SATAN, THE CLEVER ENEMY

G. K. Chesterton once remarked that the cleverest thing the devil ever did was to make people believe that he did not exist.  It was a masterstroke.  For this is what he wants us to believe while using countless well-meaning lay and clerics as his instruments.  

Vatican II opened the windows of the Church to allow the Holy Spirit to enter; but Satan entered, too, in his non-existent capacity, causing havoc among the religious orders at a time they were most needed.  

Today, we live in an era where no one speaks of the devil but wherein his presence is felt everywhere.  His presence is most seen in the use but misinterpreted rendition of Scriptures, fulfilling St. Paul's prophesy of ". . .Christians. . .who would not tolerate sound doctrine but follow after their own lust, preferring  fantasy to truth."

Suddenly, the men of the Church have become men of this world while professing they are not of this world and the population who could not find God is not found in the cities but in convents and seminaries.  Satan had entered one member of the Apostolic College; he has been doing this ever since then. . .even up to now.  

Satan is everywhere.  All one has to do is look at the mirror at one's own face and see all the worldly passions and appetites behind it.  Satan is an angel. . .fallen, but an angel nevertheless.  He can easily simulate virtue, give persuasive arguments and justify the murdering of millions of unborn babies.  Through television, he has entered homes, confusing the minds of all as to what is right and wrong, as to what is good and evil.  

In a war, we must study the strategy of our enemy and the devil wages war against us everyday.  Yet we know next to nothing about him.  Is it any wonder why we are defeated everyday?  

Let us, therefore, heed the words of then Cardinal Karol Wojtyla (1978) when he said, "We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation. . .we are now facing the FINAL confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel."  

10-30-04)