“Do Not Love the World,” taken and translated from, La Folie de la Croix by Abbe Anselme Longpre, 1941
I)What is the world which we must renounce?
The world is the church of Satan, like the assembly of Christians is the Church of Jesus Christ. The world is the mystical body of the devil, like the Church is the Mystical Body of Christ. Two cities, two kingdoms: the kingdom of heaven, started in us by the grace of holy Baptism and developing in us until eternal life, and the kingdom of Satan, started by sin and developing in those who love the spirit of the world until the eternal death of hell.
These two kingdoms evolve and develop side by side on earth, but one of them is “inside of us, regnum Dei intra vos est,” and the other is all exterior, sensible. These two kingdoms, which we call in modern language the Church and the world, make war on each other until death, are in continual opposition, do not get along, and will never be able to get along together. They are opposed to one another like death and life, nothingness and being, darkness and light. “Whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world, becometh an enemy of God,” declares St. James( 4:4). Referring to this battle Our Lord says, “Do not believe that I came to bring peace on earth, I did not come to bring peace, but the sword; I came to separate, to divide …
The world, as is to be understood here, is evidently not everyone who surrounds us, or the earth that supports us; it is neither the human race; nor that which distinguishes the religious state (to leave the world for the religious life).
The world, in the sense used in the Gospel, is everyone who thinks, speaks, and acts in a way other than the Gospel asks us to think, act and speak; it is everyone who wants to behave according to the light of reason only, without being concerned about Revelation. The world is all who, by thoughts, words, and actions, go against God, against the Gospel, against its law; it is a way of living naturally, which is not concerned with the requirements of the spiritual life, giving more attention to nature than to grace.
Again, the world, is this vast and powerful organization of books, newspapers, theaters, amusements of all sorts, and productions of all kinds, which have as a goal, not the use, but the satisfaction of the passions, of sensuality; it is all the luxury, the apparel, the fashions, the customs, the ways of doing things and of living, which does not inspire maxims from the Gospel, but from naturalism, and paganism, which Our Lord came to tear us away from, so as to introduce us into the society of the Three Divine Persons.
II) What Jesus thinks of the world:
- Our Lord pointed a finger at the world and accused it of sin; that is, He accused it of being one of the great causes of sin “cuм venerit Paraclitus arguet mundum de peccato; when the Holy Ghost will come, He will prove clearly- arguet- that the love of the world is the source of sin.”
- Jesus Christ declared this world to be the enemy of truth: “Spiritum veritatis quem mundus non potest accipere; the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive.”(John 14:17)
- Jesus judged the world from the cross: “Nunc Judicium mundi est; now is the judgement of the world.” (John 12:31)
-He cursed the world because of its scandals: “Vae mundo a scandalis.” (Matthew 18:7)
-Even when Our Lord was praying for his executioners, he did not want to pray for the world: “Non pro mundo rogo.” (John 17:9)
-Christ glorifies Himself for having vanquished the world: “ego vinci mundum.” (John 16:32)
-He does not want His disciples to have the spirit of the world: “Vos de mundo non estis.”(John 15:19). He separated them from the world, and that is why the world detests them: “Ego elegi vos de mundo proptera odit vos mundus.”(John 15:19)
Faithful to the teaching of their Master, the Apostles pronounce the same judgements against the world as Jesus did. Let us listen to St. John, “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. For all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes and the pride of life.” (1 John 2:15-17)
“And be not conformed to this world.” St. Paul tells us in his turn. (St. Paul Rom 12:2)
The world is the Antichrist, preparing throughout the centuries, the day when he will be accorded the plenitude of his power. Also a Christian who, by his doctrine and life, is not against the world, does the work of Satan himself and prepares for his coming. Be careful then of illusions. It is not enough to avoid obvious mortal sins. You have to hate the world and flee from it.
III) Why does Our Lord teach us to flee from the world and its spirit?
-Because we are Christians: the spirit of the world is incompatible with the Christian spirit.
1)What is a Christian? – It is a man separated from the world by his state, and consecrated to God. “Divorce from the world,” writes Mgr. gαy, “is the essence of the Christian spirit, since even children renounce it by procuration before being admitted to Baptism.”(Elev. 1 p.195). The Christian vocation, which comes from God, is first of all a grace of separation from the world. Just being a Christian obliges us to live in this spirit of distance from the world, from false pleasures, from profane joys, from luxury, from amusements, from customs of the world, and from all things which support a soft and sensual life.
