comment
The readings today make it clear that we have a choice to make—follow the ways of God or follow the ways of the world. Jeremiah and St. Paul are giving us insight and advice to help us. We see the importance of living our truth in faith, and of including our minds. We live the paradox of being in the world but not of the world. Jesus is telling us that our very lives depend on how we choose. Is it really an either/or situation? Or is it, rather, a both/and? How can we follow God and be in the world?
Following God, generally, will fill us with feelings of peace: our sense of hope expands, our hearts become wider and deeper, and we are inspired to be even more generous. Following the world often leads to feeling inadequate, insecure, fearful, desperate, competing for attention, and material acquisition. It is crucial we pay attention to what is in our hearts—the feelings that result from following God, or the feelings that result from being conformed to this world. For whose sake are we really living?