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From
a homily by Saint Cyprian
Let us banish the fear of death
and meditate upon the everlasting life that follows it
 Our
obligation is to do God’s will, and not our own. We must remember this
if the prayer that our Lord commanded us to say daily is to have any meaning
on our lips. How unreasonable it is to pray that God’s will be done,
and then not promptly obey it when he calls us from this world! Instead we
struggle and resist like self-willed slaves and are brought into the Lord’s
presence with sorrow and lamentation, not freely consenting to our departure,
but constrained by necessity. And yet we expect to be rewarded with heavenly
honours by him to whom we come against our will! Why then do we pray for
the kingdom of heaven to come if this earthly bondage pleases us? What is
the point of praying so often for its early arrival if we would rather serve
the devil here than reign with Christ.
The world hates Christians, so
why give your love to it instead of following Christ, who loves you and has
redeemed you? John is most urgent in his epistle when he tells us not to
love the world by yielding to sensual desires. Never give your love to
the world, he warns, or to anything in it. A man cannot love the Father
and love the world at the same time. All that the world offers is the lust
of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and earthly ambition. The world and its
allurements will pass away, but the man who has done the will of God shall
live for ever. Our part, my dear brothers, is to be single-minded, firm
in faith, and steadfast in courage, ready for God’s will, whatever it
may be. Banish the fear of death and think of the everlasting life that follows
it. That will show people that we really live our faith.
—Saint Cyprian, bishop
Office of Readings, November 26
  
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