Fr. Thomas M. Pastorius
September 27, 2015
Spiritual Ponderings
The Devil’s Ways

“Respect.” God has made us free and respects our freedom to chose his Kingdom or not. Now the Kingdom of God is not a mere abstraction. It has some very specific values and these values are realized and experienced perfectly in heaven. The values of the Kingdom of God include: Love, kindness, forgiveness, justice to the poor, generosity, humility, mercy, chastity, love of Scripture, love of the truth, worship of God, God at the center and so forth. Now the fact is that there are many people in our world who do not want a thing to do with chastity, or forgiveness, or being generous and so forth. And God will not force them to adopt and live these values. While it is true that everyone may want to go to heaven, heaven is not merely what we want, it is what it is, as God has set it forth. Heaven is the Kingdom of God and the values thereof in all their fullness. Hence there are some (many?) who live in such a way that they consistently demonstrate that they are not interested in heaven, since they are not interested in one or many of the Kingdom values. Hell “has to be” since God respects their freedom to live in this way. Since they demonstrate they do not want heaven, God respects their freedom to choose “other arrangements.” - Msgr. Charles Pope of the Diocese of Washington D.C.

Five Keys
Neal Lozano in his book Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance lays out the following five steps to avoid the devil’s grasp and to choose God. His points are numbered and in bold. My suggestions and commentary will be regular font.

1. Repentance and faith
When a Catholic receives ashes on Ash Wednesday he or she is told to “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return” or “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” Both of these statements are meant to remind us that with God we are nothing and with God we are everything. What we have and who we are comes from God and not from our efforts, the world, or the devil. Believe that God really wants what is best for you.

2. Forgiveness
We must learn to forgive others and ourselves while at the same time learn to receive God’s forgiveness. No one is perfect and we must do our best to avoid wallowing in our sins or giving up hope. Remember that on Good Friday we did the worst thing imaginable, we killed God, and on Easter Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead and did not seek vengeance but rather forgave us.

3. Renouncing the work of your enemies
This one is pretty simple. If the devil is our enemy and he wants us to do something then we should do the opposite. If the devil tempts us not to pray; we should pray more. If the devil tempts us to hold a grudge; we need to forgive all the more.

4. Standing in the authority you have in Christ.
Trust that Jesus really did rise from the grave. He defeated death. He took the worst that the devil could do and still stands victorious. The devil cannot hurt us if we remain close to Jesus.
5. Receiving God’s blessing of your identity and destiny.
Remember that ultimately you are a beloved son or daughter of God. Let us end with these two quotes from Neal Lozano:

In chapter 1, I described God’s blessing of Jesus at His baptism. Note that immediately following that declaration of Christ’s Sonship, Jesus “was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1). Why would God allow the devil to test His Son? Why would God allow the devil to tempt us? Let us return to the story of the Israelites in the wilderness: “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands” (Deuteronomy 8:2). The word tempting could be translated “testing” here. It was time for Jesus to know what in His heart.

What did the temptations involve? At Jesus’ weakest point—vulnerable from forty days of fasting—Satan said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread” (Matthew 4:3). Satan’s second temptation also began with, “If you are the Son of God” (Mathew 4:6). The third stated, “If you will bow down and worship me…” (Mathew 4:9). By testing Jesus’ identity as God’s Son, the devil tempted Jesus to act independently of the Father. He wanted Jesus to deny what God had declared about His Beloved Son. Similarly, the trials in our lives, the challenges we face, are intended to reveal the truth that God has placed in our hearts. Satan may intend the trials for harm, but God’s good plan intends them for good.

I also encourage you to pray the prayer of St. Michael.
Saint Michael the Archangel, Defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil; May God rebuke him; we humbly pray; And do thou O Prince of the heavenly host, By the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits Who wander through the world For the ruin of souls. Amen