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The Devil: Resisting Our Deadly Foe

One thing I really found striking about Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" was the "real" presence of Satan. I feel that it is an absolute necessity to depict the presence of our great Enemy in a film about the Passion of our Lord, for he was directly involved. It is true that Christ's death and resurrection conquered sin and death, but we still must "wrestle with the devil", we still must struggle to live a godly life. So who is this foe of ours, this foe who from the beginning (Gen 3:1) has sought our destruction?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church has this to say:

391 Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy (Gen 3:1-5; Wis 2:24). Scripture and the Church's Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called "Satan" or the "devil" (Jn 8:44, Rev 12:9). The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: "The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing" (Lateran Council IV, 1215 A.D.).

392 Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels (2 Pet 2:4). This "fall" consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejected God and his reign. We find a reflection of that rebellion in the tempter's words to our first parents: "You wll be like God" (Gen 3:5). The devil "has sinned from the beginning"; he is "a liar and the father of lies" (1 Jn 3:8; Jn 8:44). 393 In is the irrevocable character of their choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels' sin unforgivable. "There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death" (St. John Damascene, De Fide orth., 2, 4). 394 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 the Father (Jn 8:44; cf. Matt 4:1-11). "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil" (1 Jn 3:8). In its consequences the gravest of these works was the mendacious seduction that led man to disobey God. 395 The power of Satan is, nonetheless, not infinite. He is only a creature, powerful from the fact that he is pure spirit, but still a creature. He cannot prevent the building up of God's reign. Although Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and his kingdom in Christ Jesus, and although his action may cause grave injuries - of a spiritual nature and, indirectly, even of a physical nature - to each man and to society, the action is permitted by divine providence which with strength and gentleness guides human and cosmic history. It is a great mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but "we know that in everything God works for good with those who love Him" (Rom 8:28).

First, Satan appeals to man's physical needs (Matt 3:3). Jesus refutes this by pointing to the fact that it is the spiritual needs that are more important (Matt 3:4). This shows us that it is the spiritual needs that must take priority over our physical needs. It is important that we eat, but it is more important that we pray and recognize God as the provider of all our physical needs.

Second, Satan appeals to a wreckless trust in God, faith without works so to speak, yet Jesus instructs us not to "tempt the Lord your God" (Matt 3:7). Therefore, it isn't enough just to say we believe in God, we must live what we profess.

Finally, Satan offers Jesus worldly power in exchange for Jesus' homage to him (Satan). Jesus shows us that we are to "worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve" (Matt 3:10). Here we must look at our life closely. Do we worship only God or are money, power, and worldly achievement more important to us? Do we follow Christ or do we listen to the seduction of the devil? Only we know the answer to that question.

During this Lenten season, let us look at these three areas of our lives. Do we truly put all of our faith in God or do we allow our passions, our "physical needs," our "faith, without works," and our desire for success to take priority over what truly matters? Do we allow these things to come before God in our lives? Satan "prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour" (2 Pet 5:8). Let us seek first the kingdom of God, let us put on the armor of Christ and resist our deadly foe. Let us truly be followers of Christ. Let us resist the devil. Through sacrifice, through faith working in love, and through humility we too can overcome the temptations of the devil.

May our Lord Jesus Christ bless you and keep you.

In Christ,
Joe