On the distinction between what is worldly and what is worldly, the Gospel

Jesus speaks several times about the world, especially in his farewell to the apostles (cf. Jn 15:18-21). And here he says, “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me before it hated you” (v. 18). He speaks clearly of the world’s hatred for Jesus and for us. And in the prayer that he offers at the table among the disciples at the [Last] Supper, he asks the Father not to take them out of the world, but to protect them from the spirit of the world (cf. Jn 17:15). We can ask ourselves, “What is the spirit of the world?” What worldliness can hate, kill, and corrupt Jesus, his disciples, and the Church? It would be good for us to reflect on what the spirit of the world is and what it is. Worldliness is the offer of a way of life. Some people think that worldliness means feasting and celebration. No. Worldliness can be that, but it is not the essential thing.

Worldliness is a culture, a culture of transience, a culture of appearances and pretense, a culture of what is today and not tomorrow, and what will be tomorrow and not today. It is made up of superficial values. This culture knows no loyalty because it changes according to circumstances; it negotiates everything. This is a worldly culture, a culture of worldliness. A disposable culture suits it. A culture that lacks loyalty and is uprooted. However, it is a way of life that many Christians also lead. They are Christians, but worldly.

Jesus, superficial, in the parable of the grain falling into the ground, says that worldly cares choke the Word of God, preventing it from growing (Mt 13:22). Paul says to the Galatians, “We lived as slaves under the rule of the elements of the world” (cf. Gal 4:3). I am always deeply affected by the final pages of Father de Lubac’s book Meditations on the Church (Carmelitánské nakladatelství, Kostelní Vydří 2010, p.172), where he speaks on three pages about “spiritual secularization,” which he describes as the worst thing that could befall the Church. He is not exaggerating, because he lists other terrible evils in addition to it. Worldly spirituality is the worst because it is a hermeneutics of life, a way of life, and a way in which Christianity can also be lived. And to survive the proclamation of the Gospel, it hates and kills.

When it is said of martyrs that they were killed out of hatred for the faith… yes, for some it was hatred over a theological issue, but for most it was the martyrdom of somethingsuperficial else. Most were persecuted precisely by worldliness, which hates faith and kills, as with Jesus. It is curious. Someone may say to me, “But father, worldliness is just superficiality; let’s not exaggerate.” Worldliness is not superficial at all! It has deep roots. It is chameleon-like, changing according to circumstances, but the essence remains the same. It is an offer of [a way of] life, and it permeates everything, even the Church. Worldliness, mundane hermeneutics, and superficialities are the sacrifices that make up everything.

And the apostle Paul came to Athens and was deeply moved when he saw the altars of various gods on the Areopagus. He reflected on the situation and said [to the Athenians]: “I see that you are very religious in every way. […] I noticed an altar with the inscription ‘To an unknown god’. I know him, and I have come to tell you about him” (cf. Acts 17:22-23). ​​And he began to preach the Gospel. But when he began to speak about the Cross and the Resurrection, they became bored and left (cf. Acts 17:32). The only thing that worldliness does not tolerate is the indecency of the Cross. It hates it. The only remedy against the worldly spirit is Christ, who died for us and rose from the dead, insults, and foolishness (1 Cor 1:23).

Therefore, in dialogue, when Saint John speaks of the world, he says, “And this faith is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith” (1 John 5:4). This alone: ​​faith in Jesus Christ, killed and risen. And that does not mean being fanatics. It does not mean refusing to dialogue with all people. No, but with the conviction of faith, I am freed from the insult, foolishness, and victory of the cross. And the victory, as John says, “is our faith.” Let us ask the Holy Spirit in these last days of Easter—and also during the Pentecost novena—for the grace to distinguish between what is worldly and what is evangelical and not to be deceived, because the world hates us; the world hated Jesus. Jesus prayed that the Father would save us from worldliness (cf. John 17:15).