Defeating Evil

Evil exists.

Evil was present before and during the time of Christ and it is not going anywhere or diminishing in power or influence.  Evil is present in the very people who are around us and among us.  They can be people we know or do not know, people who walk, who drive, who make laws, who are victims, heroes, celebrities, reporters, movie stars, entrepreneurs, white collar workers and blue collar laborers.  In short, they can be us.

Indeed, evil is present in us, from a small to a large extent.  In the absence of evil, there is the Holy Trinity, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the angels [1] and in the absence of good, there is Satan and its minions.

In each and every moment of every day, we have a choice between good and evil.  It is easy to be good when everything is going smoothly but not so easy when nothing seems to be right, when one unfortunate incident is followed by a next and a next.  That is when we are being tested, as Christ was being tested, first by a betrayal, then by scourging, followed by public humiliation wearing a crown of thorns before being crucified.  None of us have days as bad as that in these modern times but none of us is Christ in these times either.  We do, however, have bad days, and days when luck is just not on our side.  Those difficult days are days when prayers do not seem to matter, when we find ourselves distancing from the very goodness that we have sought before, when we become angrier and angrier, more and more judgmental, more and more vengeful and when that happens, we had better realize quickly where we are headed, and say some serious prayers before we find ourselves falling deeper and deeper into the vortex that is forever spinning toward the pits of Hell. [2].

Saying it another way, when we lose our patience, our tolerance, when we become unforgiving of others, when we lash out, that is when we become ugly (just look in the mirror) and that ugliness will become permanent if we continue down this path that Satan so enterprisingly put before us, for us to go on, to lead us to its disgusting and repulsive embrace.  During these times, we seem to be beside ourselves, losing control of ourselves, but we must not minimize or forget or let go of what is important, which is our focus on what is good, on God, so that we can to return to our prayers, and find our way back to our center, where we have Christ in the middle of His Passion, where we have the Blessed Virgin Mary praying incessantly, where evil can be soundly defeated, when we are able to look again in the mirror and see the reflection of love and kindness deep in our souls, until we become again vulnerable to our shortcomings, to the difficulties that confront us, when evil rises up once more, working assiduously to capture us and chain us to a hate that crescendos endlessly.  This cycle continues and continuously we must break it.




[1] Saints are not included because they were all born with Original Sin.
[2] One helpful reading is quoted below.  It is part of the Compline (Night Prayer) from Universalis.com on for Wednesday, September 18, 2013 at http://universalis.com/20130918/compline.htm   NOTE: Since universalis.com updates continuously, the link to this page with the Psalm below may no longer be available.

Psalm 30 (31)
Trustful prayer in time of adversity

O God, be my protector and my refuge.

In you, Lord, I put my trust: may I never be put to shame.

  In your justice, set me free,

Turn your ear to me,

  make haste to rescue me.

Be my rampart, my fortification;

  keep me safe. 

For you are my strength and my refuge:

  you will lead me out to the pastures,

  for your own name’s sake.

You will lead me out of the trap that they laid for me –

  for you are my strength. 

Into your hands I commend my spirit:

  you have redeemed me, Lord God of truth. 

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

  as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

  world without end.

Amen.

O God, be my protector and my refuge.

[3]