St. Thomas Aquinas, commenting on the words of St. John’s Gospel (chap. 14), explains the difference between the two. Contemplation will be denied to a man in proportion as he belongs to “the world.” The expression “the world” signifies those who love the transient and unimportant things of this world. They cannot receive the Holy Spirit Who is the Love of God. As St. John of the Cross says: “Two contraries cannot coexist at the same time in the same subject.”13 You cannot serve God and Mammon.
