Day 2 of 30 · Week 1 · God's Loving Plan for Humanity

Day 2 — God's Loving Plan for Humanity

Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have salvation and power come, and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of His Anointed. For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, who accuses them before our God day and night.
They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; love for life did not deter them from death.
Therefore, rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them. But woe to you, earth and sea, for the Devil has come down to you in great fury, for he knows he has but a short time.”
When the dragon saw that it had been thrown down to the earth, it pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle, so that she could fly to her place in the desert, where, far from the serpent, she was taken care of for a year, two years, and a half-year. The serpent, however, spewed a torrent of water out of his mouth after the woman to sweep her away with the current. But the earth helped the woman and opened its mouth and swallowed the flood that the dragon spewed out of its mouth.
Then the dragon became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus.
Revelations 12:7–17

THE DEVIL AND THE WEAKNESSES OF HUMAN NATURE

We must realize that demons are pure intellectual beings, not rational beings like us.

They possess a superior knowledge of our weaknesses and dispositions, which they use to tempt us. St. Teresa is aware that, “The devil knows very well to take advantage of our nature and little understanding” (Letter to Isabel de S. Jeronimo and Maria de Jesus in Obras Completas, 980).

In his Spiritual Canticle, St. John of the Cross also suggests that demons use the world and flesh to enhance the power of their work: “The temptation of the devils . . . is stronger than those of the world and the flesh, because the devils reinforce themselves with these other two enemies, the world and the flesh, in order to wage a rugged war” (431).

The devil knows how to exploit our instincts and passions, the weakness of our flesh and our pride. Victor White, in God and the Unconscious, remarks that misfortune, sickness, or mental anxiety are not sins, but they may induce us to rebellion and despair. And Satan may take advantage of all of them to tempt us to sin. catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=8280

St. Teresa of Avila

But the devil comes with his artful wiles, and, under the color of doing good, sets about undermining it in trivial ways, and working it in practices which, so he gives it to understand, are not wrong; little by little he darkens its understanding and weakens its will, and causes its self-love to increase in one way or another he begins to withdraw it from the love of God and persuade to indulge its own wishes. (Interior Castle, 120) St. John of the Cross

The angels produce spiritual communications; the demons, spiritual horrors. But in the end, victory belongs to the good angels. These horrors, which purify the soul, are followed by a spiritual favor, in accord with the dark and horrible purgation it suffered. The soul “will enjoy a wondrous and delightful spiritual

communication, at times ineffably sublime. The preceding horror of the evil spirit refined the soul so that it could receive this good” (Dark Knight, 385).

Evening Prayer

Daily Catechism (CCC #391-395)

THE FALL OF THE ANGELS

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.” Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels. This “fall” consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejected God and His reign. We find a reflection of that rebellion in the tempter’s words to our first parents: “You will be like God.” The devil “has sinned from the beginning”; he is “a liar and the father of lies.” It is the irrevocable character of their choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels’ sin unforgivable. “There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death.”

Scripture witnesses to the disastrous influence of the one Jesus calls “a murderer from the beginning,” who would even try to divert Jesus from the mission received from His Father. “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” In its consequences the gravest of these works was the mendacious seduction that led man to disobey God.

The power of Satan is, nonetheless, not infinite. He is only a creature, powerful from the fact that he is pure spirit, but still a creature. He cannot prevent the building up of God’s reign. Although Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and His Kingdom in Christ Jesus, and although his action may cause grave injuries—of a spiritual nature and, indirectly, even of a physical nature—to each man and to society, the action is permitted by divine providence which with strength and gentleness guides human and cosmic history. 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.”

QUESTION TIME with Fr. John Flader

catholicleader.com.au/opinion/guest-writers/the-fall-of-the-angels/

Why did some of the angels fall and become devils when they were created in heaven and were so close to God? Also, why didn’t they have the opportunity to repent and be saved as we do?

To situate the questions in context we recall that our first parents were tempted by the devil in the form of a serpent (cf. Genesis 3:1–7).

We know that the devil is a fallen angel, created originally with all the powers and happiness of the other angels, but who for some reason rejected God and remained separated from Him forever in hell. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says of the serpent: “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’” (Lateran Council IV (1215), DS 800; CCC 391).

You mention that the devils—or angels at the beginning—were created in heaven and very close to God. Many people think this but it is clear that the angels, while very blessed and close to God, were not in heaven. When a soul is in heaven it is drawn irresistibly to the goodness and love of God and cannot reject Him. It is impossible for any soul in heaven to sin.

The angels at the beginning were given many endowments from God. In the natural sphere they were pure spirits with a very keen mind and a strong free will. By their nature, angels are superior to all other creatures, including humans. In the supernatural sphere they, like Adam and Eve, were given the state of grace, which is

a sharing in the divine life and the divine nature. They were indeed very close to God, even though they were not in heaven. They knew God and were able to love him with a knowledge and love more perfect than ours. And of course they were called to eternal life with God in heaven.

Then why did some of the angels reject God?

The answer can only be pride. Some of the Fathers of the Church apply to the devil God’s words to a wayward Israel: “For long ago you broke your yoke and burst your bonds; and you said, ‘I will not serve’” (Jeremiah 2:20).

Even though created with such a superior nature, some of the angels did not want to serve anyone, not even the God who had made them and blessed them so much. John Milton, in his Paradise Lost, has the devil say: “Better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven” (I, 263). The Catechism teaches: “This ‘fall’ consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejected God and His reign. We find a reflection of that rebellion in the tempter’s words to our first parents: ‘You will be like God’” (Genesis 3:5; CCC 392).

Summary of Key Concepts

Creation of Angels, Lucifer: “The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing” (Lateran Council). Lucifer is another name for Satan and means “angel of light.”

The Fall of the Angels: Scripture tells us that “The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it.” (Rev 12:9). The devil refused to serve God because of his pride and desire to be equal to God. Nature of Angels & Demons: In the natural sphere they were pure spirits with a very keen mind and a strong free will. By their nature, angels are superior to all other creatures, including humans. In the supernatural sphere they, like Adam and Eve, were given the state of grace, which is a sharing in the divine life and the divine nature.

Questions to Consider

Do you believe that the devil and his angels wage war on the children of God on earth through his hatred for God and His Kingdom?
Do you understand that although the devil has greater power than people, that he can only act by the permissive will of God?
Do you trust that God uses diabolical activity to work for good in people’s lives?