Do You Reject Satan?

Yesterday evening Doug was on the phone with a Catholic priest who is a good friend from high school. He is the pastor of a parish not far from us and Doug sees him occasionally beyond the realm of the confessional -- you know, they go to lunch.

Well, Doug sent a text message to Father yesterday and he called back in the evening. After they talked about their business, Doug reminded Father that we want him to come and bless our home. It hasn't been done since shortly after we moved in eight years ago. I was standing next to Doug and jokingly said, "Tell him the house is full of evil spirits." Father jokingly said, "Yes, that's Doug."

I went to bed a few hours later, and as I lay in the dark saying the Divine Mercy Chaplet, which I try to recite every night, I had the distinct feeling that Satan was in the room. Distracting me. It wasn't just that I was tired and not focusing wholly on prayer; it was that I almost couldn't even say the prayer. I had to open my eyes to make sure he wasn't looking at me. I haven't seen any satanic movies lately, or even thought about Satan, other than my comment earlier in the evening about evil spirits. I thought to myself, as I remembered my comment, "that was stupid -- it was like I invited him here by making that flippant comment." No more joking about Satan. And I slept with my rosary.

I have had other experiences when I felt Satan was distracting me from following God. He was never successful, but I do think he tried. When we first started Catholic homeschooling, I felt a definite dark presence around me. And it makes sense. Why wouldn't Satan try to deter me from bringing my children closer to God? Fortunately, prayer always drove him away.

So, back to my original question from our Baptismal Rites, "Do you reject Satan?" I guess I'm more curious to know, "do you think Satan exists in your world?"

When I first saw The Passion of the Christ, though I cried at the images of our beautiful Christ being beaten and crucified, I was more horrified at the images of Satan in the crowds -- just a regular person taken over by Satan. It really freaked me out, because I have always had the feeling that he really can do that. Remember the old line, "the devil made me do it." I have always wondered how many serial murderers or child predators have truly been taken over by Satan -- who would actually be "cured" by being exorcised.

This morning when I sat down to check my e-mail, lo and behold, there was an e-mail from Fr. Euteneur on Satan. No such thing as coincidence. Below is the text. This also was an interesting column that he wrote about possession.

What do we call the principle of all evil and why?

There are three common names by which most people describe the font of all evil: the Devil, Satan and Lucifer; each of these names comes to English from a different language. The name "Devil" comes from the Greek word διαβολοξ (diábolos), which literally means "one who throws things around" in the sense of creating the chaos for which he is so famous. The name "Satan" comes from the Hebrew verb "to accuse" and is variously translated as "the accuser," "the tempter," "the persecutor," "the calumniator" and "the adversary." Not ironically, the Church, taking her cue from the Gospel of John, calls the Holy Spirit, "The Advocate," (i.e., defense lawyer) in order to remind us that the depredations and accusations of our principle enemy are always met with one more powerful than he who takes our side in a fight. "Lucifer" is a name that derives from the Latin meaning "light-bearer," commonly understood as his God-given name before he fell from grace. This name is cited in St. Jerome's Vulgate translation of the Bible in the Book of Isaiah 14:12-16. This potent creature has always been considered by the tradition of the Church as one of the most powerful angels that God created. It is speculated that his name was "Light-Bearer" because he was a Seraphim angel, the highest order of the angelic hierarchy, and the order of angels whose Hebrew name describes something that burns with the ardor of love. Lucifer's fall from grace did not deprive him of his natural powers but rather corrupted those powers for the perverse work of undermining God's plan of salvation for men.

Among all the many references to this wretched being in the Bible, the Book of Revelation is one of the best sources of knowledge about him and his plan to destroy God's children. He is described in Rev 12:9 as "a huge dragon, the ancient serpent, known as the devil or Satan, the seducer of the whole world." The devil's most serious indictment came from our Blessed Lord who called him, "a liar and the father of lies," and "a murderer from the beginning" (Jn 8:44).

The New Testament refers to this origin of all wickedness nearly three hundred times to warn us of his presence and work. As we celebrate the feast of Pentecost with our Church, let us make a profound act of faith in the Holy Spirit, that, no matter how evil our times may be, God will never abandon to the power of evil those who call upon Him. Let us call upon the Holy Spirit to protect us and our loved ones and to renew the face of the earth!

And I'll keep this prayer in my nightstand from now on:

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in our hour of conflict; Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God restrain Him, we humbly pray, and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast Satan into Hell, and with him all the other evil spirits, who wander through the world, for the ruin of souls. Amen.