God is as powerful a Destroyer as He is a Creator.
Today, I was in Mass praying for so many people who are sick and dying right now as we speak. I prayed for those who are breathing their final breath at this very moment, when the final temptation is at hand. I prayed for their courage and fortitude that they would be consumed by the Holy Spirit, and in those final moments of Earthly life – when the Evil One works most industriously to call them away from Eternal salvation – that they would fix their eyes on Christ and listen only to His words and hear only His voice.
While I was praying, it occurred to me that our God truly is an awesome God. Not only is He the gentle, sacrificial lamb sent to the slaughter – He is the almighty warrior, under whose protection we can shelter.
Through His incarnation and birth – in that humble stable, from where He lay in the tiny, worn-out manger – Christ represented not only the helpless human infant, but the eternal, immortal warrior. He is the everlasting soldier.
Perhaps that is one of the reasons that we venerate Our Blessed Mother, who so loved us that she agreed to be the Mother of the Son of God made Man – the Sacrificial Lamb… and the Warrior.
Saint Padre Pio once said that Our Lady will be busy in Heaven until the end of time because she is tending to her children here on Earth. And, Christ – the perfect son – would never leave His blessed Mother to toil alone. Rather, He joins her in infinite struggles – not as a helpless human infant – but as a divine and undefeatable warrior!
Christ is with us always, fighting for us and helping us so that we will never be tricked or deceived or overcome.
When Christ was being tempted in the desert, the Evil One – who is lazy – did not invest the time and effort into His temptation because Christ was no threat to evil. He invested the time and effort into the temptation of Christ because he was AFRAID of God. It was not a display of POWER – it was a display of FEAR!
And for good reason too!
For Christ became incarnate to DESTROY as much as He came to SAVE. The infinitely DESTRUCTIVE powers of the Holy Trinity through the person of God the Son, are as mysterious and powerful as the infinitely CREATIVE powers of the Holy Trinity through the person of God the Father, and as mysterious and powerful as the infinitely GUIDING powers of the Holy Trinity through the person of God the Holy Spirit.
For when we destroyed Christ’s body on the Cross through our actions and sin – we had no victory in that Battle. The resurrection proves to us that when Christ died on the Cross and His beloved body was held in the arms of His blessed Mother – God was not defeated.
Rather, in fulfilling the will of the Father, Christ - by the mystery of the Holy Trinity - defeated the Evil One and all evil... forever!
In Christ’s own words by His death… “It is accomplished!”
In dying, Christ DESTROYED evil. In rising, Christ RESTORED us to eternal life.
Of course, the Evil One would have cause to tremble in fear at that!
God so loved the world He sent His only Son to save it.
And by this DESTRUCTION of evil, CREATION is redeemed.
How lucky are we that God so loves us that He fights for us even when we do not realise He is doing it… over and over and over again!
For with love, everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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