The Devil is in The Details: Do Not Get Caught

“Very few people believe in the devil these days, which suits the devil very well. He is always helping to circulate the news of his own death. The essence of God is existence, and He defines Himself as: 'I am Who am.' The essence of the devil is the lie, and he defines himself as: 'I am who am not.' Satan has very little trouble with those who do not believe in him; they are already on his side.”  

Fulton J. Sheen, Life of Christ

Maybe this is the problem.  We place our faith in the Devil instead of God.  We place our faith in the father of all lies not the bearer of all truth. 

Simply put Satan is the father of lies. If you need further proof, here are three very good examples to truly believe that Satan is the father of all lies. 

First, Jesus told us this.  Speaking to a group of Jews  (John 8:44), Jesus said, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies”  

Second, Satan is the “father of lies” in that he is the original liar. He is the “father” of lies in the same way that Martin Luther is the “father” of the Reformation and Robert Goddard is the “father” of modern rocketry. Satan told the first lie in recorded history to Eve, in the Garden of Eden. After planting seeds of doubt in Eve’s mind with a question 

Third, I would like to point out one of the most blatant public media attacks on Jesus and one of the biggest lies that Satan was able to pull off came on April 8, 1966.  It was the Time Magazine article that asked if God was Dead?.  Satan would like to have us believe this lie.  God doesn’t care about you, only I care about you.  This is the same lie since the beginning of time.  However, in 1966 many people believed in the basis of the article. The civil rights movement was just one of many real-world events that made the question seem apt. In 1966, it wasn’t so easy for Americans to believe that a beneficent God was actively steering the lives of man. After years spent battling evil abroad, American Christians watched as Godless communism drew its sinister curtain across the world. And at home, with its million daily inhumanities, their own nation oppressed citizens due to the color of their skin. “As always, faith is something of an irrational leap in the dark, a gift of God,” TIME explained back then. “And unlike in earlier centuries, there is no way today for churches to threaten or compel men to face that leap; after Dachau’s mass sadism and Hiroshima’s instant death, there are all too many real possibilities of hell on earth.”

Those “atrocities of the 20th century” weren’t the only ingredients in the mix, says Peter Manseau, author of the new history of American spirituality One Nation, Under Gods. There was also news—whether of Muhammad Ali’s joining the nation of Islam or of the War in Vietnam—that forced Americans to think about religions other than Christianity, and a counterculture that encouraged questioning assumptions.

Looking back, there’s another fact in the story that stands out even more as an artifact of the time: survey results showed that 97% of Americans believed in God. The number of God’s devotees has been shrinking ever since. In 2014, Pew found that only 63% of Americans believed with absolute certainty. (Gallup numbers were roughly the same if you include the “fairly certain” respondents as well.)

Church attendance has shrunk by more than 50% since 1968.  If it weren't for the advent of mass immigration to our Mass- today many of the Catholic Churches would have had to close down.  Brothers and sisters, this was not a mistake, this was a planned attack on our very faith by the father of all liars- Satan himself.  We are locked in spiritual warfare on an individual basis, national basis, international basis, and on a Church basis.  We are at war, we must not lose.  We can not lose and with your help, we will not surrender.  In the end, you may lose your job, your property, and your life, but as long as you do not lose your soul you are prepared for both this world and the next.  

If we thought it was bad in 1968?  What is it now?  This is an example of the work of Satan. He makes us doubt and he makes us question everything that we hold dear.  Why?  The answer is easy- power.  The only power he has over us is the power that we give him.  He has no power over those who refuse to listen to him. 

We need to prepare ourselves like what Paul told the people of Ephesus to do. St. Paul explained to them in Ephesians 6: 10-18 -

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the word of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication." 

Are we going to battle in a corrupt world without the full armor of God?  If we believe what Satan is telling society we are.  If we believe that God is dead we are.  If we believe that the Church is dead we are.  If we believe in the teachings of government we are.  We need to return to our roots.  We need to turn our gaze to the East.  To the direction that Jesus Christ will once again return from and the direction of His ministry, His birth, and His resurrection.  We are in trouble.  Big-time trouble and with God’s help, we can get through this. 

Let us look at  Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  

We must remember this now and forever.  We can not be deceived. We can not let our guard down for one minute. Satan is real and we must resist him, strong in our faith. However, do not be so terrified that you forget that God, His angels, and the grace He bestows on us are more powerful and that God limits what demons can do

There are two very special aspects of battle that the Church teaches us that we should not forget during these times. 

First, spiritual warfare refers to the daily spiritual battle between good and evil.

Satan exists: “Evil is not an abstraction, but refers to a person, Satan, the Evil One, the angel who opposes God. The devil (diabolos) is the one who “throws himself across” God’s plan and his work of salvation accomplished in Christ” (Catechism 2851).  Evil spirits exist: “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6: 11-12). In spiritual warfare, the battlefield is the terrain of our souls. Having a basic understanding of spiritual warfare is an important part of knowing our Catholic faith.

Second, Jesus won the victory over Satan, but our battle is not over.

Satan has been defeated but not destroyed. The enemy is no longer a threat to Jesus, but he does remain a threat to us: “Victory over the ‘prince of this world’ was won once for all at the Hour when Jesus freely gave himself up to death to give us his life. This is the judgment of this world, and the prince of this world is ‘cast out.’ ‘He pursued the woman’ but had no hold on her: the new Eve, ‘full of grace’ of the Holy Spirit, is preserved from sin and the corruption of death (the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of the Most Holy Mother of God, Mary, ever virgin). ‘Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring.’ Therefore the Spirit and the Church pray: ‘Come, Lord Jesus,’ since his coming will deliver us from the Evil One.’” – Catechism 2853

That is right, Satan lost the battle with God.  He was thrown out of heaven.  However, he has not lost the battle with us without him putting up a fight for our souls.  Let us not help him, let us not give in, let us fight for our soul like our life depended upon it because it does.  The plan is simple and straightforward and will work 100% of the time- but remember the devil is in the details.  Let us work together to work our own details and not to include Satan at all.  God has a plan for all of us.  Please listen, follow, obey and serve him.  If you choose poorly here- it will cost you in this world and the next.