In the General Audience this Wednesday, September 25, Pope Francis continued his cycle of catechesis on “The Spirit and the Bride.” Today, specifically, he reflected on the help that the Holy Spirit offers in the fight against “the spirit of evil.”
Below is the complete catechesis of the Holy Father:
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Dear brothers and sisters,
Immediately after his baptism in the Jordan, Jesus, “was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Mt 4,1), so says the Gospel of Matthew. The initiative is not Satan’s, but God’s. By going into the desert, Jesus obeys an inspiration from the Holy Spirit, he does not fall into a trap of the enemy. Once the test was overcome, He – it is written – returned to Galilee “full of the power of the Holy Spirit” (Lc 4,14).
Jesus in the desert, escaped of Satan and now he can release of Satan. This is what the evangelists highlight with the numerous stories of liberation of the obsessed. Jesus says to his opponents: “If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you” (Mt 12,27).
Today we witness a strange phenomenon related to the devil. At some cultural level, it is believed that it simply does not exist. It would be a symbol of the collective unconscious, or of alienation, in short, a metaphor.
But “the devil’s greatest trick is to make people believe that he does not exist,” as someone (Charles Baudelaire) wrote. He is cunning, he makes us believe that he does not exist, and so he dominates everything. He is smart. However, our technological and secularized world is full of magicians, occultism, spiritualism, astrologers, sellers of amulets and spells and, unfortunately, true satanic sects. Expelled from the door, the devil has re-entered, one might say, through the window. Expelled from the faith, he re-enters with superstition. If you are superstitious, you are unconsciously dialoguing with the devil. There is no dialogue with the devil.
The strongest proof of Satan’s existence is not found in sinners or the obsessed, but in saints! It is true that the devil is present and active in certain extreme and “inhuman” forms of evil and evil that we see around us. In this way, however, it is practically impossible to reach, in particular cases, the certainty that it is indeed him, since we cannot know precisely where his action ends and where our own evil begins. That is why the Church is very prudent and strict in the exercise of exorcism, unlike what happens, unfortunately, in certain movies!
It is in the lives of the saints where the devil is forced to come to light, to stand “against the light.” Some more, some less, all the saints and great believers testify to their struggle against this dark reality, and it cannot be honestly assumed that all of them were deluded or mere victims of the prejudices of their time.
The battle against the spirit of evil is won as Jesus won it in the desert: with the blows of the word of God. Jesus does not dialogue with the devil, he has never dialogued with the devil, he either expels him or condemns him. But he never talks. In the desert he does not respond with his Word, but with the Word of God. Brothers, sisters, never talk to the devil. When he comes with the temptation: “This would be good, that would be good…” Stop, lift your heart to the Lord, pray to the Virgin and expel it as Jesus has taught us to expel it.
Saint Peter also suggests another means, which Jesus did not need, but we do, vigilance: “Be sober, be vigilant. His enemy, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pe 5,8). And Saint Paul, for his part, admonishes: “Do not give the devil an opportunity” (Ef 4,27).
After Christ, on the cross, forever defeated the power of the “prince of this world” (Jn 12:31), the devil – said a Father of the Church – “is tied, like a dog to a chain; “He cannot bite anyone, except those who, defying danger, approach him… He can bark, he can urge, but he cannot bite, except whoever wants to.”
If you are a fool and you go to hell and say “oh how are you”, it will ruin you. With the devil, distance, there is no dialogue with the devil, he is expelled. Distance. And all of us, all of us, have experience of how the devil approaches with some temptation, temptation against the 10 Commandments. When we feel this, stop, distance, do not approach the dog tied with a chain.
For example, modern technology, in addition to many positive resources that must be appreciated, also offers countless means to “give the devil a chance,” and many fall into his trap. Let’s think about Internet pornography, behind which there is a very flourishing market. We all know it, it is the devil who works there. This is a very widespread phenomenon that Christians must, in any case, guard against and strongly reject. Any phone has access to this ugly brutality, this language of the devil, online pornography.
Awareness of the devil’s action in history should not discourage us. The final thought must be, here too, one of trust and security. “Only with the Lord, get out of here.” Christ has defeated the devil and has given us the Holy Spirit to make his victory our own. The same action of the enemy can turn in our favor, if with God’s help we put it at the service of our purification. Let us therefore ask the Holy Spirit, with the words of the hymn Come Creator: “Keep the enemy away from us, give us peace soon, with you who guide us, we will avoid every evil.” Be careful, the devil is smart, but we Christians, with the Grace of God, are smarter than him. Thank you.
Pope Francis
Pope Francis, born on December 17, 1936 in Buenos Aires (Argentina), is the first Latin American Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, assuming the papacy on March 13, 2013. His approachable style and his emphasis on mercy They have left a distinctive mark on his pontificate.