The fundamental rule of Christian life is, as almost every page of the Gospel tells us, that we should live out of the world, separate ourselves from the world, hate the world.
The world is that ungodly land which Abraham, our sublime model, is commanded by God to quit. It is that Babylon of our exile and captivity, where we are beset with dangers.
The beloved disciple cries out to us: ‘Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him.’
Our most merciful Jesus, at the very time when He was about to offer Himself as a sacrifice for all men, spoke these awful words: ‘I pray not for the world.’
When we were baptized, and signed with the glorious & indelible character of Christians, the condition required/accepted of us, was that we should renounce the works and pomps of the world (expressed under the name of Satan); and this solemn baptismal promise we have often renewed…
The world is everything that is opposed to our Lord, that refuses to recognize Him, and that resists His divine guidance.
Those false maxims which tend to weaken the love of God in our souls; which recommend the vanities that fasten our hearts to this present life; which cry down everything that can raise us above our weaknesses or vices; which decoy and gratify our corrupt nature by dangerous pleasures, which, far from helping us to the attainment of our last end, only mislead us—all these are ‘the world.’
This world is everywhere, and holds a secret league within our very hearts. Sin has brought it into this exterior world created by God for Himself, and has given it prominence. Now, we must conquer it, and trample upon it, or we shall perish with it.
There is no being neutral; we must be its enemies, or its slaves…
Let us also tremble for ourselves; that our courage may not fail us, let us ponder those consoling words, which our Savior…addressed to His eternal Father…: ‘Father! I have given them Thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, as I also am not of the world. I pray not, that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldst keep them from evil.’
Dom Prosper Gueranger
A few spiritual reads and journals have been selected. The others will finalize their selections in the next few days, within the Septuagesima Season in preparation for Lent.
What spiritual reading have you selected for this Lent or years past?
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“Spiritual reading is the food of the soul, which renders it dauntless and strong against all temptation, which prompts it with holy thoughts and ardents desires for heaven, which enlightens the mind, strengthens the will, and sites comfort in all afflictions, which, in conclusion, procures that true and holy joy which is found in God alone.” St. Ambrose
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