The devil is powerless against God

THIS was clearly illustrated in that gospel episode where Christ went to Capernaum, preached in the synagogue, and a person possessed by the devil approached him. (cfr. Lk 4,31-37) We know what happened next. The devil was quickly exorcised. 

 Despite rising reports of spiritual warfare, we can feel reassured that the devil is no match to God’s power. While evil forces are real and subtle, they can only act by divine permission, which God often uses to draw a good. 

 We have to strengthen our faith that God is always in control of things. He is the ultimate authority and knows how to extract good even from evil. We should avoid living in fear which the devil can use to do his tricks. The devil uses subtle, cunning tactics to exploit our weaknesses, often creeping in when we are overly comfortable, privileged or drowning in despair. 

 The secret to avoiding vulnerability is for us to be always alert and to rely entirely on God and avoid pride or despair, acknowledging that without him, we can achieve nothing of true value. 

 But we should never think that devils are just a myth. Evil spiritual forces are very real and actively seek to divert us from the truth and charity. What makes us vulnerable is when we rely on our own power and resources instead of God. Without faith, without love and humility, these privileges can only spoil us. We should guard our heart against both the pride of worldly success and the paralyzing depths of despair. 

 We also should learn how to maintain spiritual awareness. This we can do when we make it our lifestyle to have some plan of life that would be made up of certain practices of piety. These practices, if done properly, can keep us always united with God, and with him, no spiritual danger can come close to us. 

 Developing an effective plan of life consisting of some practices of piety like mental prayer, recourse to the sacraments, examinations of conscience, etc. may require some time and effort, but it’s an investment that is all worth it. The little time and effort required can actually multiply our time and make our efforts more productive at the end of the day. We would be more able to resist our weaknesses and the temptations around. 

 In these complicated times of ours with so many issues, problems and challenges spewing out, the need for plans and strategies have become more indispensable so that we can study them better and know exactly what to do with them. The way things are now, these issues, problems and challenges really need to be studied well, making due consultations when necessary. 

 What can help in this regard is to cultivate the practice of making daily examinations of conscience so we can make a review of what happened during the day and come up with the appropriate plan and strategies for the following day. 

 Since we usually examine our conscience at the end of the day, fatigue can easily set in. We must actively motivate ourselves to focus during this practice. The small effort we invest will yield immense spiritual returns. We must also avoid falling into a mindless routine. Without intentional strategies, we cannot navigate life's challenges. These spiritual plans keep us focused on our ultimate goal with minimal distraction. 

 To be sure, making and following a plan of life will greatly help us to resisting the tricks of the devil who never takes a vacation in tempting us.

Who do we follow?

WE have to ask ourselves this question from time to time: are we really following Christ, or have we quietly begun following our own likes, dislikes, and opinions? 

 It is surprisingly easy to drift. Instead of allowing Christian faith to guide our decisions, we can gradually depend on our own reasoning, personal tastes, and changing ways. Regular examination keeps faith central. 

 We can see this danger in the Gospel episode about Jesus returning to Nazareth. (cfr. Lk 4:16–30) He entered the synagogue, read from Isaiah, and began speaking. At first, the people were impressed by his words. 

 They wondered at the gracious words coming from his mouth. But admiration soon changed. They asked whether this was not Joseph’s son, someone they already knew from their neighborhood. Familiarity became an obstacle to faith. 

 Then Jesus explained that Isaiah’s prophecy was being fulfilled in him. Suddenly, admiration became resistance, and the people became so angry that they wanted to throw him over a cliff. The story remains relevant. 

 It presents a practical question for us. Do we follow Christ when his teachings agree with our preferences, or do we follow him even when he challenges our comfortable assumptions? That question deserves honest attention. 

 It matters especially today. We live amid remarkable progress in technology, communication, science, philosophy, and other fields. These developments have made life easier, faster, and wonderfully convenient. 

 None of these achievements is bad. They can be gifts when used wisely. Technology can serve humanity, reason can discover truth, and creativity can solve problems. Trouble begins when good things quietly take faith’s place. 

 We may become so impressed by human intelligence that we forget realities which intelligence alone cannot fully grasp. This is one subtle spiritual challenge of our time: placing our methods and opinions above God’s wisdom. 

 Faith and reason, however, are not enemies. They belong together. Both are gifts from God, and properly understood, they cooperate in helping us discover truth, make sound decisions, and live responsibly. 

