![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/5\/5f\/Satan_before_the_Lord.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
We were in the midst of a catechism lesson when the small voice of my 5-year-old asked, \u201cDoes God love the devil?\u201d<\/p>\n
I was a little surprised by his question and asked, \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, you said that God loves all of creation because God is love. God made the devil. Does He love him?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked down into his trusting brown eyes and said, \u201cYes, my love, God loves the devil.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re wrong, Mom,\u201d my 13-year-old said from nearby. \u201cGod only loves what is good. He can\u2019t love the embodiment of evil.\u201d<\/p>\n
I smiled at him and asked, \u201cIs there nothing good in Lucifer? Nothing at all that is \u2018of God\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d He stated firmly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about the fact that he exists? Is life itself ever evil?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell\u2026no\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGod made him and then he went bad,\u201d piped up the 5-year-old.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u201dYes,\u201d I hugged him. \u201cWouldn\u2019t God love the angel he created even if he detested what he had become? Do you think any of you could ever do anything that would make me stop loving you?\u201d<\/p>\n
The 13-year-old pondered that and said, \u201cIf I became a mass murderer maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou would still be the baby with the duck fluff hair who giggled in his sleep. Even as my heart would grieve for the terror you had become, even if we had to walk away from you for our own safety, even then I would be your mother and love you.\u00a0 Being a mom is a love that doesn\u2019t stop, and God\u2019s love is even bigger than that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew it!\u201d said the 5-year-old. \u201cThat\u2019s why I pray for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPray for who, love?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPray for the devil. I pray for God to touch his heart so that he can be an angel again and get to go home. Don\u2019t you pray for him, Mom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI do. Starting today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
image credit: Satan Before the Lord<\/em> by Corrado Giaquinto [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We were in the midst of a catechism lesson when the small voice of my 5-year-old asked, \u201cDoes God love the devil?\u201d I was a little surprised by his question and asked, \u201cWhy?\u201d \u201cWell, you said that God loves all of creation because God is love. God made the devil. Does He love him?\u201d I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1979,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4,5,42,25],"class_list":["post-3918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-catholic","tag-faith","tag-family","tag-thinking"],"yoast_head":"\n