The Sixth Day within
the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord
(I John 2:12-17; Luke 2:36-40)
There is a story about disciples asking their spiritual
master if there is anything they can do to become enlightened. The master replies that they cannot do any
more to be enlightened than they can to make the sun rise. The disciples then complain of what good are
all the spiritual exercises the master has taught them. The master answers, “To make sure that you
are not asleep when the sun begins to rise.”
The readings today reveal this truth.
The first reading sounds very harsh. It commands that people do not love the world
that has given them a home, a sense of God through nature, and wonderful
friends. Of course, the reading is only
warning that the affection people have for the world be tempered. It implies that the world also contains distractions
leading them from the path to God.
Spiritual exercises assure that we not love the world too much. Anna in the gospel passage has been leading
an intensely spiritual life for decades.
Now she reaps dividends from her practice. She can recognize Jesus, the rising sun of
justice.
We too must develop a proper regard for the world. Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato Sì has invited us to a deeper
appreciation of the good of the earth.
But to cultivate that appreciation we have to discipline ourselves
according to the spiritual life. We need
to see that excessive enjoyment of material goods will move us to love them
more than their Giver. We will lose
sight that God, the greatest good, transcends what we see, hear, and
touch. Indeed, overindulgence in
material creation will not only lead us from God but will lead to the destruction
of the created world.
