The Enemy is Satan – 5 Easy Ways to Overcome Satan?

By Fr. James Farfaglia, Courageous Priest, July 2017

5 Easy Ways to Overcome Satan?

Fr. James Homilies:

Chapter Thirteen of Saint Mathew’s Gospel is comprised of seven different parables.  Jesus taught the seven parables on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, sometimes called Lake Gennesaret or Lake Tiberius.

“The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field.  While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.  When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well” (Matthew 13: 24 – 25).

The enemy that Jesus is talking about is Satan.

The Bible tells us who he is.  In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus says: “I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10: 18).  In the Gospel of John, Jesus calls Satan the father of lies (John 8: 44).

Saint Peter exhorts: “Stay sober and alert.  Your opponent the devil is prowling like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, solid in your faith” (1 Peter 5: 8 – 9).

Turning to the Catechism of the Catholic Church we find these words: “The power of Satan is, nonetheless, not infinite.  He is only a creature.  He cannot prevent the building up of God’s reign.  Although Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and his kingdom in Christ Jesus, and although his action may cause grave injuries – of a spiritual nature and, indirectly, even of a physical nature – to each man and to society, the action is permitted by divine providence which with strength and gentleness guides human and cosmic history.  It is a great mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but we know that in everything God works for Good with those who love him” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 395).

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Pope Paul VI (1963 – 1978), who was widely ridiculed when he warned that the smoke of Satan had entered through the cracks of the Church, said at a 1972 Wednesday General Audience: “So we know that this dark disturbing being exists and that he is still at work with his treacherous cunning; he is the hidden enemy who sows errors and misfortunes in human history. It is worth recalling the revealing Gospel parable of the good seed and the cockle, for it synthesizes and explains the lack of logic that seems to preside over our contradictory experiences:   ‘An enemy has done this.’ He is ‘a murderer from the beginning, and the father of lies,’ as Christ defines him.

He undermines man’s moral equilibrium with his sophistry. He is the malign, clever seducer who knows how to make his way into us through the senses, the imagination and the libido, through utopian logic, or through disordered social contacts in the give and take of our activities. He can bring about in us deviations that are all the more harmful because they seem to conform to our physical or mental makeup, or to our profound, instinctive aspirations.”

Satan has convinced the world that he does not exist.  He has lied to the world that there is no sin.  He continues to dupe everyone into believing that everyone is going to Heaven.  Satan is not only the father of lies, he is a lie.  When dealing with Satan, we deal with chaos and pure evil.

Satan has destroyed the modern world through sexual sin.

The murder of an unborn child is reproductive health.

Fornication is cohabitation.

Sodomy is gay.

We are engaged in a gigantic battle against evil.

What are the 5 weapons that we must use?

First of all, we must be completely convinced of the ultimate victory of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13: 43).   

We must persevere. Do not allow discouragement to overcome you.

Secondly, we must stay connected with Jesus.  Left to our own resources, our fallen human nature cannot resist evil.  Daily, structured and organized moments of prayer are essential if we are to survive.

As our physical immune system needs to be well nourished in order to resist disease, so too does our spiritual immune system need daily sustenance.  “The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings” (Romans 8:26).   

Daily Mass, daily meditation on the Scriptures, daily recitation of the Rosary, frequent Confession and the solitude of Eucharistic adoration are the preferred moments that provide health and strength to anyone who desires to continue the good fight.

Thirdly, your family life needs to be strong.  Get back to basics: order, discipline, have dinner together, limit all the crazy activities, build up a healthy emotional life by building up a healthy social life.  If there is peace and happiness in your family life, it will be very difficult for Satan to attack your home.

Fourthly, be very, very careful about the use of the TV and the Internet.  Pornography is a very serious and common addiction.

Finally, get back to the regular use of the Sacrament of Confession.  This is your greatest weapon against Satan.  Don’t play with mortal sin.  Many people walk around with caked on mortal sin.  They never go to confession and they continue to receive Holy Communion every Sunday.  We must always remember Saint Paul’s words to the Corinthians: “In fact that is why many of you are weak and ill, and some of you have died” (1 Corinthians 11: 30).

When our Blessed Mother appeared to the three children of Fatima in 1917, they were allowed to see a vision of Hell.  Thousands of poor souls were falling into Hell, and our Blessed Mother told the children that more souls were being lost because of sexual sin than any other sin.

“An enemy has done this.”

Use these proven methods against the attack of Satan in order to gain the eternal salvation of your soul.  “Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

Slight editing.

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