In a recent general audience, Pope Francis once again spoke about the reality of Satan and why we must be careful never to give in to his temptations.
According to Vatican News, the Pope began his remarks by reminding people that the moment Jesus died on the cross, He “defeated forever the power of the ‘prince of this world’, the devil was bound, like a dog on a chain; he cannot bite anyone, except he who, braving the danger, goes near him. . . He can bark, he can urge, but he cannot bite, except he who wants to [be bitten].”
Anyone who is foolish enough to go to the devil and say, ‘Ah! How are you?’ is ruined, he said.
We must always keep our distance, even when we’re being tempted by the Evil One.
“When he comes with temptation — ‘this would be nice, that would be nice’ — stop yourself. Lift your heart to the Lord, pray to Our Lady and send him away,” the Pope advised. “All of us have had the experience of how the devil approaches us with some temptation against the Ten Commandments. When we feel this, stop — distance! Do not approach the dog tied to its chain.”
The Holy Father went on to cite what he called the “strange phenomenon” regarding the devil which is occurring at the cultural level today which is the belief that he doesn’t exist. As a result, people see him as more of a metaphor and are allowing him to enter their lives through superstition and a world “teeming with magicians, occultism, spiritualism, astrologers, sellers of spells and amulets, and unfortunately with real satanic sects,” he said, according to the Catholic News Service.
Yet “the strongest proof of the existence of Satan is found not in sinners or the possessed, but in the saints,” he said. “It is in the lives of the saints that the devil is forced to come out into the open, to cast himself ‘against the light.'” It is then that we see him most clearly.
The devil is cunning, the Holy Father said but Christians are smarter because we can rely on God and the grace of the Holy Spirit, to overcome the devil’s temptations.
“Be careful, because the devil is cunning,” Pope Francis said, “but we Christians, with God’s grace,” he reassured, “are smarter than he is.”
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