"Stay sober and alert.
Your opponent the devil is prowling
like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Resist him, solid in your faith." -1 Peter 5: 8-9a
As Lent continues on, we begin to grow weary of fasting and making sacrifices. We just want to get to Easter already!! This provides the perfect opportunity for the devil to come and tempt us, as He tempted Jesus in the desert.
This quote from the Bible is so simple and yet is often difficult to live by. It seems so simple: just stay alert and then you won't have a problem with the devil. This isn't as easy as it sounds. The devil is tricky and deceptive; we see that in the story of Adam and Eve. Sometimes it's hard to tell if something is actually bad when it just looks like a delicious apple to us.
So how can we resist the devil if we can't even always recognize when he's tempting us? As the quote says, stay solid in your faith. Fill your heart with such a love for Christ and His Church that there's no room left for the devil to inch in. In fact, the more you devote yourself fully to God, the more fearful the devil becomes. As St. Catherine of Siena said, "The devil fears hearts on fire with the love of God."
2 weeks down, 4 weeks to go.
Continue fasting. Make sacrifices. Love Christ passionately. Live your faith radically. The devil will flee in fear and you'll be one step closer to the Resurrected Jesus.
This quote from the Bible is so simple and yet is often difficult to live by. It seems so simple: just stay alert and then you won't have a problem with the devil. This isn't as easy as it sounds. The devil is tricky and deceptive; we see that in the story of Adam and Eve. Sometimes it's hard to tell if something is actually bad when it just looks like a delicious apple to us.
So how can we resist the devil if we can't even always recognize when he's tempting us? As the quote says, stay solid in your faith. Fill your heart with such a love for Christ and His Church that there's no room left for the devil to inch in. In fact, the more you devote yourself fully to God, the more fearful the devil becomes. As St. Catherine of Siena said, "The devil fears hearts on fire with the love of God."
2 weeks down, 4 weeks to go.
Continue fasting. Make sacrifices. Love Christ passionately. Live your faith radically. The devil will flee in fear and you'll be one step closer to the Resurrected Jesus.