The World: Address for Catholic Men’s Conference ‘Be Not Afraid: The World, the Flesh and the Devil’.
St Mary’s Cathedral Hall, Sydney, 19 September 2026
A reading from the First Letter of St John:
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and the pride of life—is not of the Father but of the world.And the world is passing away along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1Jn 2:15-17)
- Love it or loathe it?
Sixteen centuries ago, the great Doctor of the Church, St Augustine, made a striking observation about how Christians are to relate to the world. If we take Sacred Scripture seriously, he says, it appears we are at once forbidden and commanded to love the world.[1] Preaching on the First Epistle of St John, Augustine anticipates the cognitive dissonance of his audience. If everything is created by God, how can we be forbidden to love what He has made—as John claims?[2]
It’s a fair question. But there are plenty of texts in the New Testament to back John up. “You adulterous people,” James says in his epistle, “don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity with God?” “Do not be conformed to this world,” Paul reverberates; “set your minds on things above, not on things of this world”. Jesus is equally direct Himself: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his own soul?” “No one can serve two masters… You cannot serve both God and mammon.” “The worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word and make it unfruitful.” “If you are to be my disciples, you must prefer me to your family and friends, even your own life.” “If you belonged to this world, it would love you as its own. But I have consecrated you, so you no longer belong to this world, and so the world hates you.” My life, grace, peace, my children and kingdom are not of this world.[3]
Yet the same John who tells us not to love the world also famously recounted that “God so loved the world, he gave his only Son.” And the same Jesus who cautioned that the world would hate His followers, sent them out into that world to join Him in saving it. “God saw all that he had made and indeed it was very good.” We, too, see our Creator in the good things of creation. It is right for us to love our relatives, fellow Christians, neighbours, even strangers. And we should make the most of those friendships and all our opportunities, wealth, work.[4]
So, as Augustine observed, we seem to be in a bit of a bind about what the Bible means by that slippery term “the world”. Often it is a positive term, meaning everything God has brought into being—the heavens and earth, land and seas, animals and plants, men, women and children.[5] God makes and remakes these things, loves and redeems them. But “the world” can also be shorthand for anything opposed to heaven, anything that shuts itself off from God. This is the realm of temptation and sin.[6] Here ‘the world’ operates as indifference towards, alienation from, or rebellion against God, being instead in the grip of anti-God forces.[7]
Thus, the Council of Trent declared in 1547:
Let those who think themselves to stand, take heed lest they fall, and, with fear and trembling work out their salvation, in labours, watchings, almsdeeds, in prayers and oblations, fastings and chastity: for, knowing that they are born again unto a hope of glory, but not as yet unto glory, they ought to fear for the combat which yet remains with the flesh, with the world, and with the devil, wherein they cannot be victorious, unless they be with God’s grace…[8]
So, ‘the world’ is an equivocal term in Scripture and tradition and we must be careful to attend to context. Already in the early Church there were some who thought everything worldly was good and permitted,[9] and others that thought everything worldly was bad and to prohibited.[10] In the following century St Irenaeus had to argue that the Creator of heaven and earth is the same God who saved us through His Son, and so we cannot write off the world as evil—as the Gnostics did.[11]
But that heresy recurred. In the third to fifth centuries the Manichaean heresy divided Christians and held even the young Augustine in its thrall. It taught that the world and humanity were by-products of the battle between good and evil, god and the devil, light and darkness. In the thirteenth century, this ideology morphed into the religion of the Cathars and Albigenses, who posited two rival gods, demeaned the physical order and so the body, marriage and family, denied the Incarnation, Passion and Resurrection of Christ, and degraded the sacraments. Against these dualists the Fourth Lateran Council professed the one Creator of all things “visible and invisible, spiritual and corporeal,” pointing out that even the devil was created good and chose evil for himself.[12] Thus St Francis of Assisi could celebrate “Brother Sun and Sister Moon, Brother Wind and Sister Sea,” seeing the created world not as God’s rival but as leading us to praise Him.[13] This animated Pope Francis’ claim that “the entire material universe speaks of God’s love” [14] and Pope Leo’s remarks, only a few days ago, that “all of creation speaks to us of the greatness of its Creator”.[15]
In answer to the Albigensian crisis, St Dominic proposed a new form of religious life that embodied Catholic faith about the world. Thus his friars would preach the goodness of creation while living poverty, disciplining their bodies without despising them, praying and studying so they would have words of life to offer the world, and leaving the safety of the monastic cloister to make the earth their mission field. Their central theme would be the Incarnation by which the God who is pure spirit joined the material universe and so also the Eucharist. For it is in His Body given to us through the Eucharist that the material order is affirmed not just as good, but even as godly; through receiving that Eucharist our bodies can become tabernacles or temples for His Body, rather than prisons for our souls; and through communion that our bodies and souls can be united to His forever. Christianity is no escape from matter. As God entered it to redeem it, He left us His Eucharist as a perpetual memorial of all this.
