is, with the Father, that we will be able to accept the truth of what Jesus has taught us.

Only because Jesus was with God from the beginning, could He reveal to us the truth about God, about who we are, our origin, purpose and destiny in life. John wrote, “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.” Indeed, because Christ is the Son of God, we can accept all that Jesus said, even when we do not understand or agree with Him. As the Word of God, He is “the true light that enlightens all men; and he was coming into the world.” The question is, ‘Do we have faith in Jesus as the Son of God’?

If we accept Jesus as the Son of God, then we will accept all that the Bible says, and what the Church teaches, because He has handed over the Word to the apostles and to the Church. Whatever the Church teaches is authorized by Him because He promised to be with the Church until the end of time. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations … and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Mt 28:19f) To Peter He said, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Mt 16:18f) This is because the Holy Spirit has been given to the Church through baptism, confirmation and the Sacrament of Holy Orders. St John says, “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.”

In the final analysis, our faith is dependent on the witness of our fellow Christians, especially the early Christians who encountered the Lord personally. Our faith is founded on those apostles and disciples who had seen the Lord. As the gospel says, we need to listen to John the Baptist. “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. This is the one of whom I said: He who comes after me ranks before me because he existed before me.” We need to rely on the apostles who saw the glory of the Lord. “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.”

If we do, then we will enter into the fullness of life in Christ because we share in His adopted sonship in the Holy Spirit at baptism. “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.” To be baptized is to be one with the Lord and accept His Word and Spirit so that we can live out our sonship and daughtership in Him. By so doing, we enjoy the dignity and life as God’s children.

Sunday, 29 December 2024

RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WORLD

20241230 RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WORLD

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.

30 December 2024, Monday, 6th Day Within the Octave of Christmas

RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WORLD

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

How should a Christian relate with the world? How should one live like a disciple of Christ? This is the question that St John in his letter seeks to deal with.

St John warns 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…could ever come from the Father” What does he mean? How can we reconcile with the fact that St John also wrote in the gospel, “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) How can we as Christians do less than God? Is there a contradiction in what he is saying?

We must therefore begin by differentiating the different nuances when the words “world and flesh” are used in the scriptures because according to the context they could have contradictory meanings. Hence, we need to clarify the nuances of these words, “world and flesh.” In the first place, the world could simply mean the Cosmos, the universe that God has created. “He was in the world, and the world was made through him.” (Jn 1:10) In this sense, it is something positive. But the world could also refer to the people who live in them. God’s love is directed to the world, meaning, the people and their response could be either positive or negative. In this instance, the world refers to human beings. Thirdly, the world refers to those who choose to rebel against God and reject Him. Such a world is in the power of the Evil One.

So when St John asks us to reject the world, he is not saying that the world created by God is evil. On the contrary, with the Incarnation, Christ has brought the world into Himself. With the incarnation, God and the world cannot be separated even though both are distinct. So the world in itself is good and holy. The book of Genesis repeatedly remarked at the end of each day when God created the world, “And God saw that it was good.” (cf Gn 1:1-31) So the goodness of this world must never be doubted. What makes the world evil is not the world itself but human beings who refuse to be stewards of God’s creation. He wants to make himself the ‘creator’ with full power over creation, disregarding the laws and will of God.

This happens when man makes his decisions without any reference to God and His holy will for humanity. The problem the world is facing is not just environmental ecological disaster but human and moral ecological disasters. The root of all problems is the disorder in man himself. With the advancement of science and technology, man has made himself God when making decisions on human life and creation without considering the will of God for creation and humanity. The values, the policies and developments of the world are promoted and implemented without any regard to God’s plan. We can see this happening in the world when man violates the laws of nature and uses science and technology to manipulate creation.

This is why the world’s existence is at stake. But the world is looking for scapegoats. Political leaders are finding excuses to justify their pragmatic positions. Perhaps so, because they are elected by the people. At the end of the day, as Bishop Fulton Sheen once wrote, “A nation always gets the kind of politician it deserves. If a time ever comes when the religious Jews, Protestants and Catholics ever have to suffer under a totalitarian state, which would deny to them the right to worship God according to the light of conscience, it will be because for years they thought it made no difference what kind of people represented them in Congress, and because they abandoned the spiritual in the realm of the temporal.” These words must be rephrased in our context. It will not be so much the right to worship God but to live a life according to our conscience in the light of the gospel teaching. It is becoming increasingly difficult to practice one’s faith and live out one’s values in the world. Although there is freedom of religion in many countries, ironically, the real World Religion is secularism. This is the new world order which all believers must subscribe to and everything is subsumed under. Strangely, whilst they try to control the established religions, in some places, in the name of freedom, even Satanism, a more explicit form of atheism that advocates divisive values are even promoted and tolerated.

Can’t we see that this is what the world is evolving to be? On the issue of gender, the world denies that there are two different genders, male and female. They want to promote transgenderism, eradicating the obvious physical and biological structure of a man and a woman. The world denies that marriage is between a man and a woman but advocates same-sex union and elevates it to the same level of a marriage between a man and a woman. The link between procreation and companionship in marriage is eradicated. This not only permits marriage between two persons of the same sex, it also permits lesbian women to go for IVF to have babies and gays to have surrogate babies. On the level of the sacredness of life, whilst the world goes at length to promote the sanctity of life by abolishing death penalty, it continues to advocate abortion even at birth, and euthanasia.

How has the world become worldly? St John traces the causes of worldliness. “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.”

Indeed, the first reason is because of the sensuality of man. Man wants comfort. This is natural because we are afraid of pain. We seek pleasure, be it for food, drink, clothing or accommodation. But we lack discipline and moderation. We have become slaves to the demands of our body. Whilst many are dying from hunger and lack of clothing in some parts of the world, many of us are wasting food.

Secondly, St John says it is also because of the lustful eyes. We are lustful not just in terms of sexual laxity but in craving for money, power and possessions. Lust or greed is the cause of man’s downfall. We never have enough. We want more and more. We make use of people to satisfy our sexual pleasures rather than in loving them. This craving for more and more leads to dishonesty, ambition, greed, power, violence and killing.

Thirdly, the worldliness that St John warns us is “pride in possessions.” We want to own things not just for our bodily gratification but also because of pride. We want the world to think well of us, serve us and be at our beck and call, because we have power, money and status. We think that power and money can buy us the world because with wealth and power, we can control people and make them do what we want. For the sake of money and power, people will sell their soul and their values.

St John warns us that all these will lead to our destruction. At the rate the world is going, humanity will be destroyed before the planet is destroyed. Because of selfishness, individualism, materialism, self-centeredness, there will be division and fragmentation in families, in communities, in societies and among nations. This is because we have allowed the Evil One to overcome goodness and truth.

This is why, as we contemplate on Christ’s birth at Christmas, we must, as St John urges us, get back to the beginning. We must recover our dignity as God’s sons and daughters by recognizing God as our Father and that He is our creator. Only then, with faith in Him and especially in His Son who leads us to His Father, will we be able to find direction and guidance in life because He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Through the power of the Word of God in us, we will be strong against the temptations of the Evil One.

We must follow the path of the prophetess, Anna. She lived in the world but was not of the world. Although she had been a widow for the most part of her life, she did not allow her attachment to the world to make her miserable or fall into self-pity. On the contrary, we read that “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.” She was hopeful of the future and she knew who she was and where she would be upon death. She lived not just for today but for tomorrow, and always in accordance to God’s will.