The Devil’s in the Details…

Today marks the feast of St. Padre Pio. I read a book on this amazing man a couple of years ago. One of the things I learned from reading this book is that Padre Pio was not only tempted by the devil, but physically attacked. Brothers in his monastery reported hearing him be thrown about and physically attacked. And I thought I’ve had rough temptations…

The book also talked about apparitions. Padre told his spiritual director that he often had visions of Mary and thought this was an event that regularly occurred for many people. However, despite apparitions of Mary, his guardian angel, and other holy figures, he also had visits from demons and even the devil himself. While this is terrifying to think about, the next bit is what scared me even more. The book went on to say that the devil often took the form of other people – from Padre’s mother and father to his monastic brothers, his spiritual director, his guardian angel, and even the head of his order, to whom Padre was bound by obedience. Padre sometimes struggled with what they were telling him to do (as sometimes their suggestions were not “bad”), not knowing if it was the devil or the person it appeared to be. He devised a test that allowed him to tell whether this person was sent by God or by another force. He simply asked them to proclaim, “Jesus Christ is Lord”. If they would not, he knew that he should not obey.

The terrifying part of this for me is that the king of deceit could appear in any form he wants to try to tempt us to sin. Remember, Lucifer was the most glorious of the angels. It was his own arrogance at his power and beauty that led him to rebel. He was able to convince 1/3 of the angels of Heaven to rebel with him. What is to keep him from using beauty to lead us astray. Think of the thing that you find the most beautiful. Does it ever keep you from Mass? Does it keep you from praying? Does it keep you from living a holy life?

Is there a person in your life that keeps you from God? That leads you away from what He is calling you to? Is there a person that, though they don’t lead you away from God, keeps you from getting to Heaven? I’m not trying to say that this person is the devil, but simply that they could be used by the devil to keep you away.

So while much of God’s creation is beautiful, an easy tip for making sure that you aren’t overtaken by beauty or superstition, when you see something that makes you feel good, say a quick prayer to thank God for that. For example, you get in your car and notice the odometer is at 33,333 miles – just say a quick “I love you God” prayer. When you see a beautiful sunset - “Thank you God for this beauty. I love you God”. When you see a pretty girl (or for ladies, a handsome man), “Thank you God for making this person.” If we can turn all of the devils tricks into a prayer to God, it will keep us from falling into his traps.

St. Padre Pio, Pray for us!

And now I’m back to my mission…

Losing count…

Today’s gospel (Luke 6:27-38) talks about lending without expecting anything in return. This made me think about some advice that I was given shortly before I married my wife.

I was told that in marriage you need to “forget how to count”. That doesn’t mean if you are at the grocery store to get 5 apples you come back with 4 or 6. What it means is that you should never count the things that you do for your spouse or the things they do for you. Rather, you should always act as though you owe them one, like they just did something huge for you. If you get an opportunity to do something for your spouse, you should jump at the chance to treat this person whom you love. It prevents you from thinking that your spouse owes you something. These gestures help build the love you have for one another as well as the appreciation you have for your spouse when they return acts of kindness. In our society there is a lot of selfishness. The attitude of “what have you done for me” or “the world owes me one” leads to people demand that others do things for them as opposed to them helping others. Not counting means that you don’t think that your spouse owes you something rather that you owe them.

This advice has paid great dividends for us in our marriage as we strive to serve each other in the most loving way we can. When we can help without expecting something in return we can truly live as Jesus calls us to in the Gospel today.

And now I’m back to my mission…