Seek First the Kingdom of God

In the world, yet not of it

From a homily on the Gospels by Saint Gregory the Great, pope

I would like to urge you to forsake everything, but that I do not presume to do.  Yet, if you cannot give up everything of this world, at least keep what belongs to the world in such a way that you yourself are not kept prisoner by the world.  

Whatever you possess must not possess you; whatever you own must be under the power of your soul; for if your soul is overpowered by the love of this world’s goods, it will be totally at the mercy of its possessions.

In other words, 

we make use of temporal things, 

but our hearts are set on what is eternal.  

Temporal goods help us on our way, but our desire must be for those eternal realities which are our goal.  

We should give no more than a side glance 

at all that happens in the world, 

but the eyes of our soul 

are to be focused right ahead; 

for our whole attention must 

be fixed on those realities 

which constitute our goal.

Whatever is vicious must be utterly eradicated, wrenched away not merely from being put into act but even from being so much as thought of.  

No carnal pleasure, no worldly curiosity, 

no surge of ambition must keep us 

from the Lord’s Supper.  

But further, our minds should merely skirt even the good deeds we perform in this life; in this way, the physical things which give us pleasure will serve our bodily needs without hindering the soul’s progress.  

You see, my brothers, I dare not say to you, give up everything.  Yet, if you will, you can give everything up even while keeping it, provided you handle the temporal things in such a way that your whole mind is directed toward what is eternal.  

A man can use the world 

as if he were not using it, 

if he makes all 

external needs 

minister to the support of his life 

without allowing them to dominate his soul. 

They remain external to him and under his control, serving him without halting the soul’s drive to higher things.  For such men, everything in this world is there for their use, not to be desired.

Nothing should interfere 

with your soul’s longing; 

no created pleasure in the world 

should ensnare you.

If the object of love is what is good, then the soul should take its delight in the higher good, the things of heaven.  If the object of fear is what is evil, then we should keep before ourselves the things that are eternally evil.  

In this way, if the soul sees that we should have a greater love and a greater fear about what concerns the next life, it will never cling to this life.

To help us achieve all this we have the help of the mediator between God and man.  Through Him we shall obtain all this the more quickly, the more we burn with a great love for Him, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.