269th Meditation
“He rescues you from the snare of the fowler” (Ps 91:3).
Were it not for the help of our Father, we could not escape from the enemies of our soul. They are too intent on deceiving us and setting all kinds of traps for us. We are inferior to them!
I refer in particular to the powers and spirits of evil, whose nature is superior to ours. They do everything they can to take advantage of our weaknesses, our lack of vigilance, our naivety and inclination to evil. If we depended on our own strength, the fight would already be lost beforehand.
What I saw one day in a short film would happen to us: a dog was barking at a tiger. The tiger leaped up, grabbed the dog and killed it with a single bite. It was an unequal fight!
Yet in our lives the words of the psalm come true: the Lord rescues us from the snares when we call on His Name.
“Our help is in the Name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Ps 123:8) – we recite again and again in the Divine Office. Our part in this battle is to cling firmly to the Lord, so that He may give us His Spirit. In this Spirit, we will know how to identify the nets and traps, and we will allow ourselves to be led by His hand out of them. In the Message to Mother Eugenia, the Father tells us these words: “Do you wish to gain victory over your enemy? Call upon Me and you will triumph over him”.
We have not been placed in an unequal struggle without any help, nor are we at the mercy of the powers of darkness. On the contrary! Our Father has arranged it otherwise: He wants to triumph over the proud powers of darkness through the weakness of our flesh (1 Cor 1:27b). Satan’s pride cannot withstand the humility of Our Lady; his subtle deceptions are unmasked when the Holy Spirit enlightens us with His light; the hosts of demons fail before the army of angels that the Lord places around us; the plan of darkness is shattered at the Cross….
Whatever Satan may do, it will all be reversed in defeat for him if we remain in the Lord and under the protection of our Father. And if, in spite of everything, His children fall into a trap, He will deliver them from the snare of the fowler!