Imagine you’re a kid … let’s say about 9 years old … and you hear this from today’s first reading at Mass.
“Your opponent the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your brothers and sisters throughout the world undergo the same sufferings. The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little. To him be dominion forever. Amen.”
Wouldn’t you – at age 9 – be scared the next time you took a walk in the woods? Wouldn’t you be terrified that a “roaring lion” was prowling somewhere deep in the woods, looking to eat you up?
I had an experience like that, although it didn’t involve a lion.
When I was just 9 or 10 years old, my father took me and my older brother to see the movie, The Exorcist, which you may know is a classic horror film about a young girl who becomes possessed by the devil and needs the help of a Catholic priest (or two) to rid her of the demons inside.
It was a great movie; based on a true story. But at such a young age, the images of this little girl levitating above her bed, vomiting green (pea soup) and literally turning her head all the way around, stuck in my mind for many, many years to come.
I was frightened to the core. So much so, that it still bothers me today.
As I grew up and learned more about my faith, I came to realize that we do need to be vigilant against the devil at all times. But the real danger is not some 4-legged animal lurking in the woods. And in most cases (but not all) the danger is not that a demonic spirit is going to float inside your body and make you do terrible things.
No, the real danger of the devil is that the “roaring lion” of evil already resides within us.
What? We have evil inside of us?
Of course we do. We’re human and we are flawed and we will always have to do battle with the forces of evil … the evil that resides in our hearts and must constantly be suppressed by the good that also resides in our hearts.
Now, the imagery of our first reading – the roaring lion – and the images of that spooky movie, are not typically the best things to base our understanding of how the devil works.
No, the father of lies is more cunning than to attack us in some silly form that few would take seriously. Instead, he does his best to trick us by making us believe we are doing the right things, when in fact we are not.
This type of attack goes as far back as Adam and Eve and the first temptation in the garden. The serpent wanted Eve to believe that the forbidden apple was OK to eat; that it would open her eyes and let her share the vision of God.
The lion within us does the same. If you think about it, we are constantly challenged with the question: Is God, God? Or am I God? Who makes the ultimate decision and why do we get so many decisions wrong?
It starts as a mere temptation. We fight it at first. But that cunning ol’ devil has a way of presenting himself as the one who can satisfy our wants and our desires – despite the consequences.
We know that only God can satisfy us. But cunning ol’ Lucifer has a way of making us believe that what he wants is also what God wants. He is an expert in the art of imitation. He is the 6-6-6 of God’s 7-7-7 … close enough to be believed, but also very, very dangerous – and certainly not a spirit to follow.
And so we arm ourselves.
We heed the advice of the evangelists, such as St. Mark who we honor today. We remain vigilant. We keep up our prayer life. We discern each major life decision – spending an hour in Eucharistic Adoration or seeking out spiritual direction.
We constantly pray to God to give us the wisdom to recognize the difference between humility and pride, service and being served, loving and being loved. We ask him to instill in us the wisdom to recognize the will of God vs. the temptation of satan.
It’s a long road … and we won’t always make the right call.
But if we believe in the Gospel, then we must also believe in the comforting words of our Savior, who tells us in today’s readings what we have in store if we choose to be an evangelist of the Lord.
“…in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
And when we do this, we shall not fear the night any longer.
Or that long walk in the woods.
