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. (5:8, 9)
Not the most comforting bedtime reading, that. It is, however, well worth reflection.
Intriguingly, Pope John Paul II read this precise passage the night before his assassination attempt. Many theories later developed (during the legal proceedings) in an effort to explain who was ultimately responsible and why: Did Mehmet Ali Agca, the Pope's would-be assassin, act alone, on his own motives, or as a Soviet agent? The Pope, it has been reported, was surprisingly uninterested in such speculation, simply saying, "I know well that the responsible one was the devil."
Again and again the sacred authors warn us of our spiritual enemies. For the first century Christians, these spiritual enemies were as much a reality as were their temporal enemies--perhaps more so. John warns the early Christians, then suffering under the persecution of Emperor Domitian, "woe to you, earth and sea, for the Devil has come down to you in great fury, for he knows he has but a short time" (Revelation 12:12).
The fact is that Satan, whom our Lord calls "a murderer from the beginning" and "a liar" (John 8:44), is real. He is determined to destroy us, to separate us from the love of Christ and join him in that eternal separation that we call Hell (Revelation 12:13-17). His activity is as varied and extensive as human activity, such is his hatred and envy for us; he would, were he permitted, completely derail the entire Christian mission. A spiritual problem, therefore, calls for a spiritual solution.
Before his ascension, Christ told his disciples, "These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages... they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover" (Mark 16:17, 18). These signs correspond to the various spiritual gifts (Greek charismata) that the Holy Spirit often bestowed upon the early Christians (Acts 2:4, 1 Corinthians 12:7-10). In other words, Christ does not leave us defenseless, but gives us His own Spirit to protect us against spiritual attack. What's more, He gives us the protection of Saint Michael and the other angels (Acts 12:6-10, Revelation 12:7-9).
But how often do we invoke the help of our spiritual allies? How often do we, in effect, say, "No thank you Lord... I don't need help... I can handle this"? How many plans have come to ruin through such obstinate self-reliance? How many hearts have been broken, how many hopes crushed and how many faiths destroyed? My brothers and sisters, it is time to WAKE UP! It is time to face the hard fact that we were all born on a battlefield. War rages around us, whether seen or unseen, and we cannot afford to be drunk on "feel good" spirituality.
James instructs us to "resist the devil and he will flee from you" (4:7). Our Lord has given us His own Spirit, along with all the angels in Heaven, for our spiritual defense. What further weapons do we need? As it is written, "If the Lord is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31).
The prayer in this video (Pope Leo XIII's Prayer to Saint Michael) was recited after every Low Mass from 1888 to 1964.
In His peace.
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