“I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky.”

 
What does Jesus mean when He said that Satan fell like lightning from the sky? This is a reference to the Battle of Heaven. This battle is described in the Book of Revelation.
 
“Then a war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it.” [i] The loss of Satan and all those who join him are anti-Christ in their rebellion against truth and good. This rebellious anti-Christ attitude is foretold in the book of Isaiah, and is seen in individuals, groups, or nations. All who are anti-Christ and rebel against the holy will of God are children of Satan, and like Satan fall from heaven and fall from grace. Isaiah says of the King of Babylon words that show that he is imitating Satan and as Satan fell, he will fall “How have you fallen from the heavens, O morning star, son of the dawn! How are you cut down to the ground, you who mowed down nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will scale the heavens; Above the starts of God I will set up my throne; I will take my seat on the Mount of Assembly, in the recesses of the North. I will ascent above the tops of the clouds; I will be like the Most High!’ Yet down to the nether world you go to the recesses of the pit!”[ii]

Not only does Satan and those who follow Satan rebel against God but they also desire to “be like the Most High”. They do not wish to be like the Most High out of worship and love, but instead they want to be as powerful as God and in fact they want to be God. Many of the Roman Emperors and Caesars after Christ tried to claim they were a God, and swear not just allegiance, but also worship to them. Many Christians died for refusing to worship the emperors who portrayed themselves as kings and those who made their people worship false gods. Satan said to Eve in the garden, “God knows well that the moment you eat of it [the fruit] your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad.”[iii] Satan always tempts us to rebel against God’s holy will. He tempts us to think that our will, is as good or greater than the holy will of God.

How does Satan tempt us today to rebel against God and even become a “god” our self? There are almost too many to write. Some examples include the redefinition of an institution (marriage) that God not only established but also defined. We make ourselves a “god” when we re-define marriage and attempt to re-establish it. We become a “god” when we take innocent lives out of convenience, hatred, preference, etc. We become a “god” when we are not open to life within marriage and dictate based on selfish reasons that a certain amount of children is enough. We become a “god” when we call the shots or make the rules on what we believe (doctrines), what we do and don’t do (morals) and how we worship (prayer and liturgy). In all of these examples we say to God, “My will be done” rather than “Thy will be done”.


VIDEO - Speaker Pelosi on "When Life Begins" – POP CULTURE CONNECTION – 3:24
http://youtu.be/nM2VqqNLWxQ
http://youtu.be/IepLtfNSM7I?t=3m41s (1:10 Response from Cardinals and Catholics on the comments Pelosi made from the above video)
Nancy Pelosi tries to justify her stance for abortion by claiming Saint Augustine, and the other Church Fathers never officially could say when life began. First of all, she misquotes Augustine when she says St. Augustine believed it to be 3 months; He actually believed it to be 40 days for boys and 90 for girls. Also, another key point Nancy Pelosi leaves out of her argument is while Roe v. Wade says a woman can have an abortion only until the 2^nd Trimester, the Supreme Court Case Doe v. Bolton allows abortion all the way up to 9 months of pregnancy. Nancy Pelosi fights for abortion on demand at every stage of life in the womb. So what does all this mean? There are those who are in high places of power, like Nancy Pelosi, who like to use Catholic Saints (Augustine or even St. Thomas Aquinas) to try and justify the killing of innocent human life. The problem with their stance is neither the Church norScience definitively knew when life began until recently. St. Augustine is not infallible, and Nancy Pelosi tries to say that what St. Augustine said was infallible; this is wrong. In fact, St. Augustine would have probably told Nancy Pelosi to think as Rome thinks. What does Rome think?  The Church in herself has maintained, from her beginning, that life begins at the moment of conception. Science is just now proving this. The Church has always taught this, contrary to what Nancy Pelosi says. We believe this through Scripture, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” (Jer. 1:5; cf. Job 10:8-12; Ps. 22:10-11), and Sacred Tradition. The Church has always taught from the beginning that abortion is evil and a mortal sin. In the first century the Church said, “You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.” (Didache 2:2). St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas believed abortion was evil. Click Here to see excerpts on the earliest Church Fathers on the teaching of abortion. Nancy Pelosi, and many others who claim they are Catholic, yet make their own rules on what to believe and not believe in the Church’s teachings (like abortion and contraceptive, which she is for as heard in the video) through their “own conscience” instead of placing their conscience in the Church’s teachings. She trips over her words when she catches herself using the word “baby”. A question to ask Pelosi is why is abortion considered “sacred” to her and why does she want abortion to be “rare” if conception was not the beginning of life? If there was no life in the mother’s womb then there is no need for abortion to be rare or would have any sacredness to it. Abortion would be just like getting a tooth removed. We must continue to pray for those who falsely teach and perpetuate false Catholic moral and theological teachings. We must also continue to educate and teach the truth whenever possible on all of the Catholic teachings. We never want a single soul to be separated from God.
 