2. Worldliness and Temptation
What, then, are we to make of the negativity toward ‘the world’ in some passages of the New Testament and in some orthodox expressions of Christian spirituality such as The Imitation of Christ?[16] To return to John’s letter, his warning about loving the world and the things of this world is in the context of “the lust of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life.” Here we see the foundations of what Christians have traditionally called ‘worldliness’: a false relationship to created goods.
St James makes a similar point. His caution about ‘friendship with the world’ comes in the middle of a discussion of envy, quarrels and passions run amok (Jas 4:1-4).
So, too, St Paul calls us to set our minds on the higher things while putting to death “what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed… anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language [and] lies” (Col 3:2-10). The problem with worldliness, then, is how it distorts our desires and choices, making us more susceptible to temptation, more likely to sin.
It is said that “to sin is human, to forgive divine.” But to sin is inhuman: it distorts us, demeans us, makes us less not more. Christ Himself was “tempted in every way that we are, though without sinning” (Heb 4:15). He is not less human for that. In the wilderness, the devil tempted Him with ‘bread’, that is with consumption, wealth and comfort. He then tempted Him with spectacle, fame and celebrity, to be achieved by throwing himself off the temple roof unharmed. Finally, he tempted Him with power, influence and splendour, promising Him all the kingdoms of the world (Mt 4:1–11). Sustenance is good, fame and authority also, achieved and exercised aright. Christ’s answers to the Devil are about putting such things in their proper place: God’s word before material comforts, trust in God rather than trusting in the crowd, reverence for what is worthy, serving God in all things. Worldliness makes us indifferent, resistant, alienated from God; holiness draws us towards Him, conforming our minds and wills to His, enjoying communion with Him. And we are all called to holiness, in our very creation and in our re-creation in baptism. To be truly human is to be more Christlike, more Marylike, better not worse.
Today’s world has all the temptations that John, Paul and James were contending with, as well as new ones often directed at men in particular. Never in history, for instance, have we been so confused about the transcendent: unlike the heretics who elevated the spirit by degrading the body, our culture glorifies the body and its pleasures, creates anxieties about body image, and pursues the material while ignoring the spiritual. Yet it is also deeply conflicted about bodily life, uncertain what it means to be a man or woman, writes masculinity off as toxic, and treats sex and sexuality as mere preferences. Lust is magnified by hyper-sexualised media and technologised porn, much of it targeted especially at young men.
Our voracious consumer culture builds on the materialist mindset, feeding greed for houses and renovations, cars and gadgets, trips and experiences. Possessions become the measure of success, success the measure of self-worth, profit more important than prayer.
Anger, too, and macho violence have found powerful new allies. Algorithms quickly learn what provokes us because ‘rage bait’ outrage holds attention and is therefore more profitable for Big Tech. We can end up furious with people we have never met, and mistake contempt for righteous zeal. In this environment, seeing one’s ideological opponent as a fellow child of God is well-nigh impossible.
