We live in this world and hence we are very much influenced by what and how the world thinks and acts.
Very often the world dictates how we should think and how we should act and even though we might think differently we end up conforming to the world's ideas.
It seems like a case of if you can't beat them then join them.
But St. Paul reminds us in the 1st reading that because of Christ, we must persevere and stand on the solid base of the faith and never let ourselves drift away form the hope promised by the Good News.
So in this world we walk by faith, and faith must guide us in how we think and act, so that what we do before God will be holy, pure and blameless.
Yes, we are in this world, yet we are not of this world; we are of Christ, and it expresses the relationship between a part and a whole.
In the gospel, Jesus proclaimed that He is master of the sabbath, which is a holy day.
Jesus is our Master, and He is also the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
May we be His faithful disciples and servants so that we can sanctify the world by living holy, pure and blameless lives so that the world can see what salvation is all about.