 The difficulty comes when reason tries to become independent of God. Intelligence can then become a servant of ambition, convenience, or self-interest, rather than an instrument for sincerely seeking truth and what is genuinely good. 

 We should therefore ask ourselves honestly: am I using reason to understand God’s creation better, or mainly to justify what I already want? Modern conveniences can become “sweet poisons,” making dependence on God seem unnecessary. 

 Christ gives us the corrective when he says that anyone who wishes to follow him must deny himself and carry his cross. Faith cannot remain an agreeable idea or Sunday habit; it must shape life. 

 Following Christ means allowing him to challenge us. Sometimes he asks us to forgive when resentment feels justified, serve when we would rather relax, or sacrifice when convenience seems attractive. This makes discipleship concrete. 

 We do not prove faith merely by knowing Christian teachings. We prove it by letting them shape our choices, habits, priorities, relationships, and actions. Therefore, renewed evangelization and apostolate are needed to purify our culture. 

 This renewal should not be hostile. We can present the beauty and reasonableness of Christian living through families, schools, workplaces, parishes, friendships, and communities where truth is respected and charity is practiced naturally. 

 We need not fear modernity, technology, or human progress. Rather, we should place these valuable things in proper order, keeping God at the center and using everything else wisely for serving others. 

 The goal is not to reject the world but transform it. When Christ guides our minds and hearts, our abilities become instruments for serving others. So we ask: am I following Christ, or myself?

The great value of suffering

IT just doesn’t make sense at first glance. Why would Christ tell us to deny ourselves and pick up a cross just to follow Him. (cfr. Mt 16,24) What’s so appealing about suffering that He’d ask us to embrace it? What hidden treasure is there in suffering that should draw our hearts to it instead of away from it? 

 We, of course, now know that suffering stems from our separation from God, who is our true source of joy and life. Because we often choose to act as if we are own “gods,” we bring about our own spiritual distance from him and as a consequence we suffer. 

 To make sense of this, let’s look at the bigger picture. We need to look back to the time of our creation and then forward to Christ’s redemptive mission. In the beginning, suffering was entirely absent from God’s plan. Our first parents existed in a state of original justice. They possessed profound gifts, including immortality, impassibility (the inability to experience physical or emotional pain), and perfect integrity. 

 They lived in absolute harmony with themselves, the world and their Creator. However, all of this was lost when they succumbed to the temptation of disobedience. Seduced by the father of lies, they attempted to assert their own will over God’s, thereby separating themselves from the divine source of life. 

 This rupture severed our intimate connection with the ultimate fountain of all good things, inevitably leading us into a reality marked by pain, sin, and physical decay. Yet despite this catastrophic betrayal, God’s overwhelming love for us never wavered. Yes, there was a period of anger, but His great love for us is so profound that He sent His Son to rescue us. His mercy always has the last word. 

 Because our sinfulness inherently leads us to suffering and death, the Son of God had to become man to address the root of the problem. As St. Paul explained, Christ emptied Himself to share in our humanity, ultimately enduring the agony and humiliation of death on the cross. Christ went to the extent of becoming like sin, without committing sin, if only to identify himself with us and offer us “the way, the truth and the life.” 

 Through His passion and death, Christ paid the ransom for our redemption. But He did much more. He radically transformed the meaning of suffering and death. What was once a tragic consequence of our separation from God has been converted by Christ into a powerful means of our salvation. 

 Christ provided the ultimate paradigm for how we can overcome our fundamental flaw of self-reliance. Our suffering, as long as it is united to the suffering of Christ, can now acquire a great redemptive value. 

 And so, we should not be too concerned about suffering in whatever form it comes to us. We should just learn how to unite our unavoidable sufferings with the suffering of Christ. That way, our sufferings become a necessary mechanism for our healing and reconciliation. 

 Bluntly said, when we embrace our hardships and unite them with Christ’s suffering, our pain can now act as the very cure that draws us back into communion with the Creator. 

 Consequently, we must readjust our perception of pain. Instead of viewing suffering as purely senseless, we should see it as a sacred invitation to “deny ourselves,” to empty ourselves so we can be filled with the spirit of God. 

 Consequently, we must readjust our perception of pain. Instead of viewing suffering as purely senseless, we should see it as an opportunity to empty ourselves so we can be transformed into “another Christ.”