A reflection Andrina (who is doing an ICPE School of Mission in the Black Forest, Germany) recently shared with us gal pals in Singapore was inspiring and thought-provoking.
On reflecting how to let go of the distractions of the world, she was encouraged to hang on to His word, not the world - for the difference between world and word is a single "L" which represents the lies that insinuate their way into His word and distract us from its truth in our lives.
St. Paul who was "all things to all men" in his efforts to evangelize, also clung to Christ (a.k.a. the Word made flesh) and advised us not to "conform to the pattern of this world", but to "be transformed" by the "renewing" of the mind.
He also reminds us that while we are living in the world, we should not be of the world. So while we acknowledge the presence of evil in the world, we should not participate in it, and instead should actively seek to transform it.
This transformation of lies of the world into love for the Word, and therefore love for the world of strangers, orphans, widows and the poor* is the only way we can fulfil the ultimate commandments laid down by Christ (on which all others are founded): to love God whole-heartedly and single-mindedly, and to love others as we love ourselves.
Fr. Damian in his homily today offered this pearl: "God is a god of relationships. So if we focus on our relationship with God, then we will have correct dimension in all our other relationships, including the one we have with ourselves."
If we reduce our world into one led by the Word, then we open ourselves to the infinite possibilities of love, and life.
We then have the courage and hope to cross the threshold of love and change the world by bringing the light of Christ into it.
And in the process, we will also be able to calibrate all our relationships into life-giving and mutually affirming ones.
In a world beset with financial crises, environmental distress and greed-driven health disasters, it's imperative we each make a difference each day in how we live out the Word.
* See today's readings: Exodus 22:20-26 and Matthew 22:34-40
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