302nd Meditation
“Every child of God overcomes the world” (1 Jn 5:4a).
It is an illusion to believe that we, as Christians, can live as the world lives. It is an illusion if the pastors of the Church hierarchy think that we should adapt ourselves more to the world in order to win over the people of this time. It is an illusion to put the Christian faith on the same level as other religions, or even to want to create an ecumenical religious entity, in which all people have a place regardless of their creed, and pretend that this entity is greater than the Catholic Church.
In any of these three cases, we would have succumbed to the mentality of the world and its art of seduction. Such ideas do not come from God and do not overcome the world, but are proper to the world.
The exhortation of St. Paul is true: “Do not model your behaviour on the contemporary world, but let the renewing of your minds transform you, so that you may discern for yourselves what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and mature” (Rom 12:2).
The Lord’s words are true: “I passed your word on to them, and the world hated them, because they belong to the world no more than I belong to the world” (Jn 17:14).
Jesus’ promise is certain: “So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church. And the gates of the underworld can never overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven: whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Mt 16:18-19).
“And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who can overcome the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 Jn 5:4b-5).
These holy words come from our Heavenly Father, and it is these that overcome the world.