Daily Retreat 07/21/09

2009 Jul 21 Tue:Ordinary Weekday/ Lawrence of Brindisi, p, r, dr Ex 14:21 – 15:1/ Ex 15:8-9. 10 and 12. 17/ Mt 12:46-50 From today's readings:"The children of Israel marched into the midst of the sea on dry land, with the water like a wall to their right and to their left..... Let us sing to the Lord; He has covered Himself in glory.... Whoever does the will of My heavenly Father is My brother, and sister, and mother" How Far Can Evil Pursue? No matter how whole-heartedly a person may reject sin and evil, and embrace Christ and His Gospel, no one on this side of the grave can expect to be free from pursuit by the temptations of the Devil. In fact, a person completely unaware of temptations would have a lot to worry about, since such a situation would suggest that the Devil had so completely deceived him with the presumption that he wasn't even being tempted! Pharaoh's army even managed to pursue the Israelites along their escape path through the Red Sea, and similarly, temptations often dare to appear even in the wake of God's saving grace, luring partially repenting sinners to despair of God's power to save, even at the moment they are being led by that very grace to safety! But even formidable temptations are merely advance scouts of the power of Evil, probing for weaknesses in character on which to unleash Evil's most vicious attacks. That's why the Bible never suggests that the power of Evil is weak - in fact, Scripture makes it clear that Evil will always get the better of mere mortals struggling on their own! But more importantly, Scripture also assures us that God's good is infinitely stronger than all the powers of Evil, so casting ourselves on the shore of God's mercy (and remaining there!) is the only safe haven from Evil's reach.