'An Enemy Has Done This': The Happy Priest on The Mystery of Evil

"An enemy has done this."  Let us recall these powerful words from this Sunday's Gospel passage.  Satan has destroyed the modern world through sexual sin.  The world is sexually out of control.  Because of this total rejection of God, man has become dehumanized.  Man kills his own children through abortion and has become obsessed with sexual perversion, especially homosexuality. 

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (Catholic Online) - Chapter Thirteen of Saint Mathew's Gospel is comprised of seven different parables.  For this reason this chapter is usually called the parable discourse.  Because the subject matter and themes are similar, the parables are called the kingdom parables.

Jesus' parables are very effective.  By drawing on the ordinary routines of daily life, he sheds light on the deepest supernatural mysteries. Thus by reflecting upon the parables we may get a  glimpse at the humanity of Jesus and his kindness toward those crowded about  him, eager to hear his message of truth.  Jesus taught the seven parables on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, sometimes called Lake Gennesaret or Lake Tiberius.

Last week we focused on man's response to God.  We have been given the gift of free will and we all respond to God differently.  This Sunday, let us focus our attention on the mystery of evil.

Pope Paul VI often commented that this Sunday's gospel passage had proven the most difficult for him to understand. Why does God allow the weeds and the wheat to grow together? Why does God allow evil to co-exist with good?
 
The Second Vatican Council (1962 - 1965) ushered in an era of excitement and hope for the Catholic Church. Two world wars, the Korean conflict, the global tensions of the Cold War and the Cuban missile crisis which had brought North America to the brink of destruction, were countered with a time of euphoria.
 
Shortly after the close of Vatican II, Pope Paul VI was overwhelmed by the universal rejection of many of the Council's teachings.  The true teachings of the Council were hijacked and the post-conciliar crisis ravaged the Church causing massive apostasy.
 
Throughout the remainder of his pontificate, the Holy Father lived a daily martyrdom.  His secretary kept the morning newspapers away from the Pope until later in the day.  At one point during the crisis, Paul VI delivered his famous Wednesday General Audience on the smoke of Satan entering through the cracks of the Church. His teaching was met with abundant ridicule, mostly from the clergy.
   
Pope Paul VI speaking to another General Audience said in 1972: "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."

However, prior to these teachings on the evil one, let us recall an important moment in the Pontificate of Pope Paul VI.  On July 25, 1968, the Pope published the encyclical letter Humanae Vitae.

My dear friends, back in 1968 Pope Paul VI warned the world what would happen if contraceptives were to be made available:

"Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings-and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation-need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection" (Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae, 17).

"An enemy has done this."  Let us recall these powerful words from this Sunday's Gospel passage.  Satan has destroyed the modern world through sexual sin.  The world is sexually out of control.  The modern world has become obsessed with sexual sin and through sexual sin modern man is telling God: Non serviam.  I will not serve.  Do not tell me what to do about anything.  I will do what I want to do.

Because of this total rejection of God, man has become dehumanized.  Man kills his own children through abortion and has become obsessed with sexual perversion, especially homosexuality. 

We are engaged in a gigantic battle against evil.  What are the 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."  The judgments of time will be corrected by the judgments of eternity.
 
Secondly, we must persevere. Do not allow discouragement to overcome you.
 
Thirdly, we must stay connected with Jesus.  Left to our own resources, our fallen human nature cannot resist evil.  Daily, structured 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.

Fourthly, 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. 

Fifthly, be very, very careful about the use of the TV and the Internet.  Pornography is a very serious and common addiction.  Let us recall the words that I quoted from Pope Paul VI: "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."

Finally, get back to the regular use of the Sacrament of Confession.  This is your greatest weapon against Satan.  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.  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 out to hear."

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Father James Farfaglia is the founding pastor of Saint Helena of the True Cross of Jesus Catholic Church and is currently the new pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church.  Both parishes are located in Corpus Christi, Texas.  Visit Father James on the web at http://www.fatherjames.org and purchase his new book Get Serious! A Survival Guide for Serious Catholics and his first book, Man to Man: A Real Priest Speaks to Real Men about Marriage, Sexuality and Family Life.  Father has a hard hitting blog called Illegitimi non carborundum.  You can contact Father James at fjficthus@gmail.com.  Click here for the audio podcast of this homily.

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