By Modesto P. Sa-onoy
There was a time when the forces of darkness hide and followers of satan move in the shadows. For several years now there had been reports of the satanic coming out into the public square to proclaim their opposition to God and the godly. I mentioned some of these satanic practices that even people who claim they are Christians celebrate the Halloween with the grotesque and the demonic. Abortion, contraception, the rise in gender disorientation, corruption in government – name the beliefs and immoral and unmoral practices that make man stray away from God – we have the manifestations of evil.
In fact, the demonic had been taking hold of the entertainment world with a subtle message, “there’s nothing to be afraid or to shun evil.” I once wrote that the satanic wanted people to believe they do not exist, that there is nothing evil except our fears. Evil is not real but a phantom of our imagination. Hollywood or the movie industry, like the movie series, Harry Potter had been showing the world of magic and the weird.
Satanists have come out to perform invocations, Black Masses and even demonstrations for abortion and all that we belief are ungodly compete with the good in the mainstream and social media. Information from the United States say that large companies like Walmart and Amazon are supporting Satanism by selling statues, inverted crosses and even “children’s” books about summoning demons.
According to a recent report “a congregation of satanists from Washington state were permitted to perform a ritual on the Capitol Building grounds on March 6. A release from The Satanic Temple of Washington State said the group “was given a permit to perform an invocation during the current legislative session from noon to 1 p.m. on the north steps of the Legislative Building.”
We must reject this onslaught and make reparation to combat the growing influence of the devil.
Pope Francis last Sunday urged Christians to be alert and vigilant when “messages, coming at us from many places” invite us to be tempted and to experience “the intoxication of transgression.” Speaking to the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Angelus, the Pope reflected on the Gospel for the first Sunday of Lent that tells of how Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
He recalled that Jesus prepared Himself for His mission of proclaiming the Kingdom of Heaven by fasting for forty days. “At the end of this period of fasting, the tempter, the devil, breaks in and tries three times to put Jesus to the test,” he said.
Our own homilists during the Sunday Masses also dwelt on these three temptations of Jesus. Every year at the start of the Lenten season we are reminded of these temptations, but it seems we are not strong enough to be able to resist them.
The Holy Father last week cautioned us from making a dialogue with the devil and of course with the devilish. The devil quoted the Old Testament and Jesus answered also with quotations from the Bible and in the end the devil left Him. Then the angels ministered to Jesus. Even in our own time, how many charlatans quote and twist the Bible and if we are not well versed in the Holy Writ we get clobbered. Many non-Catholics even carry the Bible quoting chapters and verses and if one is not prepared as well, one looks foolish, indeed.
The Holy Father talked about the honors and wealth that the devil tempts us. Many fall, for instance from the temptations of money and honor, but Pope Francis said, “all of this is illusory, and very quickly, we realize that the more we distance ourselves from God, the more defenseless and helpless we feel when facing the large existential problems.”
The Pope concluded by appealing for the intercession of the Blessed Mother “who crushed the head of the serpent,” to help us, during this time of Lent, “to be vigilant when confronted with temptation, and not to submit ourselves to any idol whatsoever of this world, and to follow Jesus in the battle against evil. Thus, we too will be victorious with Him.”
A retreat master advised that when tempted say firmly: bygone satan! And pray to St. Michael, slayer of the devil.
