We see more suffering in our country these past several days
with the fires out west. It is an
appropriate image for this particular post as we discuss the devil’s role in
suffering.
For the most part, fires are a good thing. We use fire to cook, to keep warm, and in a
general sense, to purify. Some religions
use fire as a symbol of prayers rising to God.
Even in the Catholic tradition, we see fire used as a positive image of
the Holy Spirit. Our Lord says he has
come to “bring fire to the Earth” (Luke 12:49).
But as we see recently, fire can also be a negative
thing. The devil is usually portrayed
with fire because it is symbolic of him being in hell, and suffering, tormented
for all eternity. Fire can be a symbol
of suffering (or a cause of suffering, as we have seen). Why
is the devil in hell? He is there
because he became, and forever remains, an enemy of God.
What many may not know is the devil was not always bad. He
was, and actually is an angel! We
read in the Catechism (#391) Behind the disobedient choice of our first
parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into
death out of envy. Scripture
and the Church's Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called
"Satan" or the "devil". The Church teaches that Satan was at first a
good angel, made by God: "The devil and the other demons were indeed
created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing."
There is Scripture to validate this claim. We read in 2 Peter 2 …God did not spare the angels when
they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains[
of deepest darkness to be kept until the judgment….
Before we go any further, let us define what angels
are. Angels are spiritual creatures
who glorify God without ceasing and who serve his saving plans for other
creatures (Catechism, #350). (In one of my very first posts, I
discussed angels, although there it was more personal than theological: https://jimscatholicblog.blogspot.com/2015/07/angels.html
. The topic of angels definitely
deserves another post of its own at some point.)
Let us return to our story. The angels were all happy serving
God, and then God decided to create man.
Some angels got furious that God would want to share himself with a
creature, and became even more furious when God asked them (the angels) to
serve this creature! Most of the
angels, out of their love for God, went along with this, but some, including one particular fallen angel, Satan, did not. Our Lord confirms this
when he said: He was a murderer from the
beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the
father of lies (John 8:44).
So before our first parents made their choice to sin, the
devil and other angels made a choice to turn against God, as well.
Now angels exist outside of time, like God, so once they make a choice,
there is no reversal. Their choice is
irrevocable. (We,
on the other hand, since we are in time, however, can reverse our choices. Thank God!)
Since they cannot go back, they continue forward with their evil works, under the leadership of the devil, Satan.
I have spoken about the works of the devil in other
posts. Here is a link to them:
I wrote in one of these posts the following: Satan
makes his presence known at the beginning of the world, and he will try to
influence it to the end. He hates creation, especially
the crown of God’s creation, man.
Yes, Satan despises man, because he was created by God and
given the same, if not greater blessings than the angels, and he was asked, like I said, to
serve this creature. His pride would
not let him serve, and that same pride compels him to continue to try to
destroy creation.
Again, please read more about the devil in those two linked
posts if you have not read them already, but for now let us circle back to the story from Genesis 3 (which we read in the first post in this series) where we see Satan’s role in causing suffering. Remember, we said sin causes suffering. Man sinned.
What led him to sin? It was the
devil, symbolized by the serpent in the account from Genesis. We read in the
Catechism (#397): Man, tempted by the devil,
let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom,
disobeyed God's command.
It is important we be clear here. While the devil tempts us to do wrong, to sin, and therefore, to suffer, it is we
who make the choice to give in, so sin is
our responsibility. We cannot ever
say “the devil made me do it.” The Catechism (#407) says this: By our first parents' sin, the devil has
acquired certain domination over man, even though man remains free. God gave us freedom, and the devil has no
power to take that back.
Our whole lives will be a battle of combat with the power of
evil. We read in 1 Peter 5: Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a
roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, steadfast
in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all
the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.
We see in this passage a clear connection between the power
of the devil and suffering. We suffer
because the devil tempts us, and we suffer even more when we give him to
him. Yes, the reality of the devil does contribute
in a large way to the suffering we see around us. But, we play an even larger role ourselves because
we give in to him. We must resist as the
apostle exhorts us!
Before we close, there is one final point to be made, and it
is similar to the question we ended the last post. Why does God allow…? In the last post, we asked why God allowed our
first parents to sin. Here, we ask why
God allows the devil to continue to act.
It is a very similar answer, for a greater good. The Catechism says in #395: It
is a great mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but
"we know that in everything God works for good with those who love
him." (Romans 8:28)
So, how can we win this battle against the devil? We must cling to him whose mission was to
destroy the works of the devil. We read
in 1 John 3:8: Everyone
who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from
the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the
works of the devil. Jesus came
to destroy the works of the devil, and it is to him, through the Holy Spirit,
that we must cling in order to win this battle.
We will speak more about Our Lord Jesus Christ, and what he
teaches about suffering, in the next post.
Joseph, foster Father of the Son of God, pray for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment