In some ways, Lent is a short-term intense version of our life. The annual rigors imposed on us by God (through the Church) for fasting and abstinence, almsgiving, and other forms of physical and spiritual mortification are small things when compared to the glories of Easter, the Solemnity of Solemnities.
In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. And the Light shines in the darkness; and the darkness grasped it not. (John 1:4–5; New St. Joseph Catholic Bible).
Ever wonder why Lucifer and his cohorts would want to exchange their eternal happiness for fire and brimstone?
I consulted “Catholic Answers” (on the catholic.org website) to see if there happened to have been other “curious minds wanting to know”. As a matter of fact, there were. Here is one question on this topic posed to the staff:
Revelation 12:7–9 says Lucifer and his angels fought against God and were cast out of heaven. Since Lucifer was a highly intelligent creature — not to mention the fact that he had an intimate knowledge of God — I can’t comprehend how he (or any angel for that matter) could rebel against God. That seems to be utterly insane. What was the particular sin that Lucifer and the angels allied with him committed?
In a twist of irony, Lucifer, the Angel of Light, becomes the “Prince of Darkness”. And the battle for human souls was thus engaged.
It should be noted that the “angelic” battle is described in St. John’s Apocalypse (Revelations). This is their response:
As for the particular sin the bad angels committed, many theologians believe that in their pre-fallen state the angels were given a foreknowledge of humans (who would be inferior to them), as well as a foreknowledge that God himself (the second Person of the Trinity) would be incarnated as a man and redeem the universe through his death on the cross.
This revelation angered Lucifer because it meant he and the other angels would have to worship God incarnate. Lucifer and the other angels who fell were so proud of being superior to men that their overweening arrogance wouldn’t allow them to worship Jesus Christ the God-Man. This refusal -–this non serviam ––stemmed from pride. That, anyway, is the theologian’s theory.
In another twist of irony, upon his defeat and with this willful choice, Lucifer, the Angel of Light becomes the “Prince of Darkness”. And the battle for human souls was thus engaged.
Free will and pride
One supposes that the same question posed to the “Catholic Answers” staff can be applied to us. While not as highly intelligent as those beings in the spiritual world, we have been given certain gifts that we can see would be an act of insanity to tell our Creator “non-servium”.
Humanity in the person of the Israelites slogged through some 4000 years of Old Testament history and no matter what, never learned that all God wanted was to be “their God” if they would serve him.
Consider:
- Created in the image and likeness of God, we have been given the gift of reason (natural lightof reason)
- We have been given the gift of free will
- Even though our human nature has fallen as a result of Original Sin, we have been given the ability to go beyond our understanding of the world and God through the gift of the supernatural lightof grace
- Christ’s redemptive work in the world opened up a way for us to again find happiness in eternity through graces given to us
Humanity in the person of the Israelites slogged through some 4000 years of Old Testament history and no matter what, never learned that all God wanted was to be “their God” if they would serve him. Countless times the Hebrews lost their way and stopped serving God in the manner he asked, most often because it did not suit their will or in their pride, they figured they knew better than God what was best (or most convenient) for them.
The God-Man comes
It is not as if God didn’t speak to the Hebrews. He talked with Abraham and Moses. He wrestled with Jacob. He spoke through the Prophets and when they listened all was great. More often than not, though, the weakened human nature floated to the surface and God was thrown under the bus.
In the fullness of time, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among them. The Light of God came to them as one of them to be their “way, truth, and life”. The Light of Revelation and Grace came into the realm of the darkness of sin ruled by Satan, the Prince of Darkness.
In the course of his life on earth, Christ fulfilled all the prophecies of the Old Testament. As the Incarnate Word, he lived and worked among “his own”. He healed the sick and taught in the synagogue and temple, yet for so many Hebrews they just didn’t understand. Or maybe not.
What if instead of not understanding, there was a full understanding of who Christ was, what he taught, and his mission of Redemption, but they chose not to “grasp” it because Christ did not fit their idea of the Promised Messias?
Understanding and blind obduracy
In some versions of St. John’s Gospel, the translation in Chapter One reads “did not comprehend it”; others read “grasped it not”.
Well, OK. So did they just not understand what Christ was teaching, or who he was? If that is the case, then I can understand Christ’s words from the cross, asking the Father’s forgiveness because they did not know what they were doing.
The word “grasped” however, can mean both understand and take hold. As an example, grasping (understanding) the concept of times tables in arithmetic, or grasping (taking hold of) your child’s hand.
What if instead of not understanding, there was a full understanding of who Christ was, what he taught, and his mission of Redemption, but they chose not to “grasp” it because Christ did not fit their idea of the Promised Messias; or worse, they chose to stay in the darkness of sin?
Christ rebukes the Pharisees and Scribes in the weeks before his Passion and Death. He calls out their hypocrisy in Chapter 23 of St. Matthew’s Gospel. Speaking truth to power has consequences and at this point, Christ has done all he could. The Jews remained obstinate and unyielding and will remain so until the end times. As Christ says:
Jerusalem, Jerusalem! thou who killest the prophets, and stonest those who are sent to thee! How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathers her young under her wings, but thou wouldst not! Behold, your house is left to you desolate. For I say to you, you shall not see me henceforth until you shall say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ (Matthew 23:37–39)
In light of all this, it does seem as if it would be an act of not only monumental ingratitude, but one of insanity for any of us to reject outright (as did Lucifer and the Fallen Angels) our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Sanctifier with our own non-serviam.
What this means for us
As Lent moves into Passiontide and finally to Easter, it is helpful to remember that, like Lucifer and the Fallen Angels, we, too, have some foreknowledge of future events. We have the light of natural reason and the light of supernatural grace to guide our actions, and we pretty much know and understand the consequences when we subordinate God’s will to ours. Not a great outcome.
In some ways, Lent is a short-term intense version of our life. The annual rigors imposed on us by God (through the Church) for fasting and abstinence, almsgiving, and other forms of physical and spiritual mortification are small things when compared to the glories of Easter, the Solemnity of Solemnities.
Just as the trials of everyday life come to us as God’s means of our sanctification, God’s graces will sustain us so that these mortifications become small things as we contemplate the glories of the world to come. St. Paul says confirms this when he says:
I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that will be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)
In light of all this, it does seem as if it would be an act of not only monumental ingratitude, but one of insanity for any of us to reject outright (as did Lucifer and the Fallen Angels) our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Sanctifier with our own non-serviam.
