4th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2024

Does the devil really exist? In today's gospel can see the reality of the unclean spirit “In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;”

Maybe some people will say “he wasn’t possessed, he didn’t have an unclean spirit. He was mentally ill, sick or something.” How many mentally ill people would say what that man said. "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God!"

The devil does indeed exist. He hates God and he hates us.

The Catholic Church teaches that the devil, along with other demons, are fallen angels who have definitively refused to serve God and have chosen to revolt against Him. The devil is described as the one who opposes God and His work of salvation accomplished in Christ. The Catechism of the Church (of the Council of Trent) emphasises that those who separate themselves from God and devote themselves to the devil become his wretched slaves. Pope Francis (in "Gaudete et exsultate") warns against thinking of the devil as a myth or a symbol, emphasising the need to be vigilant against the devil's poisonous influence, which can destroy lives, families, and communities. In Scripture we hear a little about the devil’s fall.

Isaiah 14:12-15 (ESV) states: "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit."

Ezekiel 28:12-17 (ESV) Though it speaks of the King of Tyre, many theologians say that it speaks also of the fall of Satan: "You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created, they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you."

From these passages we can visualise the beauty of the gifts of God and how they were perverted. The devil’s rebellion led to his fall from grace and expulsion from the heavenly realms. The devil's rejection of God is characterised by his desire for self-determination, self-exaltation in opposition to the Divine Will and order. The devil refuses to worship God, refuses to live according to God's precepts, refuses to obey what God commands and separates himself from God. This is the opposite of how the angels and saints live.

The angels and saints enjoy living in the presence of God, Psalm 27:4: "One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life," Hb 12:22-23; “You have come to myriads of angels in joyful assembly, to the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven.” While the devil and the damned we see in today’s Gospel are not happy when Jesus comes, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God!" Mark 1:21-28.

The angels and saints worship God, we can see this throughout the book of Revelations (Rev 7:9-12), The devil and the damned refuse to worship God but rather worship himself, “All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will fall down and worship me.” (Mt 4:9)

The angels and saints serve God, Ps 103:20-21; “Bless the LORD, all His angels mighty in strength who carry out His word, who hearken to the voice of His command. Bless the LORD, all His hosts, you servants who do His will.” While the devil and the damned refuses to serve God and wishes to do his own will, Isaiah 14:14; “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.'"

The angels and saints are united to God: John 17:21 (ESV): "That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me." The devil and the damned separates himself from God Isaiah 59:2 (ESV): "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear."

The angels and saints love God and seek His Will, Psalm 119:47-48 (ESV): "For I find my delight in your commandments, which I love. I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes." The devil and the damned rebels against God’s Will and His commands, Romans 8:7 (ESV): "For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot."

The angels and saints seek to be made perfect in holiness, 2 Corinthians 7:1 (ESV):"Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God." The devil and the damned prefer to live in their sin. Jn 3:19-20; “The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”

The angels and saints exalt God and praise Him. The devil and the damned exalt and praise themselves.

This may help us measure our spiritual lives. Are we more like the angels and saints or are we not? Do we rebel against God’s Will or do we seek it? Do we enjoy God’s presence or do we find it a nuisance? Are we working to become perfect or are we content to live in our sins? Do we serve God or do we serve ourselves? To we praise God or do we praise ourselves and our own achievements?

Be aware, the devil wants to make us like himself. That we reject worship God, that we break God’s commandments and think of them as unimportant like missing Mass on Sunda,. that we live according to our own wisdom and not God's, self-exaltation, self seeking, self determination and proud, living as we please rather than what is pleasing to God.

Are we more like the angels or like the devil? Are we more like the saints or the damned?