By Judie Brown
A website I visit for fun recently featured a photo essay on Bengal tigers. The pictures of the eye of the tiger reminded me of the fierce obsession the evil one has for controlling your soul and mine as well.
It seems as though far too many people are manipulated by the Prince of Darkness as he continues to obsess over the killing of preborn children. The example of the state of Ohio comes to mind. One headline explains that the state’s “special election has become a proxy war over abortion rights.” Apparently, millions of dollars are flooding into that state for use in the promotion of a ballot measure that would amend the state constitution, enshrining a right to kill babies.
The media is having a field day with this, including the report that according to recent polling from Ohio, 58% of the people favor constitutional protection of “reproductive rights”—the code term for abortion on demand. In November, there will be a ballot that would, if confirmed, enshrine abortion as a state constitutional “right.”
The outcome of this vote could be a turning point for either those who support the killing of the preborn or those of us who oppose killing innocent people. Time will tell, but regardless of the outcome, it will not change the truth about abortion. Moral law never changes, and this is why we are so grateful to St. John Paul II for The Gospel of Life. In that document, he wrote:
The sacredness of life gives rise to its inviolability, written from the beginning in man’s heart, in his conscience. The question: “What have you done?” (Gen 4:10), which God addresses to Cain after he has killed his brother Abel, interprets the experience of every person: in the depths of his conscience, man is always reminded of the inviolability of life—his own life and that of others—as something which does not belong to him, because it is the property and gift of God the Creator and Father.
The commandment regarding the inviolability of human life reverberates at the heart of the “ten words” in the covenant of Sinai (cf. Ex 34:28). In the first place that commandment prohibits murder: “You shall not kill” (Ex 20:13); “do not slay the innocent and righteous” (Ex 23:7). . . . But the overall message, which the New Testament will bring to perfection, is a forceful appeal for respect for the inviolability of physical life and the integrity of the person. It culminates in the positive commandment which obliges us to be responsible for our neighbor as for ourselves: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The evil one detests these words. He is bloodthirsty for souls, including the souls of innocent preborn children. It occurs to me that those who advocate this crime against the innocent are among the most outstanding in Satan’s army. They are blinded by truth.
So when St. Paul writes of this in 2 Thessalonians, he is warning us that such evil and those who advance it abhor the laws of God, including the commandment not to take another’s life: “The mystery of wickedness is already at work, but let him who is restraining it once be removed, and the wicked one will appear openly. The Lord will destroy him with the breath of his mouth and will annihilate him with his glorious appearance at his coming.”
Today we see that wicked one everywhere, out in the open, destroying the souls of human beings in ways that are actually difficult to imagine, and yet many of our fellow citizens are blind to it. This is why we must do more than spit in the eye of evil. We must wage war in defense of truth. St. Matthew has told us how and why, writing in Chapter 24:11-13: “Many false prophets will arise and deceive many; and because of the increase of evildoing, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.”
We are blessed to be fighting this evil, defending the Lord’s babies, and helping shine the light of truth for those blinded by the evil one.
