The Law of Chaos

 

It's easy to get lazy on the path to heaven.  It's also easy to give in to the impulses of our flesh-nature.  It takes conscious and conscientious forward momentum to stay close to God.

While we're still here in this sinful world, we suffer from a “Law of Chaos”.  Everything decays, disorder is natural; order is unnatural and requires great effort.  So, too, in our spiritual lives.  Growth in holiness takes effort, and without that effort, our holiness decays.  Daily.  And demons try subtle and not-so-subtle ways to entice us onto the easy path.  Daily.  As Jesus pointedly teaches us, we can end up worse off than before our conversion (Luke 11:24-26).

Jesus gave us the authority, through our baptisms, to bind and cast demons away from us.  However, the best and most effective way to defeat demons is to do the opposite of whatever they want us to do. When we’re tempted to get angry, we need to forgive instead, even if we don't feel like we want to.  When we’re tempted to demand our own way, we should do what the other person is demanding of us (as long as it's not sinful), instead.

Putting effort into choosing holiness is so eternally and vitally important that the cost of our time and energy shouldn’t seem like too high a price.

With God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).  Everyone can be rescued from the Law of Chaos, but often it doesn't happen until they become miserable enough in their decay to desire change.  Sometimes this happens after death in Purgatory.  We must continually pray for those who are on the road of destruction.  We must take time to discern what God is asking us to do to help them seek recovery.  And we must choose to trust in God's desire to resurrect all those we bring to him.

Jesus teaches us to see the difference between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil (Luke 11:15-23).  In today's society, the devil is so good at trying to blur the Truth and at times, it seems like he's winning.  But we know, as Paul Harvey used to say, the "rest of the story."

Jesus invites those who follow Him to do so completely and without compromise.  Our act of contrition in the Sacrament of Reconciliation states that we “firmly resolve, with the help of God’s grace, to confess our sins, to do penance and to amend our life.”   This is the theme of the four Gospels; that we wholeheartedly follow Jesus as His disciples.

For those who seek a sign from heaven, Luke’s gospel gives us the version of the Lord’s Prayer which ends with “and do not put us [God] to the test!” (Luke 11:1-4)

For those who question from where Jesus gets His power and authority to heal others and rid them of the devils that inhibit them, we should trust in the Lord, and have faith in Him even if we don’t understand.  We shouldn’t judge others rashly for what they’re doing as if they do it for selfish reasons. We should acknowledge “the finger of God” (Luke 11:20) which is in the good works of others and not be so judgmental.

What we need to do is to take up our cross and follow Jesus – completely.  When we do, we’re participating in God's plan for our salvation and eventual reunion with Him.