Is The Devil Still Alive ?

GOA, July 16, 2010, 10:20 Hrs (Averthanus L. D’Souza):

At the conclusion of the Year for Priests, in his homily during the Mass of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Rome, on June 11th. 2010 Pope Benedict XVI alluded to the “enemy.” This is what he said: “It was to be expected that this new radiance of the priesthood would not be pleasing to the “enemy”; he would have rather preferred to see it disappear, so that God would ultimately be driven out of the world.”

A certain Richard W. Kroft, writing in the liberal National Catholic Reporter rebuked the Pope for being “unsophisticated.” He was incredulous that “someone as theologically sophisticated as Pope Benedict would resort to blaming the Devil for the Church’s present problems.”

Richard Kroft seems to be representing a widely held point of view, even among Catholics, that it is preferable not to mention the Devil or Satan in the present times. This will open Catholics to ridicule by their more “sophisticated” compatriots. He does not appear to be denying the existence of the Devil, but he certainly prefers that this notion of the Devil fade from memory and not be mentioned in polite social circles. After all we live in a “rational” world where explanations for everything and anything are expected to come from “Science.”

The question before us is: is it really unsophisticated to attribute certain problems to the Devil? We are immediately reminded of the numerous times when Jesus cured people who were possessed by demons. Matthew records an event where a boy who was epileptic was cured by Jesus. “And Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. (Mt.17: 14-21.) In Chapter 5 of his gospel Mark relates the occasion when Jesus ordered a “legion” of demons to depart from the man who lived among the tombs. At his command, the demons left the man and entered into a herd of swine and rushed down into the sea and were drowned.

Jesus solemnly said to Simon: “Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Lk.22:31-32.). For those who accept the authority of the New Testament and of the Church, there is no hesitancy in accepting that the Devil is still active and that “like a roaring lion . . . prowls around looking for someone to devour.” (1.Pet. 5:8) St. Peter advises us: “Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you.” (1.Peter 5: 9-10)

According to the New Testament, Jesus himself personally encounters Satan. Matthew gives us a detailed description of this encounter in Chapter 4 of his gospel (Mt.4: 1-11). St. John quotes Jesus as describing Satan (Jn. 8: 43-47) “He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” In the face of such overwhelming evidence it is incredible that Richard W. Kroft and the National Catholic Reporter can accuse Pope Benedict XVI of being “unsophisticated.” It may be embarrassing for some “sophisticated” people to speak of the Devil, but this is precisely what Satan himself wants. In one of his letters to Wormwood, Screwtape answers the question “whether it is essential to keep the patient in ignorance of your own (the devil’s) existence.” “Our policy, for the moment, is to conceal ourselves. Of course this has not always been so. We are really faced with a cruel dilemma. When the humans disbelieve in our existence we lose all the pleasing results of direct terrorism and we make no magicians. On the other hand, when they believe in us, we cannot make them materialists and sceptics. At least, not yet. I have great hopes that we shall learn in due time how to emotionalise and mythologise their science to such an extent that what is, in effect, a belief in us, (though not under that name) will creep in while the human mind remains closed to belief in the Enemy. The “Life Force”, the worship of sex, and some aspects of Psychoanalysis, may here prove useful. If once we can produce our perfect work – the Materialist Magician, the man, not using, but veritably worshipping, what he vaguely calls “Forces” while denying the existence of “spirits” – then the end of the war will be in sight. But in the meantime we must obey our orders. I do not think you will have much difficulty in keeping the patient in the dark. The fact that “devils” are predominantly comic figures in the modern imagination will help you. If any faint suspicion of your existence begins to arise in his mind, suggest to him a picture of something in red tights, and persuade him that since he cannot believe in that (it is an old textbook method of confusing them) he therefore cannot believe in you.” (The Screwtape Letters –C.S.Lewis, Fontana Books, 1958, pg.39)

The Devil has succeeded in confusing our “sophisticated” (educated) scientists and thinkers. He has helped them to cloak the reality of evil in the guise of high-sounding medical terminology. Thus the murder of embryos in their mothers’ wombs now goes under the non-emotional description of “medical termination of pregnancy;” the killing of human embryos in the name of research is cloaked under the guise of “embryonic stem cell research.” In the field of economics, theft of money by Banks and Financial Institutions is covered up under the term “Risk Management” and “Hedge Funding.” Greed is now designated as Self Assertion; defrauding the poor now goes under the respectable title of Competition. The redefinition of morally reprehensible human behaviour is sought to be disguised as socially acceptable action. Murder is often sought to be mitigated in our Courts of Law by an appeal to Temporary Insanity. Prostitution has become Commercial Sex Work; pornography is promoted under the protection of the law which guarantees Freedom of Expression. Our politicians often support morally reprehensible legislation such as contraception, abortion and euthanasia under the excuse that they do not want to impose their own personal views on the rest of the population. We are living in a world of political schizophrenia and ethical degradation and we wonder what is wrong with our world.

The Devil is certainly enjoying his moment of temporary victory; but thankfully, people of good conscience are beginning to realize that they need to make their own voices heard in the public forum. This needs to be encouraged and magnified. The reason why evil seems to triumph is that good people are too complacent and too afraid to become involved. “What can I do in the face of such tremendous odds?” The answer is clear. Believe in the power of One. Tiny drops of water and single grains of sand make the mighty oceans and the vast land.