Mysterium Iniquitatis

Here we go again! The last day of the year brings a reflection on the past and a hope for a better year ahead. This hope has merit, but a certain nursery rhyme is instructive: “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.” Hoping for something to happen doesn’t mean dreams will come true. We need hope, but a special brand, because without it, we are going to have some difficulty with John’s letter, warning that antichrists abound who deny the Father and the Son. Is John’s injunction applicable today? Are the antichrists among us?

Dante, C.S. Lewis, Flannery O’Connor, and many others have put a face to the antichrists, but today Satan has stirred the pot and serves up a brew of denials, vengeance, and egotism. Such sinister attributes play a part in separating us from one another. We then deny that such a world, that so unsettles us, could not possibly have any connection to God.

The mystery of evil confounds us. Fill in the blanks. How can God …. when ….? We fabricate a contradiction that doesn’t exist. However, what does exist is John’s warning not to be taken in by the antichrists, and Peter 5:8, saying, ‘Be sober and vigilant.’ Your opponent, the devil, is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

The antichrists of the day are alive and well. Denying this truth keeps the door open for self-made prophets and delusional fanatics to walk in and get comfortable. So, give the Devil his due. Recognize the evil and beware, but take comfort in God’s love. Father Eymard gave this some thought in his retreat notes, that the devil constantly fights against that love.

Our faith and hope in God bring us the grace of salvation, keeping our eyes on the prize.

Prayer:

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.