The world can be a dark and ugly place. People are hurt by the very ones who should love and protect them. Innocents are slain in the house of God. Parents pray education won’t cost them their babies. Families spend time with screens to ignore their flesh and blood. Little eyes are closed before they have the chance to see. Where words are violence, but murder is justified.
If it weren’t so real, we’d refuse to believe it. And we often do. Living in our ideals and pushing inconvenient truths to the side to regulate ourselves enough to make it through the day. That is, until we’re confronted with the ruthlessness of hate, the insatiability of lust, the finality of death, in a way we can’t escape.
We’re forced to face the unblinking truth that evil does exist.
In what now feels like another life, it became undeniable to me. I was nineteen, in my car attempting to leave, bruised by the hands of someone who had promised that they loved me. I clutched my infant daughter, shielding her as he stomped on the windshield in a savage effort to reach me. To break me physically, as he already had, my heart and mind.
I’ll never forget how different he looked in that moment. In his drunken rage, I couldn’t recognize the boy I once knew. I couldn’t wrap my spinning mind and aching heart around how I ended up a reflection of terror in the darkness of his eyes.
It took a lot of healing and a lot of grace, but as time passed, I gained some clarity. With emotions withdrawn, I was able to analyze the situation. It hurt, no doubt, but as I moved on, my daughter’s love coaxed me out of despair. The light in her eyes shone into my darkness. The hope in her laugh cut through the loneliness.
The joy of her smile reflected the future; the possibilities we’d gained by breaking free.
I thought about it logically and came to the conclusion that evil is real. More real than I’d dared to imagine at such a tender age. It was undeniable, but for evil to be real, I knew that there must exist an equal and opposite reality of good!
The natural and general revelation of God’s design of balance in things like the body and nature, convinced me that it must be true! I’ve since learned that reason like this is a big part of understanding faith.
It would be superfluous to receive by faith, things that can be known by natural reason. -St. Thomas Aquinas
The more I learned, the more I realized that it wasn’t just “good”, but holiness that exists and reigns above all. The more I prayed the more I found that “goodness” wasn’t just a force of nature but a Person, Jesus Christ.
It wasn’t only nature that convinced me, but the way my soul wretched at the violations of God’s laws which are written on every human heart. I believe it’s the reason why things like mistreatment, persecution and death feel beyond wrong, but unnatural. (Romans 2:15, Jeremiah 31:33)
God didn’t make us to die, to kill, to hurt each other. He made us for Himself, to love, to delight in, to put the good of others before our own. That is how we do His will, which is to bring Heaven to Earth. To not only embrace the reality of goodness but live it out as His Mystical Body.
To reach this broken world full of fractured beings and bring as many as we can with us to meet Him in Heaven.
Just as created things can experience homeostasis, it can also be thrown off. The result is to suffer the symptoms of disaster or disease. There certainly seems to be a dis-ease in our society, advanced by the ravages of sin through the generations.
If you’re overwhelmed by the evil in our days, let it be a reminder of the Holy One. It may seem like confusion and lies hold the upper hand in this world, but do not be deceived!
There is no balance where powers and principalities are concerned. Good has already won, once and for all, so evil will never prevail!
Stand with the Savior Jesus Christ, who stands triumphant and by whose merit we find within ourselves the inheritance of courage, perseverance and unflinching faith.
Lord, Give us this day our Daily Bread, forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Take heart & stay strong!
♡ Cait
Prayers Over The Kitchen Sink 