The devil is defeated when we entrust ourselves to Jesus

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 7, 2013
Fr. Joseph Eddy, O. de M.

In entertainment today we see a lot of programs and movies about the Devil, evil spirits, and hauntings. Certainly this is not new; people have always been curious about evil and its effect in the world. Yet this curiosity or interest seems to be on the rise for some reason. Even the Church has recently opened a college for the study of exorcism. Our own Pope, Francis, has spoken on the subject a number of times since the beginning of his pontificate.

He was “cut to the heart” in discovering Christian captives

St. Peter Nolasco was shocked and moved in finding Christians held captive and in danger of losing their faith. Read more about his heroic life and what he did about it on the website of the .

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But, what does the Church teach about the Devil? This is a question which is sometimes a source of confusion and disagreement. Naturally, we are not able to understand everything about this spirit, but Revelation and Tradition does reveal a lot to us.

Yes, he’s real

First, the Devil is a real spirit. He is not the thing of myths or fairy tales as some would like to think. Second, he is a fallen angel and so, has all the attributes of an angel.

Angels are like humans in that they are created by God out of love. They are however much different from humans because they are pure spirits who have a superior intelligence. The angels were created to glorify God. They are God’s messengers who worship and serve him in different ways. Lucifer, or the Devil, was created as an Archangel. He shared the privilege of being the greatest and most powerful  of angels with the other Archangels: Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel.

Angels’ choice is permanent

Angels are not forced to serve the Lord; they have a choice. Yet, their choice is once and for all since they have superior intelligence and understand all the implications of their actions. Scripture and Tradition tell us that Lucifer at some point made a choice to no longer serve God. This choice was a complete and total separation from the Lord. Some believe that this occurred when he and the other angels came to realize that Jesus would be incarnate of the Virgin Mary. Lucifer and other angels could not accept that God would humble Himself to become a man.

At that moment the choice was made and there was a great spiritual battle in heaven. Lucifer and the other angels were cast out of the presence of God. Revelation tells us that they were given a certain amount of time to “roam around the earth seeking the damnation of souls.” Their existence is no longer based in love, but on hatred for God and all of His creation. The fallen angels desire that all men chose to follow him in his disobedience and hatred for the things of God.

Jesus has the power

It would seem that the devil has all the superior intelligence and power to dominate human beings. Yet, man’s strength is in his weakness and dependence on the all-powerful God. We see in the Gospel that Jesus has power to cast out the devil and free those in the power of him. The Lord sends forth his disciples giving them the power to cure the sick and cast out devils. This will be a sign of Jesus’ disciples and the true Church for the next two thousand years.

Even the most powerful angels are limited. God is immeasurably more powerful than all the angels and fallen angels. They can only have the power that God allows them to have and for as long as He desires. Ultimately, humility is what Jesus used to conquer the Devil. In the incarnation, the Lord humbles himself in becoming man and laying down his life in such a painful way for our salvation. Christ-like humility is opposed to the devil’s pride. Christians are powerful when they entrust themselves totally to Jesus with humility.

Not to fear God

For us as disciples, it is our call to not fear since God allows the devil some limited ability to tempt and cause division. By overcoming temptation with God’s grace, we can grow in faith, humility, and freely choose to follow the path of love. In times of temptation, we should fly to Jesus and entrust ourselves to Mary, the model of humility. When we see how powerful we are in Christ, we can be tempted to be prideful like the disciples in the Gospel. We must instead imitate the angels in heaven who recognize their own limitedness and praise God who is the source of life. In this way we freely chose to follow Christ and be united with him someday forever in heaven.