Gospel Commentary: Weapons of Mass Deception

By Fr. Paul Scalia
Herald Columnist
(From the issue of  2/26/04)

The devil has no weapons of his own. He can only use what we give him. Therefore he takes what is good — our legitimate desires, our natural instincts, even our virtues — and twists them to lead us away from holiness and salvation. He knows that we will not be misled by something clearly evil. So we should not expect him to appear as a red demon with horns, a forked tongue, and a pitchfork. No, as the father of lies (Jn 8:44), the devil prefers to deceive. In our battle against the evil one it is essential to realize this: he does not tempt us with evil but with good.

Such is the case with the temptation of Christ. (Lk 4:1-13) In each of the three temptations, the devil tries to draw our Lord away from the Father’s will by offering something good. He appeals first of all to our Lord’s natural and legitimate desire for food. Next he offers kingship: to have Christ’s teachings embodied in the laws and mores of all nations. Finally, he presents to our Lord the devotion of the people — if only He would amaze them by casting Himself down from the Temple and allowing the angels to save Him. Each of these is a good: the satisfying of hunger, the Kingship of Christ, the devotion of the people. But they are temptations nonetheless because they lead away from the Father’s will, namely, that our Lord offer His life on the cross.

Not being very imaginative, the devil continues this pattern of deception with us. He twists, distorts and inflates what is good to set it at odds with the Father’s will. He might, for instance, inflate your desire for virtue so that you have no tolerance for the faults of others. Or, conversely, he might take your tolerance for others and twist it into an indifference toward error. Maybe he will use your sense of loyalty to compromise your personal integrity. He might even take something as good as that wonderful singing voice you have — and make it an occasion for pride.

The ruin of families often runs this course. The devil does not blatantly suggest to parents that they neglect their marriage and children. Rather, he appeals to their good instincts. For example, he will take their desire to provide the best for their children and twist it. To provide the best, he will convince them, it is necessary to have fewer children and therefore to use contraception. To afford the best, he will whisper, mom and dad must both have jobs — and soon the home becomes an empty shell, a boarding house, and the family has no time together. The best, he says, means the latest clothes, TVs, computers, cell phones and even the most expensive education — and soon worldliness chokes the children’s souls.

G.K. Chesterton once referred to the devil as a gentleman. Fyodor Dostoyevsky pictured him as an affable (although boring) middle class man. Both descriptions go to the heart of the matter. The devil does not try to overwhelm us. He tries to charm us by appealing to our desire for good.

We can best defend against this deceptive charm by holding to that virtue the devil most conspicuously lacks: obedience. We do well to distrust our own personal opinion of what is good, or what we desire to be good. Instead we have a sure guide to the Father’s will in the moral and doctrinal teachings of the Church. This is, in the end, the virtue by which our Lord conquered the evil one: "Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done" (Lk 22:42).

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