the figure of this world passeth away

This therefore I say, brethren," exclaims St. Paul, " the time is short: it remaineth .... that they who rejoice should be as they who are not rejoicing ; and they who buy, as if they were not possessing anything ; and they who use this world, as if they used it not: for the figure of this world passeth away." (1 Cor. vii. 29-31.) Yes, my brethren, the figure of this world passeth away, and with it all its cares and anxieties, all its sorrows and misfortunes : it passeth away, and with it all its praises and enjoyments, all its hopes and wishes : it passeth away, and with it all they who move therein, whether they have experienced its evils or its goods, whether they have met its frowns or its smiles. And if all that concerns us thus passes, except God, who alone is great, and eternity, which alone is lasting, what is worth our solicitude in this world, excepting that we serve God, as the Church expresses it in one of her prayers, " that we may so pass through temporal goods as not to lose those which are eternal."

Sermon on the Love of the World by Cd. Wiseman