According to Our Lord,
the gates of Hell
will not prevail against the Church.
Indeed, St John sees the Devil
and all his apostate host
flung into Eternal flames.
So the kingdom of Satan
must fall.
The Pharisees
must believe that, surely.
Yet, Our Lord says,
that if Satan is divided
against himself,
his kingdom cannot stand.
If we know
through Jesus
that the kingdom of Satan
cannot stand,
Is Satan really
divided against Satan?
Sounds complicated.
Why is that important?
[PAUSE]
The Pharisees accuse
Our Lord
of casting out demons
through Beelzebub.
If Satan is divided against Satan
then it is theoretically possible
that the Pharisees are right.
But if Satan is divided
against himself,
then how can the Pharisees
be sure
that they aren't
Casting out devils by Satan?
By saying thatJesus
casts out demons
by the prince of demons
the Pharisees have just
cast doubt on
their own ability
to cast out demons.
Their sons will judge the Pharisees
for blaspheming against them
as well as for
blaspheming against Jesus.
It is not the house of Satan
that is divided,
it is the Pharisees' houses.
[PAUSE]
This is why blasphemy
against the Holy Ghost
shall not be forgiven.
If you cannot recognise
what good is
and decide that only
your decisions are good
then you have nowhere to go
but to yourself.
There can be no Kingdom of Heaven
other than your own self.
This is why division
is a serious business
on the Church.
[PAUSE]
There is a difference
between a division in the Church
and a division from the Church.
The reasons for division
must be carefully considered.
Ultimately,
a division from the Church
must come from
a lack of love for God
and love for other people.
Our Lord says
that whoever is not for Him
is against Him.
He also says that
whoever is not against Christ
is for Him.
There is no middle ground.
The Church is bound together
in Love, Goodness,
Truth and Beauty.
Where these are to be found
so is God.
There may be divisions
due to doctrine,
to authority
and to practice
but where true love is
Christ must be there Himself..
It means that it is not our business
to demonise any human being.
It is our business
to recognise where the Devil
is trying to work
in our lives
and then to ask the Holy Ghost
- the Finger of God -
to cast him out.
We must always be
more ready to accuse ourselves
of having a devil
than to accuse
another person.
[PAUSE]
The Lord says,
"blessed are they that
hear the word of God, and keep it."
That is how
we can be sure that
we don't have a devil
and that we separate ourselves
from sin, the world and the devil
to stand in the
Indivisible House of God
forever.
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