Lent is the imitation of Jesus' forty days in the desert where He overcame the temptations of Satan and cast him out (Mt 4:3-11). We should not only imitate Jesus in resisting temptation but also in driving Satan out. Furthermore, we should disarm and despoil Satan (Lk 11:22), and bring down his strongholds (2 Cor 10:4), especially through use of the weapons of prayer and fasting (Mt 17:21, NAB; Gospel of Life, 100).
Satan should be trying to hide from us because he knows we're "out to get him" by the power of Jesus. Yet most Christians aren't "out to get Satan" because they don't realize the extent of their authority over him. Imagine a highway patrolman stopping a driver for speeding and also finding drugs in the car. What if the patrolman just wrote out a speeding ticket but failed to arrest the driver and confiscate the drugs! That patrolman would have failed to fully use his authority.
Many Christians are like that! We resist the devil and may even expel him, but we have the authority to do much more. In the name of Christ and by His power, we can attack the gates of hell (Mt 16:18), disarm and despoil Satan, bring down his strongholds, make a public spectacle of him (Col 2:15), quickly crush him (Rm 16:20), and put him at Jesus' feet (Heb 10:13).
| PRAYER: | Father, may I fully use my authority over Satan. |
| PROMISE: | "Walk in all the ways that I command you, so that you may prosper." –Jer 7:23 |
| PRAISE: | St. Turibius, who founded the first seminary in America, exercised his spirituality every day by confessing daily and celebrating Mass with fervor. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College