Satan's Greatest Trick

I’m sure you’ve heard it said that Satan’s greatest trick was fooling people into believing he didn’t exist. Well, it’s worse than ever and here’s why.

Fewer and fewer are coming to Mass as many no longer believe it’s a necessary component in the faith. When I teach my Confirmation students, many are hearing the lessons for the first time. They don’t hear about the enemy and that he’s real. Their parents have been unchurched for so long that most don’t know the habit of coming weekly and therefore have forgotten the importance of Mass as a weekly obligation. If they’re not hearing the gospel on the regular, they’re not hearing everything. It probably started with excuses, then other things created a scheduling conflict. People use Sundays to sleep in too. Soon it was habitual to not show up, to avoid Mass altogether.

Even those who do come to Mass may not be hearing the right message. Many priests have grown with the world instead of the gospel. Therefore, many are progressive and no longer preaching the Good News, but they are caught up in the secular world and misleading people into thinking that everything is relative. Are they just pleasing the people to keep the money coming in or are they truly behind all the falsehoods they proclaim? God only knows but one thing is certain: we must pray for them fervently!!! If they aren’t brave enough to bring light to the truth that the enemy is the cause of temptation that leads us to sin, we won’t fare well in this battle altogether.

The loose secular idea of doing good works to be a good person is prevailing in society. People want to make themselves feel better and feelings truly rule this world now. No one wants to be corrected or offended by someone telling them they’re wrong or not doing enough to please God. Such ideas are scoffed at to the point of censorship. If people don’t hear the truth, what chance do they stand on Judgement Day? They’ve forgotten that there is a Judgement Day and that things are not relative but there is light and dark, the Lord and the enemy. If they think there’s no foe, they surely won’t try to fight him.

No one wants to listen to the warnings of the gospel anymore. People think God should be progressing with the world, but God is the same yesterday, today, and always! We humans may learn more as we grow and study the sciences and nothing is wrong with that, but we cannot leave God out of it. To think that God must progress is like saying He isn’t enough or that He could even possibly grow. Think of it! God cannot grow because He is already perfect and has always been! God does not change but humans sure do. We’ve been waffling back and forth in this world for thousands of years and God shakes His Head at us all the while, waiting for us to come back around to Him.

It’s time to come back to God and remember His message. He is the Lord and His Word is Truth. No other lies can compare to the wonderful, blessed truth of the One Risen Lord. And yet, our world continues to forget our Savior because they forget we need saving. We’re steeped in sin from the wiley ways of the enemy, his lies, and his temptations. We’ve been convinced that they’re our thoughts and feelings, but humans are meant to mutilate themselves, harm themselves, kill the innocent, or fall into carnal lust. We’re meant to rise above and love truly, following and worshipping our God. The purpose of life is to glorify God.

If we forget Satan is real, it’s far easier for him to win. We cannot deny his existence and we cannot let him win. We must continue to teach and preach that he exists, is an enemy, and refuse his lies and ways. We must fight back or the battle will be over before we know it.