Ten Rules on Resisting
Satan
By
Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi
Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, 66, the
archbishop of Genoa, dedicated his Lenten letter to combating the fascination
of a devil who is charming, shrewd and very real. Those who follow his 10-step
program are promised the ability to rebuff offers of forbidden fruit, unlike
Adam and Eve or dissenters.
Rule one: "Do not forget that the
devil exists."
Rule two: "Do not forget that the
devil is a tempter."
Rule three: "Do not forget that the
devil is very intelligent and astute."
Rule four: "Be (always) vigilant in
the eyes and the heart."
Rule five: "Be strong in spirit and virtue."
Rule six: "Tireless prayer."
(do the daily offering)
Rule seven: "Adoring God."
Rule eight: "Listening to God's
Words."
Rule nine: "Remembering Christ's
victory over temptation. Remembering man's sharing in that victory."
Rule ten: "Be humble and love
mortification."
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
explains how satan, the devil, interferes with our lives.
#391 "Behind the
disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to
God, which makes them fall into death out of envy. [Cf. Genesis 3:1-5; Wis
2:24.] Scripture and the Church's Tradition see in this being a fallen angel,
called "Satan" or the "devil."[Cf. John 8:44; Revelation
12:9.] The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God:
"The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God,
but they became evil by their own doing." [Lateran Council IV (1215): DS
800.]
#392 "Scripture speaks
of a sin of these angels. [Cf. 2 Peter 2:4.] This "fall" consists in
the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably
rejected God and his reign. We find a reflection of that rebellion in the
tempter's words to our first parents: "You will be like God." [Genesis
3:5.] The devil "has sinned from the beginning"; he is "a liar
and the father of lies." [John 3:8; John 8:44.]
#393 "It is the
irrevocable character of their choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine
mercy, that makes the angels' sin unforgivable. "There is no repentance for
the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after
death." [St. John Damascene, De Fide orth. 2, 4: PG 94, 877.]
#394 "Scripture
witnesses to the disastrous influence of the one Jesus calls "a murderer
from the beginning," who would even try to divert Jesus from the mission
received from his Father. [John 8:44; cf. Matthew 4:1-11.] "The reason the
Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." [1 John 3:8.]
In its consequences the gravest of these works was the mendacious
seduction that led man to disobey God."
#395 "The power of
Satan is, nonetheless, not infinite. He is only a creature, powerful from the
fact that he is pure spirit, but still 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." [Romans 8:28.]
#396 "God created man
in his image and established him in his friendship. A spiritual creature, man
can live this friendship only in free submission to God. The prohibition
against eating "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" spells
this out: "for in the 311 day that you eat of it, you shall die." [Genesis
2:17] The "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" [Genesis 2:17] symbolically
evokes the insurmountable limits that man, being a creature, must freely
recognize and respect with trust. Man is dependent on his Creator and subject
to the laws of creation and to the moral norms that govern the use of freedom.
"
Man's first sin
#397 "Man, tempted by
the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his
freedom, disobeyed God's command. 1850, 215 This is what man's first sin
consisted of. [Cf. Genesis 3:1-11; Romans 5:19.] All subsequent sin would be
disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness."