Most of us believe that love for the world could detract people from receiving God the Father's love. In contrast, the Lord maintains that love for the world will totally displace the Father's love from our lives. Therefore, we must have no love for the world (1 Jn 2:15), make no provisions for the desires of the flesh (Rm 13:14), and crucify the "flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal 5:24). Love for the world is like cancer. Even a little bit of it will kill us.

The Lord has been extremely clear about our relationship with the world. He chose us out of the world (Jn 15:19), and the world hates us (Jn 15:18; 17:14). Nevertheless, we can choose to be the world's friends and thereby become God's enemies (Jas 4:4; Phil 3:18-19).

As clear as the Lord is about our relationship with the world, many Christians have never gotten the message. Therefore, the Lord has sent as messengers Christians who, like little children, depend on God the Father (see 1 Jn 2:12, 14). These "little ones" are graced by the Holy Spirit to convict us of our worldliness (see Jn 16:8). Fathers especially are anointed to communicate the message of God the Father's all-sufficient love (1 Jn 2:13, 14). In our Father's love, we have everything. We don't need "the world with its seductions" (1 Jn 2:17). Finally, the Lord has chosen young men (1 Jn 2:13, 14) like Paul, Anthony, Benedict, Francis, Dominic, and others to rebel against the world. The message of these young men rocks the world. Because of them, many crucify the world and live in the Father's love.

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Ralph J. Lawrence, June 1, 1997

Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, June 9, 1997