Genesis,
Chapter 3, verse 8-10:
8 When they heard
the sound of the LORD God walking about in the garden at the breezy time of the
day, the man and his
wife hid themselves from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9
The
LORD God then called to the man and asked him: Where are you? 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid,
because I was naked, so I hid.”
The Law of
Influence[1]
Eve had no leadership role; no title yet she had
influence. Everyone regardless of their roles is important and generates
influence either positive or negative. Eve demonstrated the impact of negative
influence. Although God commissioned Adam as her spiritual leader, Eve usurped
the role of Adam, who followed his wife rather than God and together they led
humankind into sin.
1.
"Do
not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good" (Rom 12:21).
young people must listen to the word of God which is the path leading away from
the works of evil and darkness, and thus to clothe themselves in the raiment of
light in order to accomplish good works.
2.
"How
shall the young remain sinless? By obeying your word" (Ps 119:9). The psalm
gives this answer to the question which all young people must ask themselves if
they wish to lead a worthy and upright life, suitable to their condition. To
achieve this, Jesus is the only way. The talents which you have received
from the Lord and which lead to commitment, authentic love and generosity bear
fruit when you live not merely for things that are material and fleeting, but
"by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Mt
4:4). For this reason, dear young people, I encourage you to experience
Christ's love, to be conscious of what he has done for you, for all of
humanity, for the men and women of every age. Feeling yourselves loved by
him, you will in turn be truly able to love. Experiencing an intimate
communion of life with him, which should be accompanied by receiving his Body,
by listening to his Word, by the joy of his pardon and mercy, you will be able
to imitate him and, as the psalmist teaches, "remain sinless".
3.
What does it mean to remain
sinless? It means
living your life according to the moral principles of the Gospel which the
Church sets before you. At present, unfortunately, it is easy for people to fall into moral relativism and the identity
crisis which affects so many young people, victims of cultural models
which are empty of meaning or of an ideology which does not offer high and
clear moral guidelines. Such moral relativism gives rise to selfishness,
division, marginalization, discrimination, fear and distrust of others.
Moreover, when young people live life "their own way", they idealize
things from other countries, they allow themselves to be seduced by unchecked
materialism, they lose their own roots and long for distractions. Consequently,
the emptiness brought on by this behaviour explains many of the evils which
beset young people: alcohol, the abuse of sex, drug use, prostitution hidden
under different guises, the causes of which are not always and exclusively
personal, motivation based on personal likes and selfish attitudes,
opportunism, the lack of a serious life project with no room given to a stable
marriage; also the rejection of all legitimate authority, the desire to escape
and to emigrate, the avoidance of commitment and responsibility in order to
seek shelter in a false world founded on alienation and annihilation. Faced
with this situation, Christian youth, longing to "remain sinless" and
firm in faith, know that they are called and chosen by Christ to live in the
authentic freedom of God's children, which involves many challenges. Thus,
welcoming the grace received in the sacraments, they know that they must bear
witness to Christ by their confident efforts to lead a life which is upright
and faithful to him.
4.
Faith
and morally upright behaviour go hand in hand. In effect, the gift received leads to a permanent
conversion enabling us to imitate Christ and receive the divine promises. In
order to hold fast to the fundamental values which, keep them sinless,
Christians sometimes have to suffer marginalization and persecution — at times
heroically — because of moral choices which are contrary to the world's
behaviour. This witness to the cross of Christ in daily life is also a sure and
fertile seed of new Christians. A life fully human and committed to Christ
requires this generosity and dedication.
5.
"Good
Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" (Mk 10:17). In the
Gospel which we have heard, a young man asks Jesus what he must do, and
the Master, filled with love, tells him how he must "be". The
young man presumes that he has kept all the commandments, and Jesus answers
that what is necessary is that he leave everything and follow him. This gives a
firm grounding and authenticity to values and permits the young man to reach
his fulfilment as a person and as a Christian. The key to this fulfilment is
found in fidelity, which St Paul referred to in the first reading as one
of the characteristics of our Christian identity. This is the path of fidelity
presented by St Paul: "Hold fast to what is good; love one another with
brotherly affection; ... rejoice in your hope, ... practise hospitality....
Bless.... Live in harmony with one another ... associate with the lowly; never
be conceited. Repay no one evil for evil.... Do not be overcome by evil but
overcome evil with good" (Rom 12:9-21).
The last ceremonial act
of the Time after Epiphany is the bittersweet farewell, or depositio, to
the word "Alleluia," which is suppressed for seventy days in the
traditional Roman rite from Septuagesima Sunday until Holy Saturday night. This
ceremony usually takes after the office of none (i.e., around 3 p.m.) on the
Saturday before Septuagesima Sunday
"Read
these counsels slowly. Pause to meditate on these thoughts. They are things
that I whisper in your ear-confiding them-as a friend, as a brother, as a
father. And they are being heard by God. I won't tell you anything new. I will
only stir your memory, so that some thought will arise and strike you; and so
you will better your life and set out along ways of prayer and of Love. And in
the end you will be a more worthy soul."
Treat your body
with charity, but with no more charity than you would show towards a
treacherous enemy.
Daily Devotions
[1]John
Maxwell, The Maxwell Leadership Bible.
[2]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=276
[4]http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/the_way-point-1.htm
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