Evil can’t stand on its own

THAT’S one thing we should always bear in mind whenever we

are assailed by evil in any form it may come. It always has to refer

to something true and good which it tries to twist, distort or

outrightly deny. It cannot stand on its own. It offers nothing new,

nothing original.

             Knowing that fact gives us the effective way to deal with

it, so we avoid falling for it. What we have to do is to refer

ourselves to the truth and to the source of all goodness who is God.

   

            This was how Christ dealt with the devil who tried to

tempt him. (cfr. Mt 4,1-11) In that episode in Christ’s life, the

devil quoted passages of Scripture to lure Christ to go into the

devil’s will and ways. But those passages were all twisted and

distorted to suit the devil’s interest. Christ, of course, knew this

and quickly clarified things to him. Eventually, the devil left Christ

in peace.

  

            This episode clearly shows us that it is the truth that

will make us free. (cfr. Jn 8,32) It is our intimate relation with the

God, the source of all goodness, who will protect us from the very

subtle tricks and wiles of the devil.

  

            To defend ourselves from evil that will always hound us in

our earthly life, we need to really know the truth well and to always

keep in touch with God, never allowing ourselves to stay far from him.

In this regard, we can never overemphasize our need.

  

            Let us examine ourselves if indeed we have the truth that

is already revealed in full by Christ, authoritatively taught by

Church, and given witness to by the saints and the holy men and women

through the ages, deeply embedded in our mind and heart.

  

            For this, we indeed need to spend time everyday to read,

study and meditate on the gospel that contains the life and teaching

of Christ, our Master. In doing so, we have to involve all our

faculties—our mind and heart, the intelligence, will and emotions and

passions, our imagination and memory.

  

            We have to see to it that through our constant meditation

of the gospel, the life of Christ becomes so clear to us that Christ

becomes alive in us, and we become not only more familiar with his

word and example but also truly enamoured by it, so much so that the

truth revealed by Christ becomes the living principle that enlightens

our life and shapes our reactions to all the events of our life.

  

            In other words, we should always have presence of God,

constantly referring things to him who never abandons us even if we

feel otherwise. He is always by our side and is definitely for us

whenever we have to grapple with evil as when we are tempted.

  

            To handle evil in our life, it is not enough just to

ignore and dismiss it outright. Such attitude would only embolden the

evil one to trick us with ever more sophisticated temptations until it

becomes almost impossible for us to resist them.

   

            What we have to do is to expose the lie of that evil so

that it will depart from us on its own. This was what happened when

Christ was tempted. Christ simply exposed the lie, the clever twisting

and distorting of the Scriptural passages, and the devil eventually

left him.

  

            This attitude and reaction validate what we are told when

we are tempted: that God does not allow us to be tempted more than we

can bear, but with the temptation would also give us the grace to deal

with it properly. (cfr. 1 Cor 10,13)

  

            With the way things are now in the world, with evil and

temptations holding sway over a great majority of the people,

especially the young, there is need to encourage everyone to know the

truth well and to be with God always mainly through prayer.