Through the Prophet Jeremiah, in today’s first reading, God expresses his dismay that so many times his voice, his words, have fallen on deaf ears. He tries to show us and tell us things, but we remain indifferent. We hear all kinds of homilies, great reflections, many times we even say we would love to implement something we have heard, yet what happens? As Jesus said in a parable, many times the seed (his words) fall into unfertile soil, or rocky ground, or among thorns, and somehow it is stifled, or stolen… plucked out of the hearts they were born in, by the evil one.
In today’s gospel, we see how evil devises its cunning schemes so as to rob men of the beauty that is Jesus Christ. There is nothing a devil wants more, than to malign the true identity of Christ and pluck him out of the hearts of men. It is almost as if, having been tested by seeing his Incarnation, before the universe was created, and given a chance to glorify God’s humility or rebel against it, they could not fathom how the Eternal God would so demean himself, so as to become human, and so it is as if throughout their infernal years of banishment they made themselves believe in a false Christ, a false version of him, more pleasing to their pride, and pushed that in the hearts of people, rather than the humble Lamb whom he truly was, sent to take upon himself the sins of the world. This eternal beauty, this tapestry of God’s masterplan, is so horrific to a demon. The father of demons, along with his minions, in their eternal fury, wish to extinguish God’s beauty and everything which is a testament to his splendour out of spite.
In one of his talks, Fr Chad Ripperger, a catholic priest with many years of experience as an exorcist on his resume, spoke about how in general, exorcists do not like angels depicted in the female form as women. He cited a number of reasons, but in their collective experience as exorcists, whenever demons appeared as women, it was to denigrate the female form. In other words, it was to take something beautiful and glorious and a clear testament to God’s wondrous grace, so as to denigrate it and ruin its beauty. It’s almost like the diabolical attack on the Pieta, where a man once took a hammer to the face of the Blessed Virgin Mary so meticulously and painstakingly sculpted by Michaelangelo and attempted to destroy it. Of course! Such hatred for the Son is bound to flow over to his pristine Mother.
In today’s gospel, this is once again what the evil one is trying to do to Jesus, the beautiful Light of the World. He is inciting Jesus’ persecutors with vicious thoughts of blasphemy, alleging that the good works of Jesus were in fact nothing more than conjured up evil through Beelzebul and in darkening their hearts he gets them to believe that ‘It is through Beelzebul, the prince of devils, that he casts out devils.’
Now, exorcists have something to say as well about Beelzebul for it is just one of three names attributed to the devil, whom we will not forget, desired to be as God. This is why Saint Michael’s name and rallying cry, that glorious archangel who was given power to cast out the devil from heaven, means, “Who is like unto God?”
According to his experience with the three personalities mentioned, Fr Ripperger holds that, Satan is the first personification of the Father, as he is described in scripture as “the father of lies,” while Lucifer is the personification of Christ who is “The Light,” and Beelzebub represents the Holy Spirit and is linked as such by Jesus after being accused of casting out demons through this other, what ends up being a rupture in the devil. Fr. Ripperger adds that the split personalities of the devil are a punishment for him wanting to be God. It is telling then, that in today’s gospel Jesus speaks about Satan being divided within and against himself: “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?”. In fact, diaboline in Greek, from where we get the word diabolical in English, means division, or a fission. One of the hallmarks of the devil is his desire to divide us, since one of the principal actions of the Holy Spirit is to unite us. Hence in the story of the gospel itself, we see this tension and division arising between those who believe and those who persecuted Jesus. We see some of them being snatched away, separated from, Jesus!
Suffice it to say, the evil one sees something beautiful and wants to destroy it.
Dear friends, your vocation is beautiful. You have been given a blessing, a grace, in following Jesus, and Guess what? Satan wants to destroy it! This is why if somebody tries to tempt you from giving up your Christian identity, with musings like, “Jesus didn’t really exist, don’t be foolish!” or “You actually believe Jesus was God?”… or quite blatantly, “Only fools believe in God, their imaginary friend!” All of this is a sign of the diabolical, that wants to turn something extremely beautiful and precious, this journey of trust and discipleship, and a profound union with Christ, into an apostasy from the faith. Be on your guard. Discern the traps demons try to lay before you. This is precisely why St Paul admonished us to test the spirits. Evil will always try to malign the true identity of Jesus, but the truth of who he is, sets us free.
At the end of the gospel, Jesus speaks some astonishing words when he declares that, “He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me scatters.” Again, notice that Jesus, who is God, gathers (unites), while those against him, like the evil one, scatter (divide). This is why things like forgiveness and peace are such important aspects to work on, because they unite us, rather than keep us divided. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.” The hallmark of someone induced to a sinful life by Satan, is that they care little about unity and brotherhood. The hallmark of a follower of Christ is that through love, any grievance can be dealt with, no obstacle to unity is too great, and unity is always a work in progress. One scatters, while the other one gathers. On which side do we stand today? Lent is given to us so we can do something about it.
Be of heart, friends, and know that God is so proud of you when you raise your hearts to him. He’s got your back, and “though we walk through the valley of death, we shall fear no evil, for the Lord is by our side.”
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