What is the end, the outcome for a person that lives in rebellion against God? C.S. Lewis said the person who says their whole life “My will be done” will at their judgment get their own will, which is separation from the will of God and in deed separation from God Himself. These people will hear God say to them, “Thy will be done”. For the person who says their whole life “Thy will be done” as we pray in the Our Father, they will at their judgment get God’s will, which is union with the will of God and in deed union with God Himself. These people will hear God say to them, “My will be done”. Jesus says to His apostles at the Last Supper, “Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.”[iv] Satan is the ruler of the world and is driven out by the Cross. It is in Christ our Victor that the anti-Christ rebellious nature of man is conquered.

How can we be sure that we have won, that we are on the right side? We are part of the Church. The Church is threefold: the Church militant (earth), the Church suffering (purgatory), and the Church triumphant (heaven). If we want to secure victory and know if we are on the right side we must look to heaven, to the communion of Saints, our brothers and sisters who have fought the good fight and ran the race. Saint John gives us the template for victory in the Book of Revelation. “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: ‘Now have salvation and power come, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed. For the accuser [Satan] of our brothers is cast out, who accuses them before our God day and night. They conquered him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; love for life did not deter them from death.”[v] We can only conquer Satan and his demons by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of our testimony. We must be Christian in name as well as in our whole life, even if that means giving our life for the Gospel.
 
To share in the victory of the Saints is our greatest goal and honor. The Seventy-two that Jesus sends out “returned rejoicing”. They said to Jesus, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us become of your name.” Jesus reminds us that our focus should not be on the “success” of defeating Satan but rather we should rejoice that we have won the crown and that our names are written in heaven. “Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” The Christian life is not about success in the temporal order, even if the success is over Satan. The Christian life is about acquiring heaven.

ACTIVITY – Night Prayer Readings
The readings each night at Compline (Night Prayer) remind us that the Christian Life is one of acquiring salvation, attaining perfection, and fighting diligently against Satan. Read each reading below and discuss how it relates to the words of Jesus to the Seventy-two. Monday and Thursday nights deal with the second part of Jesus words, “…but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” Tuesday and Wednesday nights deal with the first part of Jesus words, “Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you,”

Monday – God has destined us for acquiring salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us, that all of us, whether awake or asleep, together might live with him.[vi]

Thursday – May the God of peace make you perfect in holiness. May he preserve you whole and entire, spirit, and body, irreproachable at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.[vii]
 
Tuesday – Stay sober and alert. Your opponent the devil is prowling like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, solid in your faith.[viii]
 
Wednesday – If you are angry, let it be without sin. The sun must not go down on your wrath; do not give the devil a chance to work on you.[ix]
 
We must keep our eyes on heaven, but also be aware of our enemies who seek to keep us from acquiring salvation and attaining perfection. “To hinder the enemies of our soul from drawing us into sin, we must watch, pray, and fight against all their suggestions and temptations and in the warfare against the devil, the world, and the flesh we must depend not on ourselves but on God only; ‘I can do all things in Him who strengthened me’ (Philippians 4:13).”[x]

Search: Three Battles

[i] Revelation 12:7
[ii][ii] Isaiah 14:12-15
[iii] Genesis 3:5
[iv] John 12:31
[v] Revelation 12:10-12
[vi] 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10
[vii] 1 Thessalonians 5:23
[viii] 1 Peter 5:8-9
[ix] Ephesians 4:26-27
[x] The Penny Catechism