ANGELS AND DEVILS - THE BATTLE WAGES ON
This weekend we celebrated St. Michael and the Archangels as this feast was elevated to a solemnity by Cardinal Collins since St. Michael is the patron of our archdiocese. In my homily, I spoke about angels and the fallen angels- devils- and the role they still play today and the battle that still wages on, though we perhaps do not speak or hear about it so much today. I mentioned certain writings of the church which addressed angels and devils- particularly the current rejection of the devil and evil. One document that I mentioned was Christian Faith and Demonology by The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. It not only addresses this matter, but also goes through the history of the teaching of the devil in the Church.
St. Pope John Paul II also addresses the infiltration of the devil in his encylical Evangelium Vitae, known more commonly as the "Gospel of Life". He states in paragraph 53:
"Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves ?the creative action of God', and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can, in any circumstance, claim for himself the right to destroy directly an innocent human being".41 With these words the Instruction Donum Vitae sets forth the central content of God's revelation on the sacredness and inviolability of human life.
Sacred Scripture in fact presents the precept "You shall not kill" as a divine commandment (Ex 20:13; Dt 5:17). As I have already emphasized, this commandment is found in the Deca- logue, at the heart of the Covenant which the Lord makes with his chosen people; but it was already contained in the original covenant between God and humanity after the purifying punishment of the Flood, caused by the spread of sin and violence (cf. Gen 9:5-6).
God proclaims that he is absolute Lord of the life of man, who is formed in his image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:26-28). Human life is thus given a sacred and inviolable character, which reflects the inviolability of the Creator himself. Precisely for this reason God will severely judge every violation of the commandment "You shall not kill", the commandment which is at the basis of all life together in society. He is the "goel", the defender of the innocent (cf. Gen 4:9-15; Is 41:14; Jer 50:34; Ps 19:14). God thus shows that he does not delight in the death of the living (cf. Wis 1:13). Only Satan can delight therein: for through his envy death entered the world (cf. Wis 2:24). He who is "a murderer from the beginning", is also "a liar and the father of lies" (Jn 8:44). By deceiving man he leads him to projects of sin and death, making them appear as goals and fruits of life (EV 53). (emphasis added)
He goes further to bring forward the realization that what is now evil is called good, and what is good is now called evil in paragraph 58 when discussion abortion:
But today, in many people's consciences, the perception of its gravity has become progressively obscured. The acceptance of abortion in the popular mind, in behaviour and even in law itself, is a telling sign of an extremely dangerous crisis of the moral sense, which is becoming more and more incapable of distinguishing between good and evil, even when the fundamental right to life is at stake. Given such a grave situation, we need now more than ever to have the courage to look the truth in the eye and to call things by their proper name, without yielding to convenient compromises or to the temptation of self-deception. In this regard the reproach of the Prophet is extremely straightforward: "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness" (Is 5:20) (EV 53).
Let us keep this in mind as we ask St. Michael and the Archangels to pray for us and protect us.
