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Christ
versus Satan In Our Daily Lives
He has written a good book about an important topic: the salvation of our souls. The devil, says the author, is real. He hates us and wants us in hell. There is only one way to combat the devil and that is to turn to Christ. There is no other way. He examines the way the Holy Spirit helps us in our
interior journey. The lives of saints are examined along with
Eucharistic miracles. As a Jesuit, it is not surprising to note his
reflections on consolation and desolation. I think the heart of this
book is regarding Christ's plan to defeat the plan of the devil.
Christ's temptation in the desert teaches us how to fight the devil. There is the temptation to pride, vanity and sensuality. How we desire to make idols out of created things is looked at . Jesus commands the devil to depart in his own name because he is the Son of God. The exorcisms of Jesus in the Gospels are real. How do we deal with sin and temptation? We can be like Judas and fall way. Or we can repent like Peter. We have free choice. Either to choose good or evil. God does not force us. But he has given us the Holy Spirit and the sacraments. We cannot save our souls without grace, without his help. The devil is real. The author examines some recent cases of diabolical possession. There was the famous case of Robbie Mannheim, the Lutheran boy whose aunt had introduced him to the occult. The exorcists were Jesuit priests and the possessed boy became a Catholic. This case became the basis for the famous movie The Exorcist. The author also examine the case of Julia, a possessed soul who was seen by Dr Richard Gallagher, a psychiatrist with excellent credentials. The case is described in a book by Gallagher. This book gives us compelling reasons why we should
turn to Christ and renounce Satan and all his works and pomps. |