Reading 1
1 Jn 2:12-17
I am writing to you, children,
because your sins have been forgiven for his name's sake.
I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have conquered the Evil One.
I write to you, children,
because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong and the word of God remains in you,
and you have conquered the Evil One.
Do not love the world or the things of the world.
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
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.
Yet the world and its enticement are passing away.
But whoever does the will of God remains forever.
Reflection
What stood out to me most in this reading was the last paragraph, which felt like a forewarning of the temptations of the world... “Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” This line made me pause and reflect. How could loving the world equate to not having the love of the Father? After all, God created the world, so isn’t it natural to love it? Yet, I realized there are aspects of the world that can lead us away from God. This idea is reinforced in the following lines, “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”. We know that we have free will, and with it comes the responsibility to choose between following God’s plan or succumbing to the distractions and desires of the world. Easy to say but much more difficult to practice and live out, it is something that requires daily effort, discernment, and prayer.
The final two lines I did not understand at first glance, “Yet the world and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever.” After reflecting on them, I understood it to refer to the promise of eternal life with God in Heaven. The world, with all its beauty and allure, is temporary and fleeting. By choosing to follow God, we invest in something eternal, something infinitely more fulfilling than anything the world can offer.
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