Where is Satan?

23Oct

The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’ He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’

-Luke 10:17-20

This story from Luke comes after Jesus has sent out seventy disciples in many different directions with the charge to speak peace to all. The disciples found that they had been widely welcomed on their journeys and returned to Jesus with joy. Then Jesus makes the astonishing statement that, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.”  

My question is, where did Satan fall to? We don’t talk about Satan a lot in the Episcopal church. Yes, we renounce Satan when we renew our Baptismal Covenant, but after that, not so much. But as I look around me and see anything but peace in our homeland and abroad, I wonder, perhaps we need to be more mindful of that Evil one. Perhaps, beyond renouncing, we should also look for Satan’s presence in our own lives. Insidious Satan can prevent us from attempting something new for fear of failure, can cause us to refuse to apologize simply because of a hardness of heart, or can cause us to be greedy, or judgmental, or to otherwise behave badly. And so we fight our own personal battles with an insidious Satan who steals our joy and our peace while spreading anguish and despair. Today I ask myself where is Satan in my life, and how does that Evil one keep me from reaching and spreading the peace and joy Jesus longs for all of us, His modern disciples, to experience and to share?

-Christina P. Fay, Meditation

-Tim Trapolin, Painting

Musical Reflection

Dies Irae: Requiem - Mozart

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to

hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire

or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy,

forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid,

and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy

to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus

Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the

Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Collect BCP
PeaceJoy

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