Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The Gates of Hell

My friends came on the Podcast last night, John and Tammy, and shared a bitter story of their family. It ran for three hours, one hour over the live broadcast portion. You can hear it all in the archive here. In that final hour I left my friends with an image, not my own it's in the Book of Matthew, of the Gates of Hell. It particularly resonated with Tammy.

I reminded her that the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against us. Us, the Church, of course, but us. It is a mistake to believe that we of the Church are besieged by evil. It is the Church that has the field! Even now evil is barricaded behind its battlements and we, we, are at the gates. Evil loses in the end.

Those Gates of Hell shall not prevail against us.

Let me tell you that her family took a hit, a terrible blow from the evil behind those gates. A rain of arrows came flying out and struck each of them, wounding them all. Amen, I say to you that they are still standing. Wounded but here. They did not fall.

Some of us will, but not this family. In the end we do win, wounded or not. Those gates shall not stand.

For you, Tammy, my warrior friend. May this battle cry can soothe your mother's heart.

 

And from the Mercy of God, may He reach out and heal the wounded hearts of your children. Lord, hear our prayer.
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4 comments:

  1. SonlitKnightMarch 15, 2012 at 4:23 AM

    Thank you for your kind words. I hope it wasn't too long for anyone to listen to.

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  2. Catholic DefenderMarch 15, 2012 at 7:14 AM

    John, your story is one that emboddies the words of Jesus, " Mark 12

    30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength. This is the first commandment.


    31 And the second is like to it: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMarch 19, 2012 at 7:57 PM

    I think it was very brave of you to share your story. Sometimes it must have seemed like you were living under a black cloud. Very few couples would have survived such a barrage of evil.

    It was a strange set of circumstances that brought me to your podcast. Thank you again for your kind inspiration. It has helped me tremendously and I admire the durability of your faith.

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    Replies
    1. ChristieMarch 23, 2012 at 9:43 AM

      I passed this on to John and Tamara. Thank you for taking the time to let them know that their story and the effort to tell their story touched you. I thought it important that they know that opening up these wounds again was worthwhile. I will add you to my prayers, too, Anonymous. God'll know your name and how to apply the grace, right? Take care.

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