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Evil is a mystery — sin is illogical and irrational and yet we succumb to it.
But love is also a mystery — God is faithful even knowing that humanity will not be faithful. And the mystery of love conquers the mystery of evil.
Thus reflected Carinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the archbishop of Manila, last week at the 2nd National Conference on the Ministry of Spiritual Liberation and Exorcism in the Philippines.
The event gathered nearly 200 exorcists and case officers from dioceses and religious congregations, from the Philippines and the United States. The conference was spearheaded by the Manila Archdiocese’s Office of Exorcism, the Philippine Association of Catholic Exorcists, the University of Santo Tomas, and the Instituto Sacerdos San Miguel Arcangel.
Cardinal Tagle spoke at the five-day event, affirming that despite evil, human life remains beautiful.
Logic might dictate that we eliminate sinners to make the world beautiful, but “the world is actually beautiful because God responds to it, ” he said in his address, as reported by CBCPNews. “God is stronger than evil. That’s the secret of the beauty of the world.”
Cardinal Tagle reflected on the long history of evil and humanity, and how Satan has been able to win the cooperation of man from the beginning.
We are “captured by the mystery of evil,” the cardinal said. And “this is illogical. This is irrational. But sin, evil, is not rational.” Man doesn’t understand his own choices and thus evil is a mystery.
But the greater mystery is the mystery of God’s love. The long history of man’s cooperation with evil is answered with the constant response of God. “People will turn to Him in despair, God will respond, the people will abandon Him again, God will be hurt,” yet will remain with His people whom He cannot forsake.
“This is the mystery, also, of the never-ending mercy and compassion of God. This mystery of love that conquers evil. And there’s no other way to conquer evil but by the love of God.”
And today we celebrate...