Vanity and sloth have also found powerful new machinery. Social media has become a running public scorecard of likes, followers and views, encouraging us to outdo others or to compare our ordinary lives with everybody else’s curated highlights. Endless scrolling and streaming ensure that silence and contemplation, prayer and stillness, being present with family and friends, are harder than ever.
All of which leads us to a practical question: if temptations offered by worldliness are very real and newly amplified, how might Christian men navigate life in the world even if not of the world? How might we love what is truly good, without giving in to worldliness and what demeans us?
III. Eucharistic Strength
As we look forward to the International Eucharistic congress in 2028, let me propose to you men that the Eucharistic Lord is the true answer to a distorting worldliness. He shows us not only what it is to be God, but what it is to be truly human, truly a man.[17] On the night before He died, Jesus prayed to His Father, “I am not asking you to remove [those you gave me] from the world, but to protect them from the evil one.” Then He adds: “They do not belong to the world… but I am sending them into the world. Sanctify them in the truth.” (Jn 17:14–19) Jesus doesn’t pray that we be quarantined from evil, temptation, free choice. He doesn’t want us to retreat from this world. No, He is sending us into it, as light in the darkness, to take the Gospel to all peoples. He knows the dangers. So, He asks the Father to strengthen and protect us.
How do we claim the Father’s protection, as our sword and shield, our energy and inspiration? Again, we return to that Last Night. Before going to the Cross, Christ didn’t give us a rulebook by which to avoid temptation or spiritual exercises to make us impervious to the worldly. Nor did He leave us bureaucrats’ plan for making a perfect world or a well-being programme. No, His extraordinary bequest was: “This is my body, given for you” (Lk 22:19). The Eucharist is given us precisely to enable us to live in the world but not be overcome by it.
The Catechism reminds us that just as ordinary food restores the strength of the body, “the Eucharist strengthens our charity, which tends to be weakened in daily life”; it enables us to “break our disordered attachments to creatures and root ourselves in Christ”; it helps preserve us from worldly temptation and grave sin.[18]
This is, I think, particularly important for men. We are easily tempted by the need to possess or impress, to prove something, or to satisfy the body and switch off the mind and spirit. The Eucharist is an antidote to such misshapen masculinity. In giving His Body for us, Christ reveals the power of self-gift. As sons, fathers, husbands, brothers, friends, pastors, co-workers, citizens, in every way and place that we express our manhood, the Eucharist proposes an important recalibration: strength is not about domination or self-assertion, not about consumption or accumulation, not about vengeance or vanity, but rather having the strength to give—to give not just things but ourselves, to master our impulses and sacrifice our whims, to serve faithfully those entrusted to us.
As the Lord Jesus said to His men, “This is my body, given for you”, we give ourselves also to those around us. We make of ourselves with Christ a Eucharist for our world. As disciples powered by the Eucharist we can embrace all that is good and true and beautiful about the world around us, while resisting anything that would separate us from God. We take Christ from the altar out to the world and bring the world back to Christ at the altar. In the words of Pope Leo: “Strengthened by the food that God gives us, let us bring Jesus to the hearts of all.”[19] God bless you men.
[1] Augustine, Tractates on the Gospel of John 87.4.
[2] Augustine, Homilies on the First Epistle of John 2.11,
[3] “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity with God?” (Jas 4:4). “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed” (Rom 12:2). “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things of this world” (Col 3:2). “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his own soul?” (Mt 16:26) “No one can serve two masters… You cannot serve both God and mammon.” (Mt 6:24; Lk 16:13) “The worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word and make it unfruitful.” (Mt 13:22; Mk 4:19; Lk 8:14; cf. 1Cor 7:29-35) “You must prefer me to parents, spouse, children, siblings, even your own life, if you are to be my disciple” (Mt 8:21-22; 10:37; Lk 9:59-60; 14:26). “You must be willing to give up this life to save it for eternity.” (Jn 12:25; cf. 10:17) “If you belonged to this world, it would love you as its own. I have consecrated you, so you no longer belong to this world, and so the world hates you.” (Jn 15:19; cf. 17:14) My peace, my life, my grace, my children, my kingdom are not of this world (Mt 6:19; Lk 16:8; Jn 3:1-3; 8:12,23; 14:27; 16:33; 18:36; cf. 2Cor 5:17; Phil 3:20; 1Jn 4:4-5; 5:4-5; 1Pet 1:4).