The grace of our holy Baptism is first of all a grace of death to the world and its spirit. “By baptism,” said St. Paul to the first Christians, “we have been buried with Christ.” That is to say, that as Our Lord, buried in the tomb, was dead to all things of this world, so the Christian receives in Baptism a spirit which surrounds him and obliges him to die to all things here below.
Also, when the Fathers of the Church wanted to turn the faithful away from certain diversions and pagan practices, such as dances, games in the amphitheater, and frivolous amusements, they were putting forth no other reason than that they were Christians and separated from the world. “We Christians,” said one of them, “we do not go to the theater or to the circus because we are Christians; the pagans go there; but we abhor these pleasures; this difference is only a consequence of their religion and ours.”
When Tertullian recommended modesty and simplicity to the Christian women, “You are Christians,” he said to them, “and as such, you have received a spirit which is not the spirit of the world. You are separated from all the worldly things which bring vanity, pride, and impurity. Being a Christian, you must not appear in the world except for exercises of charity and piety, and not to satisfy you vanity and self-love.”(De ornamentis feminarum). Happy times when such language could be used with Christians. Let us say it again: it is better to form a single Christian truly detached from the world, than 100 who are Christian in name only.
2) In the second place, love of the world is absolutely incompatible with the love of God, which is the sole essence of Christianism.
Nobody can serve two masters: we cannot serve Jesus Christ and the world at the same time. The great error is to want to reconcile the love of God with the demands of the modern world. This union is abominable in the eyes of God. A christianism which does not lead to a despising of the world is false: If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him.”(John 1:2)
The person who devotes himself to the things of the world, its pleasures and vanities, will not know how to be devoted to Christ. Also, hasn’t Our Lord always demanded of those who want to follow him, the renouncement of the world.
When God wants to attract a soul to Himself, He begins by inspiring in him the emptiness and nothingness of created things and a distaste for the world.
3) Let us add that the love of the world is the way of sin. If one keeps the love of the world in his heart, he comes out of sin through confession, but he stays on the path that leads to it. At the first occasion, he will fall back into it. “All that is in the world,” the Holy Ghost tells us,”furnishes food to the desires of the flesh, to vanity, and to pride.”(1 John 1:2)
“You have fallen into all sorts of sins because you have loved the world and wanted to live after its manner, cuм essemus mortui delictis et peccatis in quibis ambulastis secundum saeculum hujus mundi.”(Eph 2:1)
Sin consists in turning oneself from God to put one’s last end in creatures; that is why the person who takes pleasure in the things of this world is always on the path of sin and damnation. The life of grace is always in danger in a worldly heart.
IV) What to do?
-Take the way of the desert or close ourselves up in a monastery? – Not at all.
-Let us stay in the world, but not follow its principles, maxims, and ideas.
-Let us stay in the world, but let us not imitate its examples; let us not model our life on the lives of worldly people: let our language, our habits, our morals, our manner of dressing and of amusing ourselves contrast strongly with theirs.
-Let us stay in the world, but let us not trust it, its feasts, its pleasures, its shows, its amusements. Let us touch it only with our fingertips, when we are obliged.
-Let us stay in the world, but according to the counsel of the Apostle: “And they that use this world, as if they used it not.”(1 Cor 7:31), that is to say, ”without becoming attached to it.”
-Let us stay in the world, but let us fight against it, let us resist it head-on, let us correct its ideas, let us prevent its scandals, let us paralyze its action, let us give it the example of the virtues of Our Lord.
-Let us stay in the world, but let us live there in a way to merit the praise: “Vos de mundo non estis; you, you are not of this world.”
V) Exam
Do we have all the hate and aversion for the world that Our Lord asks us to have?
Do we truly consider the world as the greatest enemy of Christianism, which cannot bear to see Our Lord reign?
Do we have an aversion to worldly gatherings? Does one not see us, on the contrary, at all games, at the theater, at dances, in amusement halls, in restaurants, in taverns, etc.?
Do we not make too much of the maxims, ideas, principles, and customs of the world?
Do we have the courage to affront the mockeries, smiles, and malicious words of the world, which are often directed at people who want to follow Jesus Christ?
Deliver us Lord from the spirit of the world, so that receiving yours, we can live in a manner worthy of our Christian vocation.
Topic: Do Not Love the World (Read 873 times)