Charity registration No. SC002876
Sunday Febrary 21st. 2010
Who is Satan? Briefly, Satan was one of the highest angels in heaven,
known as Lucifer, a name that means bright, shining, and because of his
pride he was cast out of heaven along with the angels who supported
him.
St. Thomas Aquinas, one the great theologians of the Church, tells us that
when God created the angels, at first they were still excluded from the
beatific vision of God in all his glory. The angels, like us, had to gain eternal
life through co-operating with supernatural grace they received, from God,
and had their time of trial between their earth and heaven.
The angels had their own special glory. As a spirit the angel may choose to
enter into full communion with God, or prefer to remain in its own natural
state.
St Thomas tells us that Lucifer and his followers chose the second alternative
and preferred their own natural glory to God’s glory—and this was their fall!
It was pride caused them to rebel against God for they used their gift of free
will to their own good rather than conform to God’s holy Will. Satan wished
unlawfully to be like God because he desired as the final goal what was
within the power of his own nature. And so he turned away from the
supernatural and sought a happiness outside of God.
.St. Thomas says that when God revealed the Incarnation, Lucifer in his pride
refused to acknowledge that Christ in his humanity was a superior being to
himself. This was definitive choice which was irrevocable.
The book of the Apocalypse tells of the great battle between St. Michael and
Lucifer.
“And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the
dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong
enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled
down - that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole
world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him” (12/7-9)
It is very important to remember that the Devil is a fallen angel. When
one little girl was asked, "Who created the angels?" she replied
correctly, "God." And when she was asked, "Who created the Devil?,"
she siad "I think God made him an angel but he made himself a Devil."
Could a theologian have answered more precisely? >>>>>>>>>
Jesus tempted by Satan in the desert
First Sunday of Lent