[4] “God so loved the world, he gave his only Son” (Jn 3:16–17; cf. Jn 1:29; 4:42; 12:47; 1Jn 4:9,14). “I came not to condemn the world but to save it” (Jn 12:47). “God saw all that he had made and indeed it was very good” (Gen 1:4,10,12,18,21,25,31; Wis 11:24; Acts 4:24; 14:15; Rev 10:6). We see our Creator in the good things of creation (Ps 19:1-2; 104:24-25; Prov 8:27-31; Job 12:7-10; Isa 6:3; Rom 1:20). We should love our brothers and friends (Jn 11:3,5,36; 13:1,23,34-35; 15:12-17; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7,15-20; Rom 12:9-10; 13:8; 1Cor ch. 13; 1Jn 4:7-8; 1Pet 1:22; 4:8). We should love our neighbours (Mt 19:19; 22:39; 1Jn 3:16-18). We should love strangers, even enemies (Mt 5:43-46; Lk 6:27-35). We should make the most of our talents, money, work and opportunities (Mt 25:14-30; Lk 16:9; Eph 5:15-17; Col 4:5; 1Tim 6:7-8). Christians are sent out to the whole world:
[5] Gen chs 1 & 2; Jn 1:9; 3:16; 13:1; Acts 17:24; Rom 8:20.
[6] Mt 4:1-11 et par.; 6:19-21; Eph 2:2-3.
[7] E.g. Jn 1:10,29; 7:7; 12:31; 14:17,22,30; 15:18-19; 16:8-11; 17:14-16; 18:36; Rom 12:2; 2Cor 4:4; Gal 1:4; 6:14; Col 3:5; 2Tim 4:10; Tit 2:12; Heb 11:38; Jas 4:4; 2Pet 1:4; 1Jn 2:15-17; 3:1; 5:4-5,19. Cf. Peter Abelard, Expositiones: Tria autem sunt quae nos tentant, caro, mundus, diabolus (“There are three things which tempt us, the flesh, the world, and the devil”); St Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae IIa IIae q. 55 on whether “prudence of the flesh” is a sin.
[8] Council of Trent, Session 6 (1547).
[9] E.g. Rom 3:8; 6:1-4,15; 12:1-2; 1Cor 5:1-5, 9-13; 6:12-20; 8:9; 9:19-23; 11:21-34; Gal 5:19-21; 1Jn 2:3-6; Rev 2:12-17.
[10] E.g. 1Jn 5:4-5,19.
[11] St Irenaeus, Against Heresies II, 9.1
[12] Fourth Lateran Council, Constitution 1, Firmiter credimus (1215), DH 800.
[13] St Francis of Assisi, “The Canticle of the Creatures,” in Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, vol. 1 (New York: NY City Press, 1999), 113-114.; Pope Leo XIV, Homily for the Holy Mass for the Care of Creation, 1 September 2026.
[14] Pope Francis, Laudato Si: Encyclical Letter on Care for Our Common Home, 24 May 2015, no. 84.
[15] Pope Leo XIV, Homily for Mass for the Care of Creation, Borgo Laudato Si’ in Castel Gandolfo, 1 September 2026.
[16] See also St John of the Cross, The Spiritual Canticle of the Soul; Modern writers include Roderick Evans, The World, the Flesh, and the Devil (2020); Richard Rohr, The World, the Flesh and the Devil: What to do with evil? (SPCK, 2021); Paul Zylstra, Our Spiritual Enemies: The Word, the Flesh, and the Devil (Write Place, 2018).
[17] Vatican Council II, Gaudium et spes 22, quoting in many subsequent papal documents.
[18] CCC 1394-95
[19] Leo XIV, Homily for Corpus Christi, 22 June 2025.