Morning-Star

The Morning-Star fell – not because he was pushed, but because he forgot Whose intention had willed him into creation.

Fall of Lucifer (Antonio Maria Esquivel)

When God created the angels, He did so with intention.

I can imagine – in my small and limited way – the beauty of that intention.

You see, God does not need one thing to make another.  He can create from nothing at all.  That means that the only thing that God required to make the angels was His own intention to make them.  And there are hundreds of billions of angels.  Each human soul is assigned a guardian angel.  And each of these angels is just one type of angel.  There are also the archangels – the senior angels – so to speak – and these , Michael, Raphael and Gabriel, have been named in the Bible itself.  Each of them had responsibilities to carry messages to various people who God intended to communicate with.

The archangel Gabriel was trusted with the message – not only to Zachariah – but to the Blessed Virgin, asking her whether she would consent to be the Mother of God.

And each of these billions of angels – who do not reproduce as we do (although we call them he they have no gender as we humans do as they are spirits) – but who are created by God directly – is perfectly wonderful.  While they are not perfect, they are closer to perfection than any human soul could be – with the exception of the Blessed Virgin, who perfectly beautiful faith is rewarded through her position as Queen of Heaven…

One of the angels, who was created by God, is Lucifer.  Now, the name Lucifer means “Morning-Star”.  This angel was a beautiful angel and God loved him.  And yet, instead of humbly accepting the love of God, Lucifer grew in pride and decided that he could defy God…

“Jesus said to the Jews: ‘If Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul...  But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace; but when one stronger than he assails him and overcomes him, he takes away his armour in which he trusted, and divides his spoil. He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.’” (Luke 11:15-26).

And because this Morning-Star has lost the glory of the intention of his creation, he prowls the earth seeking the ruin of souls.  And in this prowling, he is able to do his best to try to claim back what he can of souls because he is jealous and in a rage at what he has lost.

And I have been thinking about that – that terrible terrible tragedy.  For the Morning-Star fell – not because he was pushed, but because he forgot Whose intention had willed him into creation.

And I have been thinking about that today.  For it is such a terribly sad thing for my God.  Such a terribly sad thing…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.