Magnificat - Your Life is Everlasting

How did Satan, the Prince of Darkness, succeed in becoming “the prince of this world,” as Jesus calls him (John 16:11)? How was the devil able to bring out of Creation an evil dominion? A dominion that has come, to a certain extent, to control human beings, making them, like the demons, rebels against God? This mystery is as bot- tomless as it is terrifying. Nothing has been revealed about it, aside from the fact itself. It is mentioned, above all, in the story of how Eve was seduced by the Serpent and our first parents were chased out of paradise and, more explicitly, by many teachings in the New Testament, particularly on the Last Judgment. What has clearly been revealed to us—and Jesus Christ insists on it often—is that our death does not mean we cease to be eternal beings. But, alas, it may seem so, since our death seems to mean that evil has triumphed... Here, then, is the question above all other questions: has our des- tiny become one of separation from God, which would mean liv- ing eternally under the power of the one who holds dominion over death; in other words, under the power of Satan? If God does not save us, the answer is yes. IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY THAT HUMANITY BE SAVED Thus, it is not enough for us to dread our death because it is the inescapable, final stop on the voyage of our earthly life. It would be a lesser evil for our existence to end there. We dread our temporal death; it frightens us desperately, because it could mean that our existence has been radically corrupted by evil and that it has been given over to the power of Satan for eternity. We must become conscious of the unavoidable nature of these anxieties in order to recognize that it is absolutely necessary that humanity be saved. And not so that we may understand—for it is incomprehensible!—but so that we may be able to contemplate, through faith, the earth-shattering means our God and Father has chosen to defeat evil and the powers of death for he has defeated them! through love, and only through love—for he cannot use any other means. Then, and only then, thanks to the definitive victory of God’s love for us, will we no longer fear death; it will only be a "passover" on the way to eternal life, a baptism that will allow us to pass from this world into the arms of our heavenly Father, having been delivered from evil forever. 10