Fr. Meeks reflects on 1 John chapter 3: "The reason why the world does not know us is it did not know Him." The world refers to the world of sin estranged from God. The world cannot relate to people that live according to the will of God.

We are citizens of another Kingdom - to be in this world but not of this world. Those of the world have chosen darkness over light. Approval, affirmation and validation by the world are ultimately undesirable by the Christian.

If we are children of God and do not receive disapproval by the world we need to seriously evaluate our faith and life. The Church is called to be counter-cultural. The failure to do so on the part of so many Catholics has contributed significantly to the moral decline of our culture. Far too many Catholics have remained silent as our culture becomes more and more debase.

We cannot placate evil - we must show the world there is a better way.