3rd Sunday of Lent 11.3.12 Spiritual warfare
Our Lord referred to the devil as the prince of this world. Yet we call Our Lord the King. Who is running this world? The King or the Prince?
Both, in different senses. Christ has absolute power because He is Creator and Saviour and as God has the first and last word on everything.
But the devil has power too insofar as he influences people to think and act in a certain way (bad!); and we see this everyday in all sorts of situations. Any human behaviour which is not according to the will of God could be taken as evidence of the devil’s power.
He operates only by deceit. He is the father of lies. But he gets a lot of mileage out of those lies and a lot of people believe him – at least far enough to doubt the word of God. He sows confusion and doubt at every turn and the damage that results is the world that we have.
The glory of Christ is not lessened in any way by this but it is dimmed to our sight. We should be able to see that glory and we should be looking for it.
When Our Lord casts out demons it is symbolic of the total movement He is beginning.
He restores a man to himself. The devil deprives us of the full use of reason and will. Our Lord restores those things – to one person, and potentially to the whole human race.
To be restored means we actually see what is what, which way is up, as the scales fall from our eyes.
Deliverance from demons can mean the removal of an actual demon. Demons can be present in a place or person exerting their nasty influence. One demon less is a good thing.
More generally we are delivered from evil insofar as we learn to see, think and desire the right things in the right way and the right proportion. So we are not addicted to anything, not enslaved to anything. We all need that much deliverance.
So today’s epistle: No fornication, or covetousness nor any other sin. We think: how can I be that good? Sounds like it would take a great effort. These are not just abstract commands.
We can be that free of sin if only we allow the power of Christ to come into us.
How do we connect to this healing power? The kingdom of God is among you, Our Lord said. And in today’s Gospel: Blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.
We need the grace that comes through prayer and sacraments, which will enable us to grow in virtue; less inclined to sin; more in control of our lives.
It is like a battle where we might win in one place and lose in another; gain here, lose there.
The gaining of the ground in our case is found in greater peace and self-control, not just by effort of the will, but carried on eagles wings, lifted to a higher level.
Every prayer and every act of penance can help in this direction
We do pray; we come to Mass, and we receive various sacraments - yet we do not expect to be any different. This also is a deception of the devil. He has tricked us into thinking that we must stay as we are, and the world must stay as it is.
We can be better than we presently are! This is not meant as a burdensome demand but as an invitation to freedom. We can rise to a higher level. It is not impossible and it is not even hard. It is just what happens when the stronger man overcomes the weaker one, when Our Lord displaces the devil.
Let’s believe in that freedom and explore it; not falling in to the various pits that the devil has dug for us. He does not belong in this place. He has been cast out but he has wormed his way back in. No longer will we let him deceive us.
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