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Now the feast of Unleavened
Bread, called the Passover, was drawing
near, and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking a way to put
him to
death, for they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered into
Judas, the one surnamed Iscariot, who was
counted among the Twelve, and he went to the chief priests and temple
guards to
discuss a plan for handing him over to them.
They were pleased and agreed to pay him money. He accepted their
offer and sought a
favorable opportunity to hand him over to them in the absence of a
crowd.
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The
movie “The Lord of the Rings—The Fellowship of the
Ring” is one scene after another of what seems to be the
dominance of
evil. We witness
the attempt on the hobbits’ lives, the near-death of Frodo, the
torture of
Gandalf, and the evil-caused despair of the leaders of middle earth. In the fight between good and evil, evil
often seems to prevail. But in the
movie, no one gives up. In fact, Gandalf says
to Saruman: “There is only one Lord of the Rings, and He does not
share power.” God is the victor, not
evil.
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There are also several
places in the Scriptures in which evil has the upper hand, and it seems
as
though the good never will win out. If
one did not know of Jesus’ Resurrection, it would seem that there
could be no
good that would come out of the end of Jesus’ life. He is
betrayed; he will be tortured as a
common criminal, and he will die. Evil
seems to win. But, of course, the important fact
of Christianity is that there was a Resurrection. It may have looked
like evil was winning out,
but the Christian knows otherwise.
It brings up the whole question of evil, a question that is as familiar as life itself. Why does God allow evil? Is evil stronger than good? Why think that things will be better when things are so hopeless? Even if good does happen, why is it often too late? Real life sometimes seems far away from religious doctrine. But, if religious doctrine is true, there will always be glimmers of hope that are truly part of our world. Good really does conquer evil. Even the non-believer, when given the facts of history, has to admit that good has come out of the evil, though at the time, it did not seem like it. God really is in charge. There is one Lord of the Rings who will eventually win. |
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THOUGHT
What are some
“glimmers of hope” that you see in our world right now?
PRAYER Good and gracious God, many times evil seems to be in control
of the
world around us. Give us the grace to understand
that you are allowing such evil because you honor our
free wills. But help us see that you
will always bring good out of evil. Be
with us, we pray.
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©2007 Capuchin
Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America |