But, alas, the vessel of the Godhead was shattered into a thousand pieces. This beautiful star fell from the skies. This brilliant sun lost its light. Man sinned, and by his sin lost his wisdom, his innocence, his beauty, his immortality. In a word, he lost all the good things he was given and found himself burdened with a host of evils. His mind was darkened and impaired. His heart turned cold towards the God he no longer loved. His sin-stained soul resembled Satan himself. The passions were in disorder; he was no longer master of himself. His only companions are the devils who have made him their slave and their abode. Even creatures have risen up in warfare against him.
In a single
instant, man became the slave of demons, the object of God's anger (Cf. Eph.
2:3), the prey of the powers of hell.
He became so
hideous in his own sight that he hid himself for shame. He was cursed and
condemned to death. He was driven from the earthly paradise and excluded from
heaven. With no hope of future happiness, he was doomed to eke out a pitiable life
upon an earth under curse (Cf. Gen. 3:10; 17:23; 4:11,12). He would eventually
die like a criminal and after death, together with all his posterity, share the
devil's damnation in body and soul.
Such was the
frightful calamity which befell man when he sinned. Such was the well-deserved
sentence God in his justice pronounced against him.
Seeing
himself in such a plight, Adam came close to despair. He could not hope for
help from angels or any of God's creatures. Nothing could restore his
privileges because he had been so eminently fair, so very magnificently
fashioned when he was created, and now by his sin he had become so hideous, so
repulsive. He saw himself banished from Paradise and from the presence of God.
He could see God's justice pursuing him in all his descendants. He saw heaven
closed and no one to open it; he saw hell open and no one to close it. (St.
Louis de Montfort, The Love of Eternal Wisdom, Chapter 3)______________
-
Invite your family and friends to Subscribe!
to Homeless In America.
-
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and vote
in the polls.
-
List yourself as a blog follower, middle right
column.
-
Donate! to the poor homeless deliveries of
food, water, clothing, blankets, socks, underwear, soap, shampoo, toothbrushes
and toothpaste, pocket Bibles, rosaries and prayer cards at http://servantsofthefather.org/donate_2_homeless
-
Post checks to - Servants of the Father of
Mercy, Inc., P.O. Box 42001, Los Angeles, CA 90042. All Donations are Tax
Deductible.
No comments:
Post a Comment