A Reflection for the Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas
Find today’s readings here.
“A holy day has dawned upon us.
Come, you nations, and adore the Lord.
Today a great light has come upon the earth.”
As Christians who are called to be bearers of peace, hope, and joy, the way we speak about “the world” is often, frankly, depressing. It’s not that there is no truth to the quip we hear so often, that we are called to be in the world but not of it. But many times, I fear that our Catholic longing for the eternal home can become confused and devolve into a loathing for our temporal one.
For St. Ignatius of Loyola, we were created to “praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord” and, by doing so, save our souls. It was for this purpose that God created all the things of the earth, to help us achieve the end for which we were created. With this in mind, Ignatius warned that ingratitude was the worst of all sins because it ignores the blessings and graces God has bestowed on us.
But if creation (i.e., the world) is a gift, why does the First Letter of John we read today command us not to love it? God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. Is loving the world then not an imitation of God Himself?
God’s love for the world vastly differs from the love we read about today. God’s love is selfless. What St. John is describing is a love for the world that has been corrupted and perverted: “sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life.” It sees the world as something to be grasped and held onto. This is a selfish kind of love, and selfishness is no love at all.
When we see the world through selfish eyes, all of creation is objectified. Through this lens, we no longer see creation as a gift and, therefore, cannot receive it as such. Our fear, discomfort, and uncertainty are blinding, making us prone to this temptation. Selfishly, we become attached and are fooled into thinking that the world is something for us to possess.
We are not without hope, though. “A holy day has dawned upon us… a great light has come upon the earth.” That light is Christ, our Savior, who enters our suffering and darkness and offers us the path to redemption and reconciliation. In Christ, we find the bridge between that which is temporal and eternal, the finite and the infinite. It is in his compassion and mercy that Jesus models a love for the world that is rooted in selflessness and detachment.
We ought not forget that it was God’s desire that brought the world into existence. As created beings, we are not separate from creation, sharing a privileged place in God’s desire. And it was through God’s desire that He chose to become incarnate and walk among us. What a gift that is.
