Day 55: The Fall of the Angels

Scripture witnesses to the disastrous influence of the one Jesus calls "a murderer from the beginning", who would even try to divert Jesus from the mission received from his Father. "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." In its consequences the gravest of these works was the mendacious seduction that led man to disobey God. CCC 394

In today's reading, the Catechism focuses on another fall, one that predates ours: that of Satan and his demonic minions. Angels have free will as we do and though Scripture & Tradition do not give us the details we would wish, some of them rejected God and thus became the demons that torment us in this fallen world. Why exactly they chose to rebel against Him we do not know, but it was one made of their own free will. Whether it began from pride, or envy, or some combination of the two, the effect was instantaneous. God doesn't force us to return His love, just as He doesn't force angels. We must freely accept His will and love just as the angels do. The Catechism Companion, Vol I speaks on the devastating results of the poor choices made by Satan and his minions:

Their choice to reject God was made with a full understanding of the consequences. That is why it is "irrevocable" and "unforgivable" (see CCC 393)... God will not take away our freedom, and he will not take away the freedom of the Enemy. (p. 114)

It seems incredible to me that beings so intimately full of knowledge of God as angels could actually rebel against Him, but some of them still did. By their perverted reasoning, it seems to them that it is "Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven" (Paradise Lost, 1.263).  The Catechism quotes St. John Damascene writing:

"There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death." (CCC 393)

As can be seen, the consequences of their fall enabled the "Father of lies" to tempt our first parents in the Garden which sadly led to the Fall of Man. Thus Satan sought to derail God's creation and the possibility of our rejecting Him became a reality. The power of evil may seem to be overwhelming to us at times but Christ has already defeated Satan. His power is limited while that of God is infinite. He could destroy Satan and the demons by a mere thought, yet for whatever reason does not do so. The argument that this could jeopardize our free will is a possibility, but we cannot answer this fully. As the Catechism Companion notes:

It is a mystery why God allows the Devil to bring about evil and suffering in the world. But we know that God can bring good from it. (See CCC 395.) [p. 114]

The Fall of Rebellious Angels, by Frans Floris (1554). Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp