Daily Retreat 02/21/06

2006 Feb 21 Tue: Ordinary Weekday/ Peter Damian, bp, dr

Jas 4: 1-10/ Ps 55: 7-8. 9-10a. 10b-11a. 23/ Mk 9: 30-37

From today’s readings: "Therefore, whoever wants to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God.... Cast your care upon the LORD, and He will support you.... Whoever receives one child such as this in My Name, receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but the One who sent Me."

Lovers of the World

St. James professes the sobering insight that "whoever wants to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God!" Why? As Christ Himself insists, "No man can serve two masters..." (Matt. 6:24). So covetousness and envy and lust lead inevitably away from God to endless wars and conflicts.

To be seduced by the world is thus, as St. James claims, to fall into the most pathetic form of adultery. God loves us with the truest, most faithful love, beyond our comprehension! Through His Son’s Incarnation, He has espoused humanity to Himself - how is it that you or I would ever choose to betray that love by prostituting ourselves to the world? And yet in big ways and small ways, sometimes, perhaps always, we move to be lovers of the world, and embrace enmity with God!

After playing the harlot, can we ever return to Love Himself? St. James tells us how!

"So submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts.... Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will exalt you!"