Practical devotion of the day: detaching yourself from the material world

The world is a deceiver. Everything is vanity down here, except serving God, says Ecclesiastes. How many times has this truth been touched upon! The world tempts us with riches, but these are not enough to prolong our life by five minutes; it flatters us with pleasures and honors, but these, brief and almost always united with sins, ruin our hearts instead of contenting it. At the point of death, how many disappointments we will have, but perhaps useless! Let's think about it now!

The world is a traitor. He betrays us, throughout life, with his maxims opposed to the Gospel; he advises us on pride, vanity, revenge, his own satisfaction, he makes us follow vice instead of virtue. He betrays us in death by abandoning us with all his illusions, or by deceiving us with the hope that we have time. He betrays us in eternity, losing our soul ... And we follow him! And we fear him, humble servants of him! ...

Detachment from the world. What prize can the world hope for? What did Jezebel have with the attractiveness he so abused? Nebuchadnezzar with his pride, Solomon with his wealth, Arius, Origen with their ingenuity, Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon I with their ambition? The flashiness of this world vanishes, says the Apostle; we seek the gold of virtue, not the mud of the earth; we seek God, Heaven, true peace of heart. Take serious resolutions-

PRACTICE. - Detach yourself from something dear to you. give alms.