This is one of the most difficult posts I have ever written.
One of the things which Catholics must learn is to work with the virtues which
God has given us in order to understand evil.
Understanding evil does not mean, as St. Thomas Aquinas
assures us, committing evil. One can use prudence, temperance, justice and
fortitude, as well as discernment to see what evil really is. Many young people
become confused about evil and simply are so naïve that they do not see evil
until, perhaps, they have fallen, Naïveté is not a virtue, but wisdom is.
Christ exhorted us to be wise as serpents and guileless as
doves regarding the world. When we are faced with evil, we need both wisdom and
purity. Purity gives one wisdom.
Humility whets wisdom. As one sees one’s own sin, one learns
both to see good and evil.
In this post, I want to point out some characteristics of
evil, especially for young people who are not so experienced in the world. I
present these characteristics of evil as warning signs for all.
I shall give these insights as bullets. This is not an
exhaustive list.
·
If a person is constantly negative and
contradicts what one has to say, there is an evil which is contradictory.
Sometimes, this is a rebellious spirit.
·
If a person undermines one’s good works, there
is evil. Instead of building one up, this person constantly negates goodness
and presents good as bad.
·
If a person insists on making you waste time or
wants you to go do trivial things consistently, like always going out, there is
an evil of dissipation.
·
If someone says that praying is a waste of time,
or that one is praying too much, there is some sort of evil present.
·
If someone states that daily Mass is unnecessary
or if Adoration weekly is excessive, there is some sort of evil present.
·
If a person constantly talks about others and
their sins and flaws , there is some sort of evil present.
·
If a person constantly talks about money, how
much things cost and rarely or never speaks of the spiritual life, there is
some spirit of evil.
·
If a person constantly undermines your efforts
to be good and holy, there is an evil present.
Sadly, I come across such Catholics almost daily. I find
that there is a tendency to excuse people by appealing to psychological
problems or appealing to the victim status of the person in making excuses for
such evils.
One must, absolutely, remove one’s self from daily contact
with such people. Sometimes, this is impossible. I worked as a young person in
a bookstore with a woman who was negative 100% of the time. Other people who worked
with her either fell under her spell of gross negativity, or avoided her. As a
very young person, I attempted to cheer her up, to no avail. She thought I was
not worthy to consider, thank God.
In another job, another woman was equally obsessed with negativity.
She poisoned the atmosphere of the workplace. Some people left the office, that
is, quit the job, as they could no longer stand her constant negativity.
It is interesting that the above lady died early of cancer,
and that the other woman became ill in young middle age. Many times, negativity
takes its toll on the body. Not everyone who is ill is negative, far from it,
but negativity and the evil of undermining good seem to lead to illnesses.
Why do people fall into the habits outlined in the bullets
above?
Here is another list which may partly explain such evils.
- These people are so miserable that they want others to be miserable as well.
- These sad people honestly believe one cannot be joyful or even happy.
- Some evil people know they are evil and want others to be evil as well.
- Some evil people hate God and want to destroy God’s Goodness in the world.
- Some, who are Catholic, have lost their faith and do not realize this fact.
- Evil has entered their lives through some unconfessed sin, or through the persistent of the predominant fault.
- A person no longer believes in goodness, in God, but only in the gross sins of humanity, emphasizing sin over goodness.
- Some people have been so hurt, so abused, that these people hate themselves-they need to be evangelized as to the Good News of God’s Love.
Pray for those who have fallen into such evil. But, if you
can avoid this poisoned atmosphere of such evil, do so. We must love our selves
and we must tend to our own souls first, and then out of that love, love
others. I have dear friends and readers who have shared with me that they must
separate themselves from other friends and even family in order to avoid the
daily barrage of evil.
God will strengthen us and make us strong against evil. But,
this happens through purgation and humility. When we get to the point of being
able to withstand evil without anger, but in a deep peace, then we know the
gifts of the Spirit are being activated within us. We need to pray that those
who wallow in evil are not sinning against the Holy Spirit, in the four sins
which are those serious sins: presumption upon God’s mercy; despair; impugning
the known truth; envy of another’s spiritual good; obstinacy in sin; final
impenitence.
Pray for that state of goodness and holiness from which we
can combat the milieu of evil if it surrounds us. We need more holy people in
our Church.