The Devil is Real. Time to Engage in Spiritual warfare

We have a real adversary in the devil. It is time to engage in spiritual warfare.

Pope Francis is regularly reminding us, and for good reason, that the devil is real. He is our real enemy. The Evil One, the devil, hates Jesus Christ and hates all who bear His name and continue His redemptive mission by living their lives in the heart of the Church for the sake of the world. The Christian Way of Life transformed Christianity from being a small sect into becoming the major dominating faith of the age. It transformed the world of the First Millennium and the Second. It can and it will do the same in the Third Millennium. However, we must not forget that we have a real adversary in the devil. It is time to engage in spiritual warfare.

CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) - In the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter eight, (Matt. 8:28-34) we find the story of Jesus driving out the demons which plagued two men in the territory of the Gadarenes. These men were so depleted by the effects of evil that they chose to live in tombs.

This account is one of many similar accounts in the Gospels. Yet, how often do we hear sermons or teaching on the reality of evil and how to confront it - in our own lives and the lives of those around us? 

In his introduction to The Screwtape Letters,  a brilliant work exposing the unseen spiritual warfare taking place around all of us which uses a series of letters between two demons -  the older Screwtape, an instructor and the younger student Wormwood - the great apologist CS Lewis wrote these words: 

"There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight."

We are engaged in a spiritual war for the souls of men and women in this urgent hour. We face personal opposition from the devil, in our lives - and in the lives of those around us. We must always remember that the struggle we face, even though it works itself out on so many different fronts, is, at root, a spiritual one. 

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus:

"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood; but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." (Eph. 6:12,13)

He also wrote these words to the Christians in Corinth: "For though we live in the world we are not carrying on a worldly war, for the weapons of our warfare are not worldly but have divine power to destroy strongholds. (2 Cor. 10:4,5)

Pope Francis often speaks of the existence of the devil. In 2013, he addressed a large group of priests in a homily. His comments were very blunt:

'"There are some priests who, when they read this Gospel passage, this and others say: 'But, Jesus healed a person with a mental illness'. They do not read this, no? It is true that at that time, they could confuse epilepsy with demonic possession; but it is also true that there was the devil!

And we do not have the right to simplify the matter, as if to say: 'All of these (people) were not possessed; they were mentally ill'. No! The presence of the devil is on the first page of the Bible, and the Bible ends as well with the presence of the devil, with the victory of God over the devil."

This invitation to not downplay, minimize or confuse the FACT of the existence of the devil is refreshing! Pope Francis challenged all of us to not be naive when we are faced with the temptation to "to diminish the power of the Lord."

He proclaimed, "There is always the temptation to want to diminish the figure of Jesus, as if he were "a healer at most" and so as not to take him "so seriously".

Sadly, that temptation has made its way into too many contemporary sermons. Even worse, it has made its way into our daily lives as Christians. We often behave like the materialist to which CS Lewis referred.

As is his custom, the Pope broke up his homily, as he breaks most of his instructions, into three parts. He gave us three ways in which we all can fight the evil one as he manifests his perfidious plans in our own lives and in our own age.

We must recognize the truth of his existence. We must recognize our allies in the battle. We must recognize the ongoing nature of the struggle so that we are ready when it comes to do battle.

Here are more of his words:

"Do not confuse the truth. Jesus fights the devil: first criterion.

"Second criterion: he who is not with Jesus is against Jesus. There are no attitudes in the middle.

"Third criterion: vigilance over our hearts because the devil is astute. He is never cast out forever. It will only be so on the last day."

"Vigilance, because his strategy is this: 'You became Christian. Advance in your faith. I will leave you. I will leave you tranquil. But then when you are used to not being so watchful and you feel secure, I will come back'. The Gospel today begins with the devil being cast out and ends with the devil coming back! St. Peter would say: 'It is like a fierce lion that circles us'. It is like that."

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'But, Father, you (are) a little ancient. You are frightening us with these things' No, not me! It is the Gospel! And these are not lies: it is the Word of the Lord! Let us ask the Lord for the grace to take these things seriously. He came to fight for our salvation. He won against the devil! Please, let us not do business with the devil! He seeks to return home, to take possession of us. Do not relativize; be vigilant! And always with Jesus!"

The passage Francis referred to in his homily, comparing the devil to a roaring lion, is found in the first letter which the Apostle Peter wrote to the early Church. The Christians had already been dispersed due to a violent and hostile persecution against them. That persecution was led by some in that culture who did not like their message or their manner of life. Here is a snippet from the letter:

"Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, and strengthen you. (1 Peter 5:8-10)

The struggle in which we are now engaged involves an increasingly hostile clash of worldviews. It is rooted in competing definitions of human freedom, happiness and flourishing. The opposition to the Christian worldview is often led by those who reject the true nature of marriage and refuse to recognize the fundamental right to life. Many engaged in these errors have now embraced a false libertinism which is masquerading as liberty and leading many into spiritual bondage. 

Christians (at least Christians who have not succumbed to error) are being routinely presented as unenlightened. We are also accused of forcing our view on others. However, our claims concerning the dignity of every human life, the nature and ends of marriage, the moral obligations of freedom and the existence of objective truth is what will free people from the bondage of disordered appetites and the emptiness of moral relativism. 

However, the truth is still true. We were created by God, in His Image, and we will never find authentic happiness or human flourishing until we embrace His loving plan.

We are not fully human in isolation. We were made for relationship.

We were structured for authentic love and human flourishing within marriage.

We are called to build societies founded upon the first society of the family and rooted in the moral foundations which secure authentic human freedom.

Pope Francis is regularly reminding us, and for good reason, that the devil is real. He is our real enemy. The Evil One, the devil, hates Jesus Christ and hates all who bear His name and continue His redemptive mission by living their lives in the heart of the Church for the sake of the world.

The Christian Way of Life transformed Christianity from being a small sect into becoming the major dominating faith of the age. It transformed the world of the First Millennium and the Second. It can and it will do the same in the Third Millennium.

However, we must not forget that we have a real adversary in the devil. It is time to engage in spiritual warfare.

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Deacon Keith A. Fournier is Founder and Chairman of Common Good Foundation and Common Good Alliance. A married Roman Catholic Deacon of the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia, he and his wife Laurine have five grown children and seven grandchildren. He is a human rights lawyer and public policy advocate who served as the first and founding Executive Director of the American Center for Law and Justice in the nineteen nineties and has long been active at the intersection of faith and culture. He is a senior contributing writer to The Stream.

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