Christmas is over. We know this because the cream eggs are out in the shops now; Easter is on its way. Easter arrives after a long Lent (well it always seems long to me). Ash Wednesday is on the 6^th March and February is a short month so get ready.  During Lent we try to prepare ourselves for a holy Easter; move away from sin towards Heaven. This month I began to think about the causes of sin and, of course, the Devil.

A popular image of the Devil is found in the Tom and Jerry cartoons. Tom is shown with an angel on one shoulder and the Devil on the other. The angel is trying to persuade Tom to do good and the Devil is persuading him, usually successfully, to do bad. I think it’s quite a good description of the battle between good and evil. It works better for me than the image of the serpent in the Garden of Eden. I’m not keen on snakes and I can’t see myself being persuaded by one. But why is the Devil so persuasive? Surely the wee angel on your shoulder should do better than the Devil?

Just why is the Devil such a good tempter? How does he do it? I think he uses his secret weapon, the lie. Isn’t it surprising how well lies work in persuading people? The current state of politics on both sides of the Atlantic show how well lies work. Some politicians tell lies all the time. Their opponents expose the lies but people take no notice and continue to believe the lies. Why are we so vulnerable to lies? I think it’s because we tell ourselves lies to boost our ego. My wife tells me that I’m not fit to decorate the room; I’m too old and I had a heart attack. I reject that as nonsense as I’m as fit as I ever was. It’s only when I have to use the wee glyceryl trinitrate spray that I realise I’ve been lying to myself.

Satan tried this with Jesus when he offered Him the whole world if He would worship him. Jesus was human but He did know the truth and rejected Satan. We really know the truth about ourselves but our pride leaves us open to flattery.  The clever thing is that the Devil persuades us that we are choosing something good. We do know that the Devil can persuade us to do wrong but we kid ourselves that we are stronger than that. We deceive ourselves.

In the New Testament there are stories of people who become possessed by the Devil. In Luke 8:26, 39 we hear how Jesus cast out a legion of demons from one man, sent them into a herd of pigs and the pigs then drowned in the lake. Demonic possession is not so well accepted in modern times but in recent years there seems to more awareness of possession. The Church has priests who are trained in exorcism and there are more calls on them now. It’s not something we hear much about but you might be surprised. A few years ago I was at a conference in Leeds and got talking to a priest there. When heard where I was from he commented that that was an area with a surge in the number of exorcisms. I found that hard to believe but later found out that he was correct.

If this is a battle between good and evil what are the Devil’s tactics? I put myself in the Devil’s place (I’m not changing sides, just thinking) and I looked at where I would attack. The Devil is not one for frontal attacks so I suppose I would attack things that support the Faith. I would attack the family where we draw strength and support. I would attack the Church and the sacraments that bring us closer to God. I would attack the community of God and persuade people to think only as an individual.

Looking around I think the Devil has been busy. The family has come under attack in western society. Marriage has come under attack. When it can’t be abolished it can be weakened. We are now making marriage irrelevant. It is not seen as the cradle of the family but as a convenience for same sex couples. Now holding a traditional view of marriage is regarded as an attack on the rights of same sex couples. Actually, regarding people as being either male or female is now wrong. The latest thinking is ‘gender neutral’. Your gender is something you can just decide on a daily basis apparently. How do you keep families stable in that situation?

The attack on the Church has been Just as successful. It’s not an attack from the outside but from the inside. The sins of a minority of priests and the weakness of response by some bishops have put the whole Church on the spot. Crimes of abuse are being investigated all over the world and the Church’s image is being trashed everywhere. The abuse cases have caused many Catholics to leave the Church and have weakened the catholic community.

The community aspect of catholic life has been in decline for many years. When I was young every parish had a collection of societies and groups to cater for all ages. There were societies for men and others for women. I was a member of the Boy’s Guild and my dad was a member of the Sacred Heart confraternity. These things have largely gone. People are reluctant to join. Attendance at Sunday Mass is the last commitment and that’s only if there is no ‘game’ on.

The Devil likes us to stress our strengths and individualism. In thinking that we don’t need others we are weakened. In looking only to our own strengths we are weakened. How can we counter this? Where do our strengths lie? Paradoxically our strength lies in recognising our weakness. Knowing we are not strong enough to combat evil on our own we turn to God and that is where our strength lies.

The Church is not just a human organisation. Christ is the head of the Church and, as we see in the gospels, is stronger by far than any demon. It’s only through prayer that we can really accomplish anything good. There are lots of different forms of prayer; it’s not just the rosary. The prayer we need in the fight against evil is where we put ourselves into God’s presence and include Him in our thoughts and worries of the day. By having Christ share our lives we become stronger.

Coatbridge, my adopted home, has the motto ‘Laborare est orare’, To Work is to Pray. There is no better prayer than to offer God all we do each day. What we achieve will be all the greater for God’s involvement in it. If we truly offer our work to God, no matter how trivial that work may seem, it will play a part in the fight against the Devil and all his works.

More power to you in your work in 2019; just remember every unpleasant task you undertake, offered to God, is a blow against the Devil.

This article was published in the Scottish Catholic Observer on the 8th February 2019