Do not love the world or the things of the world
With the coming of God to earth, the fundamental enmity between the world and God was revealed. By incarnating in Man, God completely sided with man, so much that he gave his life for him. There is no greater determination and love: No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (cf. Jn 15:13). On the cross, there was a final division between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the evil one and to overcome the evil. Nevertheless, victory must take place in the heart of each individual. Everyone is free and can choose what they want. That is why the world remains a field of relentless struggle. The fight is so difficult that it takes place in an area under the control of Satan. The Lord Jesus ironically calls him "the ruler of this world" (see John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). On the other hand, the influence of the world on our life is enormous and sometimes even captivating
At this point, it is worth specifying what St. John calls the world. In his Letter, he says: "For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world". (cf. 1 Jn 2:16)
The world and its life are ruled by basic passions: the lust of the flesh, that is, all sensual lust, hereinafter " enticement for the eyes ", that is, the desire to possess all earthly goods and the " pretentious life ", which is usually associated with the lust for power and meaning. Speaking about the world, St. John thinks about these relationships between people who are ruled by these passions. Therefore, the world cannot be identified with creation itself or with the material-sensory dimension of life. For the world was created as inherently good. Evil begins to dominate when passion wants to take possession of things and also other people for its satisfaction. It is this will to rule that is the core of evil. Freeing yourself from it is a victory over the world and its passions. Christ has overcome the world through his humility, which was a response to human sin and its consequences. “Though he was in the form of God did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (cf. Phil. 2: 6-8). His humiliation culminated on the cross. There, completely surrendering without any hatred in his heart, he overcame the passions of this world and the world itself. The resurrection was the manifestation of life in a completely different dynamic, free from worldly passions.
“They (Mary and Joseph) took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.” (cf. Lk 2:22). A little child in the temple foreshadows this liberation. Unfortunately, the listeners may have understood liberation differently. It seemed to them that it would be achieved by the liberation of Jerusalem and complete release from Roman slavery. However, such liberation only changes the ruling elite, without changing the very dynamism of life. Regardless of whether power is in the hands of the Romans or Jews, or of some other nation or social group, its mechanisms and principles of life remain unchanged. We deal with the world all the time. Radical liberation is only freeing oneself from the passions of this world. This is essentially the entire ascetic effort of Christ's disciples. Its foundation is humility. Without it, asceticism can lead to recognition in the eyes of others, which is another manifestation of the passion of this world.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george