God's thoughts are not our thoughts. He says: "As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are My ways above your ways and My thoughts above your thoughts" (Is 55:9). Also, God sees things differently than we do. "Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart" (1 Sm 16:7).

If we are to have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16), we must not only reject the world but hold it in contempt. Jesus promised: "The man who loves his life loses it, while the man who hates his life in this world preserves it to life eternal" (Jn 12:25). We love the people of the world, but we hate the world system that ignores and rejects the Lord Jesus. We love the sinner but hate the sin. We hold in contempt not only the world out there but also the world in here, in our own person. We crucify our "flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal 5:24) by faith in Jesus, the waters of baptism, and life in the Spirit.

Let's not tolerate the world with all its evils. Let's not play games at the foot of the cross. We are either enemies of the world or enemies of the cross. "Unfortunately, many go about in a way which shows them to be enemies of the cross of Christ" (Phil 3:18). "I am talking about those who are set upon the things of this world" (Phil 3:19).

Rescript:  †Most Reverend Daniel E. Pilarczyk, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, April 21, 2005

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.