The Darkness Within

In the beginning, there was darkness, and the Lord said, “Let there be Light”. And there was light, and the Lord said, ‘It is good.” Then he separated the light from the darkness, calling the light day, and the darkness night  (Genesis 1: 3, NAB).

In the beginning with Adam and Eve, before the fall (1) we were all intended to live in the light, the love, the Spirit of God. After the Fall Adam and Eve and all the human race, were reduced to our natural state only, and God departed from us with all his supernatural gifts, immortality, freedom from sickness and pain, etc. The Devil entered into our lives and darkness entered into our souls.

There is a parable in the gospel of Matthew which describes how the devil infiltrates our lives. In The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds (Mt. 13:24-30 NAB) we are depicted as either good or evil, and at the harvest (the end of time) Justice will be done. The weeds will be permanently separated from the wheat. The weeds shall be bundled and burned (into the everlasting fires of hell), while the wheat is gathered and placed inside the master’s barn (The Kingdom of God, Heaven). Clearly to every Christian mind, on that day we shall die into the light or into the darkness, and the wheat and the weeds, the blessed and the damned, shall be permanently separated.

The Parable of  The Sheep and the Goats  (Mt.25:31-26, NAB) gives us the same theme of justification on Judgment Day as the preceding parable. Both show us that “On the day of the Lord” we shall be separated in a public judgment by God and assigned for all eternity to either heaven or hell.

Both of these parables focus on the final and public judgment; however, as Catholics, we know that there are two judgments.  A private one that takes place upon our individual death, and a public one, on the Day of the Lord, when we are all brought to disclosure in judgment, for some it will be the first and the last, for others it will be a review, a public disclosure of our personal judgement. A public judgment for all the world to see, so that everyone knows “who is who” and where they are or soon will be, forever. No secrets, no changes. (CCC 1022, 1038, 1040).

Are we born into the light or into the darkness? Before the fall, without a doubt, we all would have been born into the light in the grace of God but our first parents did sin, and that gift of Light was taken away from them, from us. As a result, we are not born “justified, saved, or redeemed,” just the opposite is true. We are born with sin, the sin of Adam and Eve, original sin.We are all born into darkness, but (thanks to God) with a spiritual need and capacity for justification, salvation, and redemption.

Thank God for the sacrament of Baptism and the practice of the Holy Roman Catholic Church (and other Catholic Rites) for Baptizing infants.­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­It is Baptism (1) that brings back the “light” of God into our lives. Jesus tells us through sacred scripture that “…no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5, NAB). The  Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that Baptism is the light of the soul: “

Having received in Baptism the Word, the true light that enlightens every man, the person Baptized has been “enlightened,” he becomes a “son of light,” indeed he becomes ‘light” himself (CCC 1216).

Born with a fallen human nature and tainted with original sin, children also need the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power of darkness (CCC1250).

Born into the darkness with a capacity for light and granted that light through Baptism we can acquire the light, the life., and the love of God. But the darkness is persistent, the devil never sleeps, and even though we have the light of Christ within us and we are like the wheat in the parable,  the enemy will still try to find his way into our soul. Recall that in the parable: “

While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well (Matthew 13: 25 NAB).

Our life, our journey on this earth then becomes a daily struggle between the powers of Light and the powers of Darkness. It is our struggle, perhaps our test, but most certainly our cross. St. Paul describes this battle for the soul in his letter to the Ephesians:  “

For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits… (Ephesians 6:12 NAB).

And Jesus tells us:

Come to me, all who labor and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light (Matthew 11: 28-30, NAB).

Conclusion

In my next article,  “The Darkness Within, Part 2” I will follow up with more detail on the way that we can overcome the “darkness,” retain the “light’” and merit salvation through the Grace of God.

End Notes:

(1) The Fall of Man: see Genius:1-6,23NAB) and the Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S..J.

Adams sin was personal and grave, and it affected human nature. It was personal because he freely committed it, it was grave because God imposed a serious obligation, and it affected the whole human race by depriving his progeny of the supernatural life and preternatural gifts they would have possessed on entering the world had Adam not sinned.( Page 351).

(2) The Gift of Divine Faith and the Sacrament of Baptism go together. For Adults, it is their acceptance of this “Gift” which leads to Baptism, and for infants, it is that same acceptance on the part of the parents which leads to infant Baptism. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines Faith as follows:

Faith is a personal adherence of the whole man to God who reveals himself. It involves an assent of the intellect and the will to the self-revelation God has made through his deeds and words  (CCC 176).